Beyond Glass Ceilings and Brick Walls - International Labour ...

The most recent gender disaggregated statistics illustrating the distribution
of men and women in paid employment in the public and private sectors is
of the 2 nd quarter in 2004.
Table 1: Distribution of Paid Employees by Public/Private Sector* and
Sex 2004 - 2 nd Quarter (in millions)
Sector Total Male Female
Total 4.35 2.93 1.42
Public 0.91 0.57 0.34
Private 3.44 2.36 1.08
(Department of Census and Statistics)
* Excluding employers, own account workers and unpaid family workers
The above table shows that the total number of paid employees constituted
in 2004 4.35 million workers. Of these, 2.93 million (67%) were men, while
1.42 million (33%) were women. Private sector paid employees constituted
2.36 million men or 68% and 1.08 million women or 32% of the total of
3.44 million in the second quarter of the year 2004. This makes up a ratio of
approximately two men to one woman in the private sector. However, it is
important to point out that these numbers did not include employers, own
account workers, and unpaid family workers-technically within the private
sector.
Overall, men and women’s occupational distributions were similar (even
for senior officials) and this may reflect the availability of jobs (or growth) in
Sri Lanka as well as gender differentials. Interestingly, men were represented
more in the service sectors, though statistics conveyed a higher number of
women professionals than men in the labour force. The situation was similar
in the three-year period under review and may indicate a probable trend over
a longer period. Unfortunately, we do not have evidence as to the composition
of the category of “professional” in regard to men and women. On the
Otherhand, the number of women occupying the highest strata of employment
(senior officials and managers) was strikingly lower than that of men,
conveying the existence of a ‘glass ceiling’ as far as women were concerned.
Furthermore, when it comes to technical and associate professionals as well
as Plant and Machine Operators and Assemblers, there were more men,
indicating the dearth of women in technical fields.
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