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

CHAPTER FOUR
Towards Gender Equity and Equality
Future Directions for Enterprises
Wijaya Jayatilaka and Maithree Wickramasinghe
This chapter offers a comprehensive list of suggestions drawn from the
previous chapters, on the process by which to transform work institutions
towards achieving the goals of gender equity/ equality. The review of
literature, survey of 100 private companies, and detailed case studies of
selected companies and women workers have provided us with clear insights
into the situations faced by management and workers within organizations.
Our focus has been on instituting gender equity and equality at the workplace.
The recommendations presented here are drawn from the study. Our efforts
have also been enriched by the findings of similar studies (both from Sri
Lanka as well as other parts of the world) that have attempted to understand
as well as find solutions to the challenges at the workplace. Depending on
the extent to which workplaces are prepared to restructure their organisations,
they need to undertake such exercises as gender analysis/gender needs
assessments. These should assess the configurations of men and women
within the organization, and indicate their specific needs and functions. At
the same time, organizations would need to make a conceptual shift towards
gender sensitivity (through gender training/gender-based policy change) and
a sincere, long-term commitment (through gender mainstreaming procedures)
to eliminate the systemic bias inherent in organizational structures and
cultures.
This requires, in particular, recognizing the accountability of the work
institution to its work constituency (through gender audits and monitoring),
putting in place incentive structures as part of affirmative action to promote
gender equity/equality, the use of internal mechanisms to assure gender
justice, and by making an intellectual appeal for gender equity/equality.
The recommendations are presented without great detail, since the issues
and the rationale were discussed in the preceding chapters. They are listed
under nine headings reflecting important areas of intervention. The wider
the adoption of the package of recommendations, the greater the possibility
for sustained change in the organizations and society at large. The
recommendations listed can be looked at as a menu of options to be
considered by work organizations when developing a gender policy as well
as when designing interventions or programmes to promote a more conducive
work environment for their greatest asset - their women and men workers.
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