Women's Employment - United Nations Research Institute for Social ...

Gender dimensions of labour migration in Dhaka city’s formal manufacturing sector
between rural and urban areas, which will encourage more temporary
rather than permanent migration. This proposition was derived from
one pertinent finding which shows that temporary migrants came
from those villages which are better connected with Dhaka city than
those of permanent migrants (Afsar, 1995).
The present study confirms that women are underrepresented
in technically skilled jobs and in senior grades in industry, a
universally common pattern. It also shows that the wage gap between
men and women workers at this level is the highest compared to the
skilled and unskilled production workers’ level. 19 These findings call
for a gender-equitable spread of students at secondary and tertiary
levels of education and a revision of curriculum and teaching practices
to achieve more scientific orientation and technological relevance.
Demand-based vocational training, particularly for migrant women,
should be organized by both government and non-government
organizations. Women workers should also have opportunities for
on-the-job training.
As the RMG industries are run largely by private entrepreneurs,
it would be difficult to impose on-the-job training requirements
through government directives. Employers may agree on paper but
not in principle, or may implement training half-heartedly. Moreover,
too many impositions may lead to closure of some of the factories
and hence many women will be deprived of job opportunities.
Therefore, some incentive and disincentive schemes along with
education of employers and advocacy programs can be more effective.
Incentives can take the forms of tax rebates or discounts and sales
promotion. Donors can come forward with the funds for training for
women workers. Those factories that organize such training on a
regular basis can be made eligible such funds after thorough scrutiny
and assessment by independent research bodies.
The study also reveals that women are not lagging behind men
in making demands for better working conditions such as paid leave,
higher wages and change in night duty. However, they are often more
penalized through salary cuts for taking more sick leave than men. A
women worker takes more sick leave because she is more vulnerable
to sickness than her male colleagues, and because she must care for
family members during their illnesses. Women workers bear the
double burden of domestic chores in a situation where basic amenities
are shared with 15-30 families. In addition, the lack of child care
facilities or services for the urban working women, create constant
conflict and tension. Hence, there is a need for better and more efficient
delivery of water and sanitation facilities and protection of tenants’
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