Beginnings Issue 8.pub - Planning Institute of Jamaica

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P a g e 8 B eginnings I s s u e 8 “Measuring Gender Equality…” (Continued from page 7) 38% for males. Since the mastery of the English Language forms the basis for achievement in many other subjects (and University matriculation), this is a worrisome trend. It is fairly well researched [Chevannes (1999, 2001), and Parry (1996)] that the early socializing patterns of “male privilege” (meaning being raised with greater freedom and less supervision, fewer home responsibilities) along with the opposite conditions for females, contribute to perceived patterns of greater compliance by girls with school expectations (following orders, routines, completing work), and thus produce better academic results for the females, and lower academic results and a weaker sense of social responsibility for the males. Some writers on gender and education (eg. Bailey, Ricketts, Evans, Parry, Chevannes) express concern for the under-participation and under-achievement of boys in the education system. Gender socialization as pointed out earlier, along with the treatment of boys by teachers, and the culture of portraying boys as soft or nerdish when they perform well in school, are some of the reasons that have been given. The cultural environment in which unequal gender relations persist often create a backlash on both females and males. This is so, to the point where the understandable preoccupation of male underperformance and under achievement in the education system, often nullifies the challenges that females continue to face. Concentrating on the share of female labour participation in the non-agricultural sector is useful. However other related issues that could be considered - such as, occupational sex-segregation, wage differentials, decent work conditions, unemployment and work in a largely unregulated informal sector – are not. Therefore, in spite of relatively high levels of educational attainment and the improved quality of female employment as professionals, senior officials and managers, gender inequality persists with lower female labour participation, and high-level employment in low end occupations and concentration in traditional “female” occupational groups. An ECLAC Report (2001) points out that: [a] closer examination of the patterns of female achievement within the education system suggests strongly that the pattern of segregation evident in subject selection has had the effect of maintaining the unequal and inequitable division of labour in the home and in the workplace (p. 5). In Jamaica, Labour force statistics indicate that 68.2% of the female employed labour force are clustered in categories which for the most part attract a minimum wage (clerks, service workers, shop and market sales and elementary occupations). On the other hand, although the number of women in the ‘Professionals, Senior Officials and Technicians’, the highest occupational group, has been steadily increasing and in 2001 represented 21.64% of all employed women, this grouping includes teachers and nurses; occupations which although not lower-skilled are under-valued in terms of social status and, therefore, are accorded low levels of remuneration compared with other professions in this grouping. Data also indicate that within this category there is status stratification with women over-represented in the lower strata and markedly absent from decision-making positions (Ricketts & Benfield 2000). In relation to using the proportion of seats in national parliaments as an indicator of agency, Grown et al (2003) argue that this not a sufficient measurement for tracking levels of female empowerment. They posit that this indicator says nothing about whether women have power to make decisions or whether or not such women are sensitive to gender issues and can promote a gender equality legislative agenda. They note that it might be more useful to track progress that women make at the local level because it is at the municipal and local level rather than in national elections that women have been making inroads. The indicators identified in relation to Goal 3 for measuring progress towards gender equality and women’s empowerment represent all three domains (capabilities, opportunities and agency) but, as Grown, Gupta and Khan (2003) point out, progress in any one domain to the exclusion of others is insufficient to meet the goal of gender equality. They point to the fact that, as is the case in the Caribbean: (E)ven though education provides women with an essential capability and has intrinsic value, gender equality and the empowerment of women can remain elusive goals without the opportunity to fully use that capability, for example, in employment, or by participating in decision making in the political arena. (p. 7) Forty indicators are used as part of the UN Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF) to guide common country assessments in countries such as Jamaica, in which UN development cooperation takes place. Gender equality and women’s empowerment are also (Continued on page 9)
P a g e 9 B eginnings I s s u e 8 “Measuring Gender Equality…” included in the UNDAF indicators. UNIFEM’s report on the Progress of the World’s Women in 2000 cautions the duplication of these UNDAF indicators and argued that these are best understood as a measure of an enabling environment in which obstacles to gender equality and women’s empowerment are diminishing. This report further stated that the indicators do not measure “the subjective dimensions of women’s empowerment” (p. 10). These indicators are not the most suitable for determining progress towards gender equality and women’s empowerment. Stakeholders with interest in MDG3 can rest assured that all this does not mean a policy straightjacket, and allows for flexibility. In this light, the Regional Consultation on the MDGs and Sustainable Development, held in Barbados, 2003, pointed out: It is possible to critique the goals, targets and indicators on many grounds and hence the necessity to customize and contextualize them to make them more relevant to the level of achievement and the aspirations of the Caribbean…the framework can be enhanced by the addition of more qualitative and relevant quantitative measures. Grown et al (2003) suggest that the identified indicators have limitations and suggest the following supplementary indicators in relation to each of the equality domains: • Completion rates in additional to enrolment rates for all levels of education; • Gender gaps in earnings in paid and self-employment, sex-disaggregated unemployment rates and occupational segregation; and, • Prevalence of gender-based violence in addition to share of seats in national parliaments. There is need to include gender-based violence as threats to women’s personal security. Violence and conflict reflect in physical and psychological harm and lessen the ability of individuals, households and communities to fulfill their potential. Violence against women in particular is a major barrier to achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment – women who are victims are less productive on the job, thereby decreasing the national output. Violence against women increases vulnerability to unwanted pregnancies, STIs, HIV and by restricting ability to negotiate protection or leave unhealthy relationships. In short, it is disempowering. Gender equality is multidimensional and multi-sectoral. As such one of the goals for improving the MDG targets would be to recognize the asymmetries of power in relation to gender inequality and disempowerment. Other goals, specifically, 1, 4 and 6 are equally important indicators of gender equality and also need to be revisited. Additional targets need to be conceptualized to consider attainment in (i) advances in sexual and reproductive rights and (ii) the elimination of gender-based violence. The Millenium Project Task Force has subsequently adopted the capabilities, opportunities and agency approach, the targets and indicators should therefore reflect this. The fact that the policy framework is ever changing is a positive sign. The inclusion of additional targets, namely the elimination of gender-based violence and the achievement of sexual and reproductive rights, in the UN Secretary General’s Report (In Larger Freedom: Towards Development, Security and Human Rights for All) as specific indicators of development and identified targets of achievement, is a welcoming note to demonstrate the GOJ’s further commitment to gender equality and women’s empowerment. This would only be building upon earlier commitments expressed with GOJ’s ratification of other gender-related international instruments, namely Convention on the Elmination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Beijing Plan of Action. Taitu A. Heron is Manager of the Social Development & Gender Unit in the Social Policy Planning and Research Division, THE PLANNING INSTITUTE OF JAMAICA
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