Gender
equality at the workplace is good for business
Sri
Lanka takes pride in a high literacy rate, equal access to
education, training and employment opportunities. In fact,
in most university courses - including those of management,
law and liberal arts – women outnumber men. Why then
does it seem so difficult for women to break the glass ceilings
and brick walls that stand between them and the management
jobs?
An ILO research study done
by Ms. Maithree Wickramasinghe and Dr Wijaya Jayatilaka “Gender
barriers at the workplace and women in management” finds
that while women’s participation in the labour market,
has certainly risen in the last few decades, the tendency
remains for men and women to be employed in different occupations,
with usually women in the lower - and men in the higher ranks.
Persisting gender bias in social, political and cultural practices
continue to determine employment structures, usually to the
disadvantage of women.
Analyses of 100 companies and
in depth interviews with nearly 70 women reveal that the glass
ceiling in Sri Lanka is real. “We often hear people
say that in Sri Lanka women have the same opportunities and
rights as men; that it is women’s own choice not to
climb up the career ladder; that Sri Lanka is doing so much
better than other countries in the region” says Claudia
Coenjaerts, Country Director of the International Labour Office.
(ILO) “And certainly, all this is correct. But we need
to understand the underlying reasons for the differences;
and there are still many. Often women choose not to climb
up the ladder because they can’t afford to work long
hours and still look after their kids. As long as the expectation
is that the home is the work of women, we will not be able
to break the ceilings. Moreover, in many offices the work
culture is filled with expectations and assumptions that make
it difficult for women to be at the top. The guidelines which
are being launched today will give employers the tool to overcome
this.”
Gender equity and equality
at the workplace is fundamental to generate a successful workforce.
ILO believes that workplaces with policies to promote gender
equality lead to a more productive workforce. The reality
however, all over the world, is still different. Overt or
hidden discriminatory practices, gender biased assumptions,
and patriarchal ideologies generally confine women into lower
status jobs, with less pay, less opportunities for growth
and less satisfaction from the work.
The ILO, in collaboration with
the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon (EFC)
are launching “Company Policy Guidelines on
Gender Equity/ Equality’’, on 08th November
at the Hotel Intercontinental – Moonstone Ballroom at
10.00am.
The guidelines are a tool for
private sector employers who wish to adopt workplace policies
that promote gender equality and equity. They hope to assist
organizations not only to better understand the concept of
gender equality and equity but to also adopt practical policies
as appropriate to their own organizations in relation to aspects
such as recruitment, selection, training and development,
performance appraisals, promotions, remunerations, communications,
working conditions, prevention of sexual harassment, workers
with family responsibilities, and other related matters.
The authors of the guidelines are Ms.Maithree Wickramasinghe
and Dr.Wijaya Jayatilake, who worked with the support
of a working committee consisted of reputed companies and
the EFC.
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