GB.271/STM/4A - Governing Body

The Tripartite Meeting on Breaking through the Glass Ceiling: Women in Management was held at the International Labour Office in Geneva from 15 to 19 December 1997.

At its 264th Session (November 1995) the Governing Body of the ILO decided to include in the programme of sectoral meetings for the 1996-97 biennium a tripartite meeting for the financial and professional services sector entitled Breaking through the Glass Ceiling: Women in Management. At its 265th Session (March 1996) it decided that the purpose of this Meeting would be to evaluate progress made in recent years and to discuss practical strategies to increase upward mobility and career opportunities for professional and managerial women at all echelons.

The Office issued a report to serve as a basis for the Meeting's deliberations.⁽¹⁾ It addressed the following topics: trends in the situation of women in professional and managerial jobs; obstacles hindering career development; the role of education in improving women's qualifications and opportunities for careers in management; enterprise practices and women's careers; national policies and programmes and initiatives of the social partners to promote women in management; and international action to promote equal employment opportunities.

The Governing Body had designated Ms. M. Rozas Velásquez, Worker member of the Governing Body, to represent it and to chair the Meeting. The three Vice-Chairpersons elected by the Meeting were: Ms. A. Benyiwa-Doe (Government delegate, Ghana), Ms. P. Hernandez (Employers' delegate, Philippines), and Ms. A. Gono (Workers' delegate, Japan).

The Meeting was attended by delegations from: Argentina, Chile, Côte d'Ivoire, Finland, France, Ghana, Hungary, India, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Netherlands, Philippines, Tunisia, Turkey, United States, Uruguay, Viet Nam and Zimbabwe. Fifteen countries were represented by full tripartite delegations. Government representatives from Belgium and Nigeria were also present at the sittings.

Representatives of the European Commission, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) were present at the Meeting.

Observers from the following non-governmental international organizations also attended the Meeting: Education International; General Confederation of Trade Unions; International Confederation of Free Trade Unions; International Co-operative Alliance; International Council of Nurses; International Federation of Commercial, Clerical, Professional and Technical Employees; International Federation of University Women; International Organization of Employers; Organization of African Trade Union Unity; Public Services International; and World Confederation of Labour.

The three groups elected their Officers as follows:

Government group

Chairperson:

Ms. S. Wilcher (United States)

Vice-Chairperson:

Mr. G. Basaran (Turkey)

Secretary:

Ms. P. Mäkinen (Finland)

Employers' group

Chairperson:

Ms. T. Petäjäniemi (Finland)

Vice-Chairpersons:

Ms. A. Benhamou (France)
Ms. F.M. Kone (Côte d'Ivoire)
Ms. S.I. Ramli (Malaysia)
Ms. M.A. Sáez (Argentina)

Secretary:

Mr. J. Dejardin (International Organization of Employers) (IOE)

assisted by:

Ms. B. Perkins (IOE)

Workers' group

Chairperson:

Ms. P. Scarcelli (United States)

Vice-Chairpersons:

Ms. A. Wobil (Ghana)
Ms. H.M. Rao (India)

Secretary:

Ms. S. Tiernan (International Federation of Commercial, Clerical, Professional and Technical Employees)

The Secretary-General of the Meeting was Mr. V. Klotz, Chief of the ILO's Salaried Employees and Professional Workers Branch. The Deputy Secretary-General was Mr. W. Ratteree and the Executive Secretary was Ms. L. Wirth of the same Branch. The experts were Mr. N. Jennings and Ms. L. Tegmo-Reddy, of the Industrial Relations Branch, Ms. P. Ulshoefer of the Office of the Special Adviser for Women Workers' Questions, and Ms. C. Elstob of the Equality and Human Rights Branch.

In her opening address, Ms. M. Chinery-Hesse, ILO Deputy Director-General responsible for Development and Technical Cooperation and Field Programmes, extended a cordial welcome to all participants on behalf of the Director-General and, to set the Meeting's forthcoming discussions in perspective, outlined the situation of women today. They constituted 50 per cent of the world's population but had not achieved equality in any country of the world. They made up approximately 70 per cent of the world's poor yet only 5 per cent of rural credit made available by multilateral banks reached them. Although they represented over 40 per cent of the global workforce and their unpaid work in the home and community accounted for over one-tenth of GDP worldwide, only 25 women in this century had become Heads of State. With regard to the financial and professional services sector which would be considered by the Meeting, women's access to top management posts was still severely restricted though they frequently matched or exceeded their male counterparts in terms of formal qualifications and technical know-how. Indeed, it was in the world of corporate business that the glass ceiling had proved most impenetrable, with a mere 2-3 per cent of top jobs in large corporations held by women. Given the existing shortage of highly qualified managers, why had this ceiling persisted in an era of equality policies and improved educational opportunities for women? Were women being restrained by traditional socio-cultural perceptions which portrayed them as being less committed than men to their careers owing to family responsibilities, despite the fact that they had demonstrated their intellectual capacity, resourcefulness, leadership and management abilities in many walks of life? The intensified efforts of governments, employers' and workers' organizations were all essential to the process of promoting women as was firm commitment at the highest level within enterprises. In this context, she drew attention to three fundamental ILO standards: the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), the Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100), and the Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981 (No. 156). The ILO was promoting gender equality through its International Programme on More and Better Jobs for Women which aimed at helping member States to strengthen their legal and institutional frameworks with a view to improving women's employment. This programme could include the production and dissemination of guidelines on best practices for promoting women in management. The ILO had also produced training packages on women workers' rights and the training of women managers in Africa, and it regularly conducted courses in gender equality for ILO staff and constituents. In concluding, Ms. Chinery-Hesse noted with pleasure that the theme of the Meeting had generated keen tripartite interest and she wished the participants fruitful discussions.

The Chairperson recalled that gender inequality was widespread in virtually all employment sectors but that the discussions of the Meeting would target the professional and financial services sector which exemplified the glass ceiling phenomenon particularly clearly. Statistics showed that women were well represented in business administration enrolment figures and the rapid expansion of this sector had given them a healthy share of lower and middle-level management positions. Their progress to top executive jobs was, however, blocked. She urged participants to work towards identifying practical strategies to improve career opportunities for professional and managerial women as they reviewed such issues as the impact of gender differences in the choice of study areas and the value of positive action programmes in their respective countries. In concluding, she expressed her confidence in the Meeting's capacity to help women to break through the glass ceiling, given the extensive knowledge and experience which its deliberations would benefit from.

1. ILO, Tripartite Meeting on Breaking through the Glass Ceiling: Women in Management, Geneva, 1997: Breaking through the glass ceiling: Women in management, 97 pp.

Part 1

Consideration of the agenda item

Report of the discussion ⁽¹⁾

Introduction

1. The Meeting examined the item on its agenda. In accordance with the provisions of article 7 of the Standing Orders for sectoral meetings, the Officers of the Meeting presided over the discussions.

2. The spokesperson for the Employers' group was Ms. Rowlands (Employers' delegate, Jamaica) and the spokesperson for the Workers' group was Ms. Scarcelli (Workers' delegate, United States).

3. The Meeting held five plenary sittings devoted to the discussion of the item on the agenda.

Composition of the Working Party

4. At its fifth sitting, in accordance with the provisions of article 13, paragraph 2, of the Standing Orders, the Meeting set up a Working Party to draw up draft conclusions reflecting the views expressed in the course of the Meeting's discussion of the agenda item. The Working Party, presided over by the Government Vice-Chairperson, was composed of the following members:

Government members

Argentina:

Ms. Raimundo

Chile:

Ms. Galilea Ocón

Finland:

Ms. Kauppinen (adviser)

Ghana:

Ms. Benyiwa-Doe

United States:

Ms. Wilcher

Employer members

Ms. Benhamou (France)
Ms. Bortei-Doku (Ghana)
Mr. Porter (United States)
Ms. Ramachandran (India)
Ms. Rowlands (Jamaica)

Worker members

Ms. Auberger-Barré (France)
Ms. Bijleveld (Netherlands)
Ms. Rao (India)
Ms. Scarcelli (United States)
Ms. Wobil (Ghana)

Presentation of the report and general discussion

5. The report that had been prepared for the Meeting was introduced by the Executive Secretary who noted that it had generated much media interest. She explained that it focused on the situation of women at all levels of management and professional work. It made reference to the social, educational and political sectors because the source of the problems facing women went beyond the purely economic. The factors which explained women's increased share of managerial and professional jobs included improved access to higher education, the broadening of career choices, active promotion of the status of women by government and non-government institutions, the sustained and increasing presence of skilled women in the labour market and the increasing recognition by enterprises of the valuable resources that women represent, especially as more of them became consumers and users of services. However, despite progress in the public sector and politics of certain countries, their progress did not generally extend into the top levels of management. How was this glass ceiling to be explained? Was it a case of outright discrimination or were certain invisible barriers at work? The report had examined these questions and identified some of the strategies used to reduce the obstacles women faced. Participants were invited to take this process further, to exchange experiences and to identify practical measures to shatter or remove the glass ceiling. Since the report was written there had been several significant developments: financial turmoil in South-East Asia and its serious repercussions for employment and growth in the financial sector; a new ruling by the European Court of Justice making positive discrimination in favour of women candidates for appointments permissible; and the advent of more "historical firsts" such as the first woman Prime Minister for New Zealand and the first woman appointed as the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights.

6. The spokesperson for the Workers' group stated that the main task of the Meeting was to make suitable proposals to dismantle a system of discrimination which had dominated the workforce for years. The word "dismantle" was apt because the glass ceiling was built upon many different barriers both external and internal. These included the prevailing company culture with its old-boy's network, long hours, stereotyping, women being confined to non-strategic sectors, the lack of family-friendly policies -- including for men -- such as flexitime and paid leave, discrimination at employment entry levels and the entire education system which inherently promoted discrimination on gender lines. The Workers wished to see these barriers dismantled by programmes that would change the culture of corporations, enforcement of current equal opportunities legislation and development of new laws. It was particularly important for the ILO's Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981 (No. 156), to be enforced. The aim was to have women valued and promoted on the basis of their skills, knowledge and contributions.

7. The spokesperson for the Employers' group complimented the ILO on the well-prepared report for discussion. A reading of the report, however, revealed that more accurate databases were needed and that some terminology problems existed, for example in the middle-management area. It was essential that workers' and employers' organizations complemented legislation against gender discrimination with affirmative guidelines, since changes to the law without a corresponding change in society's mind set could possibly create a backlash against women. The discussions must be lifted from the socio-cultural level to the level of economic development where the real power was centred. For example, strategies such as diversity management and promoting women to top management should be clearly seen as good for business growth. Regarding the suggested points for discussion she asked that point six make reference to entrepreneurship as so many women were starting up their own businesses.

8. The Government delegate from the United States also complimented the ILO on its comprehensive background document and endorsed the inclusion of entrepreneurship as part of the sixth point for discussion. She added that there was a need for the Meeting to focus on the "how to" and to devise suitable tripartite approaches for the future. The issues of women's own ambiguity with regard to the family/career question, as well as the role of men within the family needed to be addressed. This Meeting was ideally viewed as a follow-up to the World Conference on Women held in Beijing. The words in the title of the report "breaking through the glass ceiling" deserved to be highlighted. It could be shown that affirmative action to recruit and promote women helped to shatter the glass ceiling whereas more discrimination was to be found in the absence of such policies. She mentioned that the Internet had proved a useful tool in the work of certain governments to eliminate obstacles faced by women workers and managers.

9. The Workers' delegate from France drew the Meeting's attention to the experiences of the Confederated Union of Engineers and Managerial Staff (UCC-CFDT), and the European and international trade secretariats (Eurocadres and FIET) to which it belonged, especially with regard to harmonizing professional and family life for both men and women. Despite many organized activities by employees in general and managers especially, and the adoption by the ILO of a compendium on principles and good practices, the glass ceiling existed in France, Europe and throughout the world. Men and women leaving university began their careers on an equal footing but between the age of 30 and 40 women began to slip backwards in relation to promotion, a trend linked closely to maternity. It was not a lack of child care that created the problem. It was a contradiction between a family model which designated the mother responsible for the education of children and a management model which demanded total dedication to the enterprise. Part-time work for women was not the solution. Nor was a "back to the home" movement returning women to their traditional roles. The solution rested with a change in both family and economic models so that both men and women could devote themselves to family responsibilities while pursuing career development. A new more harmonious social model which took better care of human resources was needed. The transition in France towards the 35-hour work-week must permit the necessary changes in the organization of work which could facilitate harmonization of family and professional roles.

10. The Government delegate from Tunisia outlined some of the progress towards equality made in her country. The principle of legal equality was embedded in the Constitution. Polygamy had been outlawed, women had the right to divorce and a minimum age had been set for marriage. Compulsory education for all children between 6 and 16 years of age had helped redress the problem of the school desertion rate, especially in rural areas. The right of women to work was guaranteed by law and women represented a healthy 44 per cent of workers in industry, 33 per cent of workers in the education, services and health sectors and 20.4 per cent of workers in agriculture and fisheries. The Labour Code was in conformity with international Conventions ratified by Tunisia such as the ILO's Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100), and Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), and the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. She also mentioned the positive role played by the civil service and government institutions in promoting women into higher managerial and political positions. These and other developments reflected the Government's resolve to give women a role in the development process. Measures highlighted in the report to the Meeting were very pertinent for addressing inequality.

11. An observer, the General-Secretary of the International Federation of Commercial, Clerical, Professional and Technical Employees (FIET), informed the Meeting that FIET had pioneered global and regional activity for professionals and for its women members who formed the majority of the organization's members. The majority of FIET's management committee were women and the next president would be a woman. The report prepared by the ILO was impressive, but shocking, showing that much work had yet to be accomplished. Even if women had made progress in some sectors, the glass ceiling was still very much in place, resulting in a vast waste of human resources. It was high time to change thinking and practices and to encourage a more innovative and equitable approach. He had five suggestions. The first, for the world of business, was that while constant reference was made to the need to be competitive, companies that had only 2 to 3 per cent of women at the management level had to recognize that they were clearly non-competitive. The second message was for companies, as they needed to take bolder actions to seek changes in the areas of recruitment, career succession, positive action, sexual harassment and equal remuneration. Third, the social partners had to build a better basis for change through consultations and negotiation, as referred to in the report. The fourth was a question for corporate executive officers (CEOs) on working hours. How sustainable did they consider working time practices where managers regularly had to work 60 or more hours per week? This was bad for business, health and families. CEOs should commit themselves to a programme of comprehensive change by sustaining and clearly communicating support for change from the highest levels, altering management culture on the issue of gender balance and having management accountable for their actions and plans. His fifth message, for the ILO, was to further strengthen work on trade union rights and collective bargaining for supervisors and managers who were sometimes denied these rights by national legislation. Among other points, reaffirmation of the trade union rights of women professionals, managers and supervisors needed to figure in the Meeting's conclusions, including reference to the ILO compendium of principles and good practices relating to professional workers. The role of standards was vital and it was heartening that Conventions Nos. 100 and 111 had been included amongst the core standards countries should adhere to as a minimum. The ILO should ensure that more success stories were highlighted and that a wider debate was held towards a unified effort to break the glass ceiling. Sectoral activities, such as the present Meeting, formed the backbone of the ILO's work.

12. An observer, the representative of Public Services International (PSI), congratulated the ILO for organizing the Meeting. Since its 25th anniversary the PSI had committed itself to the implementation of a positive action programme for women workers, an initiative which had resulted in a greater degree of sensitization. A specific activity on the theme "The promotion of women in management" had been officially included in the 26th Congress of PSI, held in Japan, from 10 to 14 November 1997. Globalization had led to profound and complex changes with heavy consequences for the status of women in the world. The phenomenon had affected women everywhere, but in different degrees as a result of socio-cultural differences and the diversity of governments and employers. A resolution had been passed on the equality of women which emphasized the importance of recognizing their aspirations. A plan of action had been drafted for the period 1998-2002 which the 135 member countries of PSI had agreed to implement; a worldwide trade union observatory had been created to ensure its implementation. Seminars were also to be organized for women and trade unions. Trade unions and others should be more progressive and democratic in their outlook on women and their participation at the workplace. Great confidence had been placed in international labour standards and in the other work of the ILO.

13. An observer, the representative of the International Federation of University Women, spoke on behalf of her organization and a group of representatives of 27 international non-governmental organizations which were part of a working group on employment under the auspices of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women. It was gratifying that the ILO had decided to evaluate progress on the issue of breaking through the glass ceiling and to issue an excellent report on the subject. The outdated Western concept that a woman's primary role was to care for the family and that her secondary one was income generation had to be discarded. Women should instead be seen as that half of the population which had proved its potential for economic growth. Women had demonstrated success in reconciling work and family responsibilities and in adapting to crises, in coping with intellectual challenge and, once through the glass ceiling, that they could perform outstandingly. Yet, they were penalized with lower pay, precarious work and dead-end jobs, blocked from moving laterally as well as from climbing vertically. This dilemma should be reviewed from an economic and human resource development perspective based on a new model of values bringing to the fore women's way of thinking, working and caring and acknowledging women's right to work, to economic independence, to shared caring with men for family and dependants and to reaching levels of managerial decision-making. The Declaration and Platform of Action of the Fourth World Conference on Women (Beijing), the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and ILO Conventions, in particular Convention No. 100, the Maternity Protection Convention (Revised), 1952 (No. 103), Convention No. 111 and the Workers' with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981 (No. 156), should be kept in mind.

14. An observer, the representative of Education International whose President was a woman and in which women formed the majority of the membership, drew attention to implications of government reductions on educational budgets. Cuts to education could result in fewer girls and women attending classes and higher drop-out rates for girls. Structural adjustment and economic restructuring programmes reduced educational and work opportunities for women. This had implications for women's opportunities to accede to management-level posts, given the importance of education highlighted in the ILO report. While she agreed that a redistribution of power was needed to assist women, she insisted on the fact that education could help to create a new concept of power, less stereotyped, less focalized on hierarchical aspects and more open to women.

15. The Government delegate from Kenya congratulated the ILO on a well-focused report, which reflected the situation in Kenya, namely that women had for some time enjoyed access to high levels of education but few of them reached upper management levels. This could be explained in part by traditional views on women's role as primary care givers to their children and in part by the fact that women represented the majority of the population in rural areas where they were engaged in agriculture and household duties. Women's increased presence in the professional and managerial sector, notably in the judiciary, banking and civil service areas as well as in the private sector as small investors and entrepreneurs, had improved equal opportunity and helped to make them partners in development. Increased literacy and higher levels of educational attainment had contributed to advancement. Nevertheless, there was still much to be done. To this end, the Government had created a women's bureau to focus on women's issues and it also sponsored a weekly television programme called "Women in development" to raise public awareness of women's potential.

16. The Government delegate from India explained that in addition to a legislative and institutional framework banning discrimination on the grounds of sex, positive discrimination programmes were also being used. In fact constitutional reforms reserving one-third of positions in urban and local decision-making bodies for women were being considered for extension to parliamentary and state legislative seats and all government positions. But it was women "in the basement" and not women "just under the glass ceiling" who constituted the Government's main concern. Here, the provision of primary schooling for girls was critical to changing the overall position of women in society. He noted that well-qualified women had reached the top echelons of management in significant numbers in India and that this was a source of satisfaction to them, though they did sometimes complain about certain features of corporate culture such as having to perform better to be considered equal.

Obstacles to women's career development
and effective measures to counter
occupational segregation

17. The spokesperson for the Employers' group proposed some measures to reduce occupational segregation. Within the education system women needed to be encouraged to balance their training in human relations with technological and scientific skills. They also needed to be trained in leadership skills and schools needed to play a role in changing social attitudes on the status of women. Women needed tailored courses such as assertiveness training and public speaking skills to equip them for upper management posts. They needed the support of other women when they took on traditionally male jobs, and this involved building up a critical mass of women in an institution who could offer each other mutual support. She identified the following obstacles to women's career development: a tendency to stereotype women instead of evaluating them on their individual qualities and merits; a lack of financial resources to further education for some women; and cultural biases which impeded equal opportunities for women as primary income earners in many developing countries and limited career roles in a number of countries.

18. The spokesperson for the Workers' group suggested that measures were needed to change the perception that men and women should do different jobs and to ensure that girls did not narrow their opportunities by subject choices made early in their education. Female targets for recruitment and promotion would help to counter bias and encourage women to enter traditionally male areas. Women also needed to be given more opportunities in the strategic areas of enterprises from which top managers were drawn. Performance evaluations should better women's education, skills and performance. A profound change in corporate culture was called for to make it possible for women to move ahead.

19. A Workers' adviser from the United States commented that there was too much said about what women lacked when there was every evidence that capable, qualified and enthusiastic women were being blocked. It had to be acknowledged that the problem was a socio-cultural one, that men were inclined to want to hang on to the jobs that they had traditionally occupied. The old boys' network was a significant aspect of corporate culture. Upper echelon jobs were distributed with scant attention to job descriptions. This became an economic issue for women and the families they supported. For example if a women earned $1,000 less than a man in a similar management position over a 35 to 40-year career span this would mount up to an income loss of $85,000 and more if she had invested her savings.

20. The Government delegate from the United States stated that the United States Department of Labor had found itself in a unique position to address the issue of the glass ceiling because its Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programmes (OFCCP) was responsible for ensuring that no federal government contractor discriminated in employment decisions on the basis of sex, race, etc. -- an executive order dating back more than 30 years. In performing this function the office had jurisdiction over approximately 22 per cent of the labour force. OFCCP's glass ceiling initiative was established in 1989 and required federal contractors to develop Affirmative Action Programmes which it then audited. Gender inequality in education and training, the sex stereotyping of occupations and the undervaluing of women's work were among the obstacles women faced. Changes in the social acceptance of gender equality had primarily been due to women and men themselves with the advent of the women's movement and the more continuous labour market participation which now characterized women's working lives. Women's earnings were now frequently an essential part of household income. Other factors which had helped women break the glass ceiling included the creation of a pool of qualified women who increasingly delayed marriage and childbearing, equality laws and policies, the expansion of the services sector which tended to be female dominated and the analysis of statistical data which helped companies to recognize that it was against their best interests to exclude half the population and which revealed success stories to encourage women to seek promotion. The Affirmative Action Programmes had certainly helped to change the corporate climate -- posts were now properly advertised, sensitivity to sexual harassment had increased as had awareness of the benefits of a family-friendly environment. Within the enterprise the following barriers to women's career development had been identified: recruitment methods which tended to fill positions from a pipeline devoid of women; fewer developmental opportunities being offered to women; failure to include equal opportunity directors in recruitment processes; CEO's lack of commitment and failure to help women to become visible; inadequate record-keeping and poor career planning for women; difficulties for women in obtaining feedback; pay inequality; different performance standards for women; and sexual harassment. Promotion criteria based on tradition and perceived comfort factors tended to favour white men especially, while companies generally were willing to take more risks in advancing their male employees.

21. The Workers' delegate from Japan cited the very long working hours frequently demanded of employees as an impediment to women's career progress because of the conflicts created between work and family life. There were also difficulties with the enforcement of some legislation, for example that pertaining to Convention No. 156.

22. Other obstacles to women's progress identified by Workers' delegates included the attitude that pregnancy was an illness or a handicap, the existence of a casual or negative attitude to women employees, the lack of attention to promoting women in non-traditional sectors, a very low percentage of women engaged in trade union activities and the lack of a critical mass of women for mutual support as women braved traditionally male dominated occupations.

23. The Government delegate from Japan mentioned that certain features of Japanese employment practice impeded women's careers. The seniority-based career and development wage system was a problem for women who left jobs temporarily for maternity reasons. It also affected educational incentives for women. Recognizing child and family care obstacles, the Government was taking measures to address them.

24. The Employers' delegate from India highlighted the problem Indian women faced at the middle-management level when family responsibilities or the need to uproot and to follow a spouse on transfer arrested their progress to the top. This came despite great progress in education and professional qualifications and the number of women going into non-traditional areas at entry level positions. Those who overcame the middle management hurdles, however, tended to do very well.

Strategies for promoting women

25. The spokesperson for the Workers' group noted that a number of workplace strategies had been successful in promoting women to managerial positions, including fully implemented equal opportunity policies, encompassing areas such as training and education policies and assistance with child care and elder care. Other strategies included: positive action policies to level the playing field; programmes of diversity management which protected workers and responded to their specific needs; access to both formal and informal networks which could provide support, visibility and information to women; career tracking and monitoring; and mentoring programmes which had the full support of management and participants. As far as changing enterprise or corporate "cultures", it was clear that in many organizations a "male company culture" still predominated which valued long hours and after hours' meetings and socializing, for which women did not wish to sacrifice their families. Appraisal systems often evaluated women not only in relation to the job being performed or commitment, but on these aspects. Decision-making structures were often wholly or mostly composed of men and led to gender blindness. Companies should review recruitment and promotion procedures and structures, changing them to eliminate discrimination. They should also introduce family friendly policies and facilities. A revision of corporate thinking on age in relation to women and their family responsibilities was also called for. These changes in company culture would benefit not only women, but also men and families.

26. The spokesperson for the Employers' group informed the Meeting that the group had reviewed in depth a number of issues such as flexibility management, monitoring, diversity management, job rotation and networking. It had considered networking vital, but felt that it should not be exclusively internal within a company. Mentoring had been highlighted as a successful initiative and it was felt that women could benefit from this approach, but that it should not be restricted to women as one should not view women as working in isolation, but alongside men. Mentoring should encompass not only organizational aspects and linkages to strategies of the enterprise, but also cover life management skills and how to develop coping mechanisms related to work and families. As a result of globalization, one now had to broaden one's scope and look at communicating with counterparts in a global environment. The group had reviewed other aspects of the promotion of women, including the need for them to acquire particular skills. Leadership of women needed to be strengthened through training in areas such as public speaking, negotiating and team building. With regard to the issue of families and the management of child care, greater government support for child-care infrastructure was required. Very specific job descriptions and job evaluations would be useful in eliminating discriminatory practices. They should not, however, hinder exercise of the broad-based functions required of managers. Women should be encouraged to promote their own management style rather than be pressurized into adopting a masculine one.

27. The Government delegate from Turkey, in addressing workplace strategies, stressed the importance of objective techniques, management development training, career planning and equal opportunity policies. Rather than gender-biased approaches, selection should be based on merit. Non-biased universal job descriptions were necessary to establish objective criteria for recruitment and advancement. Flexibility and geographical mobility concerns were very important for women with family responsibilities. Affirmative action measures should be reviewed with regard to women's seniority criteria as they could have reduced years of service due to family responsibilities. Policies should give priority to internal recruitment and promotion where large numbers of women were employed. Training for gender awareness was vital, but should be universal, and not focus only on women but on the whole working community, incorporating gender awareness raising. New forms of work organization should be promoted such as teamwork and other participatory structures. Measures for balancing work and family responsibilities should concern both women and men and encompass flexible working hours and adequate care services.

28. The Government delegate from the United States noted that her experiences in conducting compliance reviews demonstrated that successful companies had a number of conditions in place. These comprised: support from and endorsement by the CEO, including equal opportunity and affirmative action as part of strategic business plans to which managers were held accountable; inclusive programmes for women which addressed stereotypes; tracking women up the corporate ladder through succession planning for high potential candidates, monitoring their progress and mentoring; use of executive search firms, ensuring that they included women candidates in their rosters; offers for rotational and travel opportunities; and identifying clearly what was required to reach the top. The Department of Labor recognized the most successful companies and honoured them every year with an award. There were cases where the stock value of those companies had increased following announcement of the awards, which demonstrated market-place recognition.

29. The Government delegate from Tunisia underlined five important strategies. These were the drafting and enactment of appropriate national legislation to eliminate gender discrimination, the promotion of professional training for women, the promotion of women managers, the adoption of national strategies for quality child care, and changing mentalities to ensure more positive, non-stereotyped images of women.

30. The Government delegate from Chile noted that in the MERCOSUR countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay) and in Chile, government policies were focused on the employment of poor persons and female-headed households formed a large proportion of this group. Regarding corporate culture, it was emphasized that relevant teaching to change attitudes with regard to educational opportunities for girls and to discourage occupational segregation had to commence in primary and middle schools. Women were considered to possess decision-making abilities emphasizing teamwork, leadership and simultaneous, multiple decision-making which were transposable to the new conception of corporate culture, but required more training and education to this effect. In her country there was a new law on employment and professional training under which employers and trade unions were called upon to work with the Government to promote human resource training policies and equality. In two MERCOSUR countries and in Chile, tripartite commissions were established to promote better access to employment, quality jobs and upward mobility. Flexitime, to be discussed by these commissions in 1998, was positive but should be regulated and workers' rights protected, and flexible hours should be accorded to men and women. Convention No. 156 was important as it emphasized shared family responsibilities. Tripartite actions had to be reviewed not only with regard to the central Government, but also to regions within countries, to ensure appropriateness of actions.

31. The Employers' delegate from Japan wished to supplement the statement of her group's spokesperson. In Japan there had been successes in some companies when a position which was responsible for the promotion of women had been created in the personnel departments. This demonstrated an enterprise's commitment to equality. It was very important to provide women with a level playing field but in order to show and convince society, or stockholders, that to promote women was important, women also had to show that once opportunities were provided they were capable of assuming their responsibilities. Otherwise, measures to promote women would not be viable in the long run.

32. The Employers' delegate from Finland found it more appropriate to speak of enterprise than workplace strategies. She also commented on mentoring. A mentor was a role model, teacher and friend for another person considered as having development potential. There could be formal or informal mentors. Formal ones would be appropriate for women, although men often had informal ones. Mentoring was a way to increase personal skills and knowledge and was frequently seen as a personal development programme, with many benefits for companies. It led to increased skills, job satisfaction, self-confidence and visibility, was conducive to new ideas and fostered a better understanding of roles and corporate culture. Regarding job evaluation schemes, criteria for appraisals should be gender-sensitive, especially when salaries were linked to performance and payment by results, increasingly important in the globalized economy.

33. The Employers' delegate from India wished to supplement points already made, in particular regarding the vital role of training. Training had to be broad-based, encompass confidence-building and improve professional visibility. Information sharing was very important as realized in India where women often did not know what ingredients were required to move up the ladder. To deal with this problem, counselling centres had been set up to provide information and special training programmes were organized and these actions had started producing results. Now women were more actively taking up non-traditional jobs and were relatively better equipped for upward mobility.

34. The Workers' delegate from the Netherlands noted that women were constantly being accused of lacking business experience. It was important to broaden the concept of appropriate experience; too much experience could create rigidities, block creativity and hamper innovation. She was sure most participants could cite many examples of this. Experience had to be relevant to the actual and future job if used as a criterion for promotion. Supplementing the comments of the Workers' group's spokesperson on the issue of age, she remarked that some companies seemed to have unwritten rules that the take-off point for careers was between 35 and 45 years of age. That was precisely when a woman was very occupied with other aspects of life, namely caring for the family. Women over 45 were very creative and experienced and age discrimination had to be eliminated.

35. The Government delegate from Japan noted that a research meeting in 1996 had discussed positive action and had produced guidelines for enterprises which the Government was promoting. These included checklists for judging whether enterprises or "corporate cultures" prevented women's advancement. Since 1986, when the equal employment opportunity law came into force, many enterprises had improved their employment management systems. The Government had encouraged them to appoint a counsellor in personnel and labour management to promote equal opportunity for women, monitor progress and provide advice to the employer. In March 1997, 54,000 officers had been assigned this responsibility.

36. The Government delegate from Argentina endorsed training as an important strategy for women's access to management. In her country, according to the Federal Act on Education (1993) which contained no sexist language, education had been reformed to link it more closely with the labour market. The new Constitution of 1994 had given constitutional rank to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. The Constitution also established guarantees for equality of opportunity between men and women in access to elected positions through positive action in political party regulations and in the electoral system. The Law on Quotas of 1991 fixed the minimum number of women political candidates at 30 per cent and they were to be placed in positions with expectations of being elected. Labour law included as a fundamental right equal opportunity and treatment in training for all men and women workers. The national professional administrative system for employees of the national administration, established in 1991, guaranteed non-discrimination towards women in its application. It specified for executive positions that at least one in five members of executive boards of selection committees were to be women. A study in Argentina had shown that women had to have more education or longer lengths of service to compete with lesser qualified men for mid- and high-level posts. The National Women's Council helped to oversee competitions for positions with executive promotion and recruitment functions and all other positions in public administration. This had resulted in an important increase in participation of women at the highest levels of the public sector.

37. The Government delegate from France emphasized that the consequences of women's entry in the workforce in larger numbers had not been fully absorbed by society at large or by corporate culture. While seeking equality, women also desired a balanced life and did not wish to conform to the traditional male model, which was anyway being challenged by the present economic climate. Though women managers had increased by 24 per cent in recent years, occupational segregation still operated. She agreed that work organization needed to change to meet women's demand for flexibility. The Higher Council for Occupational Equality (Conseil supérieur de l'égalité professionnel) was the forum in France where such issues as work time, access to employment, training and equal opportunities were considered. Regarding part-time work, which should be freely chosen, the Council felt it was necessary to draw up criteria so that career development was possible for part-time workers and that they enjoyed the same access to vocational training as full-time workers. Together with the social partners, guidelines had been drawn up for professionals who had to make decisions on salaries and working hours. The Council had also been examining incentives for enterprises to give leave for family responsibilities, which would allow for a better balance between work and family life. The workplace should allow for greater experimentation.

38. The Chairperson of the Meeting referred to the Chilean situation, similar to that in many Latin American countries. Women felt that they were being punished for assuming their family responsibilities, including maternity, and men needed to be encouraged to share more in family life. Ageism was a part of this cultural problem. With so many women being the sole breadwinners, the issue of using women as cheap labour had to be addressed. Flexible working time and part-time work had to go hand in hand with regulation and trade union action to defend workers against abuses. The approach should be tripartite and the ILO had a role to play in disseminating information about how these issues were being handled in various countries.

39. The Government delegate from Uruguay described some of the measures taken in her country to address the particular socio-cultural challenges that Latin American women faced. She agreed that the training and qualifications of women needed to be strengthened and that family responsibilities should be more balanced. Rights to promotion should be ensured by means of objective procedures that reduced discrimination thereby favouring equal opportunity. National legislation on equal opportunities banning discrimination in employment in which sexual harassment figures as a serious cause for discrimination had been adopted in Uruguay at the beginning of this year. The same legislation had established an inter-institutional tripartite commission to promote and train women as a means of promoting equality of opportunity and treatment. Nevertheless, this commission was not competent to receive and resolve discrimination complaints which remained the competence of the General Labour Inspectorate. The labour inspectors and the officials of the labour advisory and assistance centre of the Ministry of Labour were the first to be sensitized about gender questions.

40. The Workers' delegate from the United States, echoing statements from other regions, highlighted the plight of female single household heads -- the poverty afflicting this group needed urgent attention. Empowering women workers thus became important for families. Changing workplace conditions required the support of the three constituents. It was a question of "revisiting" the culture and working to change job descriptions, provide better child and elder care, and improve benefits for part-time workers (being alert to the fact that full-time positions were deliberately being turned into part-time ones as part of downsizing). It was important to recognize that many of the barriers women faced were invisible and were faced equally by the elderly and by minority groups in the United States.

41. The Workers' delegate from Japan cautioned against thinking that governments, employers and workers were in complete agreement on the issues under discussion. If they were, this Meeting would not have been necessary. There was also a risk in equating reality with what was laid down in legislation and policy -- the Meeting had to address what was actually happening and the fact was that despite progress in numbers, women were on lower, slower promotion tracks in Japan.

42. The Workers' delegate from Zimbabwe referred to the need for labour laws to protect women from abuse and marginalization in promotion. Tripartite bodies in which women formed the majority should strongly monitor compliance.

43. The Employers' delegate from the United States reminded participants that in some cases corporate culture was being forced to change as a result of competition, market evolution and a corresponding emergence of new flattened forms of management. As a result of these dynamics, there might exist greater opportunities for the advancement of women as corporations re-examined their values and mission.

44. The Employers' delegate from the Netherlands drew the Meeting's attention to the fact that part-time work had a long and extensive history in the Netherlands and while women were mostly in lower jobs, part-time opportunities at higher levels were growing. In addition the Netherlands had a joint government and industry project since 1996, run by senior managers, to give more opportunities to women, and 90 companies were now participating in it.

45. The Workers' delegate from France, addressing the issue of age and work, emphasized that the heavy workloads of managers between the ages of 30 and 55 had to be reviewed. It ranged on average from 45 to 48 hours per week in France, despite the official work-week of 39 hours. Those between the ages of 30 and 55 should not be overburdened with work at the very time their children needed them most and then phased out of the workforce altogether. The Government delegate from France had mentioned voluntary part-time work, but this was a rare option for management workers. It often involved having the day off when children were out of school and tended to mean that workers were obliged to perform five days' work in four days at 80 per cent remuneration. Even if women managers took up part-time employment for a few years it was often detrimental to their careers. It was thus important to review reduced hours for all managers, both men and women.

46. The Workers' delegate from Uruguay emphasized the importance of distinguishing between words and deeds. Two countries of the southern cone region of South America present at the Meeting had ratified ILO Conventions and had enacted laws. The fact of having a law on equal opportunity, however, did not guarantee its implementation or a change of attitudes. In Uruguay there was only an illusion of equality. There was a tripartite group on equality of opportunity and treatment which was a significant step forward. The Ministry of Labour had received denunciations relating to sexual harassment which had been resolved. Nevertheless, a case submitted to the ILO on inequality in wages between men and women in the public sector had not been resolved. One often had to make a choice between holding a management position and being in a trade union and furthermore the glass ceiling existed within trade unions themselves. Freedom of association, collective bargaining and other ILO principles had to be upheld as they could contribute to addressing problems before the Meeting. Work in this respect was being undertaken in MERCOSUR countries, especially within the framework of the southern cone's central trade union coordination and its Committee on Women.

47. The Employers' delegate from Japan stressed the importance of having top management on women's side. Top managers could be encouraged to support women's promotion by being shown just how well women performed. Middle managers were important too since they worked more closely with women seeking promotion and should be given incentives to promote upward mobility. Here again, good performance of promoted women was important. Regarding entrepreneurship there were many examples of women starting their own companies in Japan rather than waiting for a promotion and this should also be encouraged. Some prefectures gave financial incentives to encourage women's entrepreneurial initiatives and offered them assistance with the paperwork needed to set up a business.

48. The Government delegate from the United States summarized some of the points raised in the Government group discussions. Companies in Australia had begun to measure the actual cost of women's turnover in the workplace as an initial means of determining the importance of recruiting and retaining women. The Netherlands had an initiative to support women's entrepreneurship and entry into business, campaigns and committees to stimulate sharing of family responsibilities, better child-care facilities and working schedules of men and women. In Finland the Government had required all employers with more than 30 employees to develop an equality plan to improve the situation of women. Sanctions had not been established, instead the promotion of best practice was emphasized. There had also been some work on social issues such as encouraging young men to take paternity leave. It should not be forgotten that the media could be used to publicize good practices.

Positive action , diversity management
and data collection

49. The spokesperson for the Employers' group said that positive action policy would only have the desired impact if appropriately implemented. Enterprises were well situated to provide information and build awareness for change in the workplace. Regarding diversity management, it was important that the difficult issues of gender and race did not smother the issue of women's advancement, nor that diversity management be used to trap women in stereotyped categories pertaining to work and family. Nevertheless, organizations that were sensitive to diversity issues and promoted women in their business stood to gain greater financial awards -- customers responded positively to diversity. Concerning collected data, it had to be regularly updated and qualitative as well as quantitative if it was to reflect women's concerns, whereas data collection capacity tended to be limited in the developing countries and among many enterprises. The ILO had a role to play in helping organizations to develop standards for data collection to facilitate information exchange.

50. The Employers' delegate from India supported these points, as accurate and regularly updated databases were vital in tracking women's progress. Only after the forum of Women in the Public Sector (WIPS) was created in 1990 had the Government been sensitized to the role they might play in providing helpful data on public enterprises, and made appropriate changes. Inaccurate data unfortunately tended to get replicated and data collection alone was not helpful without proper evaluation of sources and analysis of results. The ILO had a role to play in disseminating information on the varying ways women's issues were being addressed.

51. An observer from the International Organization of Employers informed the Meeting that a fairly complete data bank covering recruitment, promotion and termination across 12 occupational groups had existed in Canada since 1986. She said that some problems had arisen because of the lack of shared definitions. The ILO's help in this area would be appreciated. For the purposes of tracking women's career paths and positive action both numerical and qualitative data were important.

52. The spokesperson for the Workers' group addressed the question of positive action. If double standards persisted in organizations and enterprises then positive action became a mere publicity stunt. Where double standards had been cleared away positive action could be really useful in levelling the playing field. Support was given to the introduction of numerical goals or targets for women's recruitment and promotion as one option. Positive action could also be viewed as abolishing the quota men enjoy. Diversity management could be used to protect workers as well as promote full integration. Regarding mentoring and networking, these had proved especially helpful to women from minority groups. Successful data collection required government organizations, non-governmental organizations, workers' organizations and companies to fully commit themselves to research their own practices and publicly account for the results. The Workers' delegate from the Netherlands added that data should specify sector and level if it were to be useful for information exchange.

53. The Government delegate from the United States, speaking on behalf of her group, commented that affirmative action had many different meanings in her country, from government contract preferences going to equal opportunity employers to the establishment of firm quotas for the recruitment and promotion of women. There was very little or no evidence of reverse discrimination as a result of affirmative action and clearly it had helped women up and through the glass ceiling. The report had mentioned that most positive action had been voluntary but she would argue that it had to be supported by legislation. As for data collection it had emerged in the Government group discussions that there was quite a lot of activity in this area to chart the progress of women -- Tunisia had a national observatory, Ghana had set up a system of information gathering, Zimbabwe had established benchmarks on the status of women and France was also active in this area. Regarding diversity management, she noted that equal opportunity managers in the United States were being replaced by diversity managers. She cautioned that the concern with diversity should not be allowed to overshadow the basic objective of getting women past the glass ceiling.

54. The Government delegate from France complemented this information by stating that four enterprises had signed occupational agreements on gender equality between 1985 and 1991. These agreements were designed to speed up women's access to management posts and stipulated, for example, that time out for maternity leave and part-time worker status were not to be used to discriminate against women, posts vacated through retirement were to be used to redress the scarcity of females in upper levels, promotional training for women was to be provided, impediments to promotion were to be identified and monitoring was to be done on women gaining access to new job categories.

55. The Government delegate from Finland commented that women were sensitive about questions related to appropriate ages for employment and that the issue of ageism was related to diversity management.

56. The Employers' delegate from Finland presented a strong case for seeing diversity management as a business requirement and an economic necessity, not just as a way to improve human rights or to shatter the glass ceiling. Attitudes to women formed part of a company's image and differences between men and women could be used to achieve versatility of products and services.

57. The spokesperson for the Employers' group cautioned that in the Caribbean fears had been raised about women taking over in business. It was a case of numerical data being used carelessly without qualitative data and had led to the generation of false analysis. Women's presence in the workforce had increased but they were not predominant in the upper echelons even in professions such as teaching, so it was hardly a question of a takeover.

The role of governments , employers' and workers'
organizations, and women's organizations

58. The spokesperson for the Workers' group opened the discussion on these items by calling for a stronger presence for women and minority groups in all organizations and processes, including collective bargaining, likely to affect the promotion of women in management. Women who accepted management positions should be allowed to retain their trade union membership. Policies against sexual harassment and other forms of discrimination should be developed and applied. Women's organizations especially could develop training programmes for women on conflict resolution, managing hostility and assertiveness. As for governments, they had a key role to play in the ratification and implementation process for those ILO instruments of particular concern to women, namely the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98), Conventions Nos. 100, 103, 111, 156 and the Part-Time Work Convention, 1994 (No. 175). Governments also had an important role in instituting anti-discrimination legislation at national level. She recognized that governmental efforts were augmented by the work carried out within corporations and through political activities and collective bargaining. Governments should also target the educational system to address problems of occupational segregation and stereotyping. In conclusion the Workers' requested that governments examine their policies in relation to women and be willing to report on them.

59. The Workers' delegate from Argentina re-emphasized that women needed to occupy key decision-making positions and to be present in forums where matters affecting the general community and women in particular were discussed, as well as in all organizations, political parties and trade unions. Only that way could women educate society about their needs and about the importance of men and women sharing family responsibilities. Actions such as those by the Government of Argentina which had initiated positive action to increase women's political presence through an Act on quotas should be extended, including to trade unions.

60. The spokesperson for the Employers' group underlined the importance of a tripartite approach to consciousness-raising on gender issues. For those countries with economies in transition or for developing countries it was particularly important that resources, skills, information and strategies be shared to benefit all parties and facilitate understanding. Because of their strategic role, employers' organizations were invited to lead by example, to use their public credibility to help women, to strengthen their research capacity and conduct opinion surveys to identify women's concerns, to promote best practices and the concept that women were good for business. Workers' organizations should increase the presence of women at decision-making level, enhance their own organizational perspectives on women and thereby ensure that deliberations on women's issues were balanced. Both workers' and employers' organizations had to "walk the talk"! Governments could best help by focusing on data collection, by providing funds for research and access to information on best practices for tripartite dialogue, by setting up and regulating a legal framework without, however, interfering in company decision-making, by considering tax incentives that favoured women's labour-market participation. They should also champion women's causes by setting an example through ensuring that their own female employees gained access to upper echelons. The Employers' delegate from Japan added that governments and the social partners should seek all possible help from other organizations and institutions, including the media, educational institutions and non-governmental organizations. The Employers' delegate from the United States emphasized that governments should not exempt themselves from their own legislative requirements.

61. The Government delegate from the United States, speaking on behalf of the Government group, reported that they had discussed the question of whether focusing on glass ceiling issues was in fact focusing on the élite, but decided that placing women in decision-making roles was the best way to ensure that women's voices at all levels were heard. Employers' groups were urged to be more vocal, including at international level. There was plenty of evidence that women's organizations were proliferating and that certain governments were very active on such questions as maternity and paternity leave, child care, part-time work opportunities, equal pay, political presence and women's institutions. Actions by various governments included: promoting use of leave entitlements by men to help with family responsibilities as part of a change in corporate culture; assuming responsibility for the provision of child care within welfare systems; preparing equal pay guidelines for women and employers; encouraging women in politics and administrative commissions through policies and legislation; and emphasising work on women's issues generally, and especially on vulnerable groups, through women's bureaux, women's associations and workplace forums for women's issues.

62. The Government delegate from Turkey suggested that governments could contribute by helping to reform educational and vocational training generally, by providing special training programmes for women, by promoting positive action at enterprise, regional and national levels, by improving and enforcing legislation and strategies taking into consideration relevant ILO instruments, by taking stringent measures against harassment, and by providing adequate child care.

63. The Government delegate from the Netherlands raised the question of part-time work in the Netherlands. This was a common issue for the social partners and governments: how to define a double strategy of improving the quality of part-time work on the one hand and, on the other hand, stimulating part-time work for men and women in jobs requiring higher qualifications. In 1996 an Act was introduced on equal treatment of full- and part-time workers. A debate was being pursued about whether or not further regulation was necessary.

64. The Workers' delegate from the Netherlands added to this the explanation that in her country there was a tripartite consensus on equal opportunity and treatment of part-time workers, including an equal right to social protection and pensions. Equal treatment of part-time workers was based on law and implemented in collective bargaining agreements.

65. The Workers' delegate from France called for synergy between trade unions, enterprises and civil society to educate boys and girls to avoid stereotypes and share responsibility, to increase social facilities through tax incentives, among other measures, to promote women as managers, to reorganize working patterns within enterprises and to find ways for both men and women workers to reconcile the demands of job and family.

66. The Employers' delegate from India highlighted how much easier it was to get women's concerns heard, understood and addressed when women were present in the upper echelons of institutions. In the meantime guidelines for women had to trickle down to the women working in lower level positions, and in this regard women's organizations could be of great help, in addition to the primary responsibility of governments and employers' and workers' organizations to disseminate information by devising appropriate systems. The governments' intent and affirmative action in the form of legislative provisions and various guidelines needed to be strengthened by devising effective regulatory systems and implementation mechanisms and follow up progress to realize the objective of bringing women in management in the mainstream of economic activity.

67. The Workers' delegate from Tunisia, describing the progress women had made in her country since the adoption of the 1956 Civil Code and later ratification of the main ILO Conventions pertaining to women in employment, stated that more work was needed on occupational segregation, the provision of adequate child care and overcoming difficulties for women to reach the top. Here the media could help to change male attitudes. The organization she represented (UGTT) was strongly determined to maximize opportunities for women to be promoted to leadership posts within the union and to inform women workers so that they were more aware of their rights and organized to defend them. She reiterated the call for increased efforts to have more countries ratify ILO Conventions pertaining to women's working conditions as a contribution to rendering laws more relevant to women's lives.

68. The Workers' delegate from India stated that it was necessary to replace negative attitudes towards women by positive ones, which, while recognizing that women were capable homemakers for example, also recognized that women could be the equals of men in all spheres of activity despite their heavy family responsibilities. Because of educational advancements and economic changes, the role of women in management was increasing as more and more women broke through to top positions. The percentage of women in trade unions was also undergoing a slow change, as for example in her country there were now two women office-bearers and seven women executive members at national level. The process could be accelerated by ongoing awareness programmes among men, women and society in general.

Future ILO activities

69. The spokesperson for the Employers' group noted that her group had identified a number of areas for ILO action based on inputs from its constituents, such as encouraging tripartite collaboration and assisting developing countries through the organization of tripartite meetings on women in management. The dissemination of information was useful, particularly to developing countries, and should encompass information on international labour standards and strategy sharing. Research and training should be conducted, taking into consideration the particular contexts of developing countries. Entrepreneurship development and training for women should be supported. The entrepreneurship route to accessing management and leadership roles should be studied and information on it disseminated. The Employers' delegate from Viet Nam noted the usefulness of ILO publications in promoting small businesses run by women.

70. The spokesperson for the Workers' group emphasized that the ILO should ensure that the present Meeting was followed up with the wide dissemination of its conclusions. The ILO should establish an observatory to monitor and evaluate progress in achieving equality for women in managerial positions. Adequate tools and appropriate indicators were required to achieve reliable quantitative and qualitative data for such purposes. The ILO should establish an annual award for best practices to be presented to the organization which had excelled in promoting a genuine system of equal opportunities and which actively encouraged women to take up senior managerial positions. This should be widely promoted at the international level. The ILO should continue to work very closely with the tripartite partners, so as to address problems relating to women's access to managerial and decision-making positions. The Workers' delegate from Argentina added that the ILO should continue to promote compliance with the Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122), the Human Resources Development Convention, 1975 (No. 142), and Convention No. 156.

71. The Government delegate from the United States, summarizing views expressed in the Government group, stressed the need for the ILO to promote the inclusion of women in its activities. It should work closely with governments to help promote women's access to management positions. Because of its tripartite nature, it should encourage more national meetings and develop new international labour standards of relevance to women. Existing standards, such as Conventions Nos. 100, 111, and 156 (the latter having only 25 ratifications) and those relating to maternity, should be promoted and efforts made to ensure their ratification. Multidisciplinary teams should work on international labour standards and women's issues should be given a higher profile. Technical support should be increased, seminars held, and guidelines prepared on balancing work and family responsibilities. Training should be organized for governments and the ILO should serve as a repository of statistics on women and on positive action. Many of these activities might benefit from the ILO adopting a regional focus.

72. The Government delegate from India declared that in his view the absence of women from management positions was related on the one hand to their own lack of ambition and their attitudes towards sacrifices necessary for careers and, on the other hand, biological and emotional constraints related to motherhood. Women had to be motivated to sacrifice security and aspire to reach the highest rungs of management. The ILO could assist this attitudinal change by working closely with the worldwide network of intergovernmental organizations to publicize women's sacrifices and achievements, and to concern itself with discrimination based on racial or ethnic considerations.

73. Speaking on behalf of many participants, the Workers' delegate from the United States expressed her concern that in 1997 one was still confronted with the comments on women and attitudes made by the Government delegate from India. Because of these attitudes, women were confined to so-called women's jobs, with lower pay and less chance for upward mobility; the comments were devoid of any value. Outdated attitudes were perhaps more entrenched than she had thought. The ILO and its tripartite partners had to continue to address these issues and should not be distracted by isolated individual attitudes.

74. The Employers' delegate from Japan noted that she had learned much over the past few days about situations in other countries. The Government delegate from India showed courage in making his statement -- women did share responsibility, but so did men. It was necessary to create a level playing field for women because the source of the problem started with initial education and training and continued thereafter. How could this be ensured? Participants had been speaking in general terms of what needed to be done with regard to information, the importance of networking, etc. However, implementation was important now and, for that, the Meeting should be addressing the issue in a more concrete, down-to-earth manner. For example, with regard to databases, what should be discussed was exactly what sort of data was needed, the definition of managers, etc., otherwise the Meeting would not be able to produce results.

75. The Government delegate from the United States thanked the Government delegate from India for his candour, but lamented that such attitudes still existed. She emphasized the need to engage individuals such as himself in change processes. If women could not accomplish changes in attitude by persuasion then perhaps it was time to attack the wallet! With regard to minority women, it was true that while the glass ceiling was very high for women in general, it was excessively high for minority women. The issues faced by them were particularly complex.

76. The Government delegate from India replied that none could lay claim to being gender sensitive by virtue of their sex. Thanks to the efforts of the United Nations and the ILO, whose report to this Meeting was excellent, there was a much greater awareness of the gender discrimination which prevailed in all societies. Meetings such as this were extremely illuminating, and he concluded by calling attention to the exceptional record of India in protecting and promoting the rights of women.

77. The Employers' delegate from Côte d'Ivoire considered that there were a number of problems -- some common, some different -- faced by African women, who were at the initial stages of gaining access to management positions. The ILO should organize a tripartite meeting, as soon as possible, specifically for the African region. The Employers' delegates from Kenya and Zimbabwe and the representative of the Organization of African Trade Union Unity supported this proposal. They also noted that the ILO should provide further support to women in the field of entrepreneurship development and assist in networking initiatives and collecting and disseminating success stories on the promotion of women at the workplace.

78. The Chairperson, speaking as Government delgate from Ghana, supported the proposal. However, she noted that her country did not centralize women's issues, preferring an integrated approach. Thus there were women's desks in all ministries and these had met with success. Two key Ministers (Health and Education) were women.

79. The Government delegate from Uruguay noted that many in the Government group felt that ILO promotional activities should be at the regional level where concerns were similar, especially where processes of integration were developing.

80. The Workers' delegate from the Netherlands informed the Meeting that the Workers' group had discussed the question of requesting the Governing Body to ask the ILO to produce a practical manual on breaking through the glass ceiling which should also cover such areas as how to react to myths and stereotyping. It seemed from the current Meeting that such myths and stereotypes still existed all over the world, sometimes originating from diverse but static cultural concepts.

Consideration and adoption by the Meeting
of the draft report and the draft conclusions

81. The Working Party on Conclusions submitted its draft conclusions to the Meeting at the latter's sixth sitting.

82. At the same plenary sitting, the Meeting unanimously adopted the draft conclusions and the present report.

Geneva, 19 December 1997.

(Signed) Ama BENYIWA-DOE,
Government Vice-Chairperson

1. Adopted unanimously.

Conclusions on breaking through the glass
ceiling: Women in management⁽¹⁾

The Tripartite Meeting on Breaking through the Glass Ceiling: Women in Management,
Having met in Geneva from 15 to 19 December 1997,
Adopts this nineteenth day of December 1997 the following conclusions:

General considerations

1. Traditional views of men's and women's roles -- usually stemming from the assumption that women have primary responsibility for family care -- result in their being steered from an early age into sex stereotyped occupations and roles. This contributes to limiting women's access to higher managerial positions. A concerted effort at all levels is required to bring about new approaches in the educational system from an early age, and thus to develop a more positive view of women's economic role, their capacity at decision-making levels and their effectiveness in achieving business objectives. This represents a major challenge for enterprises, organizations and institutions.

2. In view of the persistence of occupational segregation and the difficulty for qualified women to move to the top levels of enterprises, organizations and institutions, governments, employers' and workers' organizations should work together in removing the barriers, both visible and invisible, to women's career advancement. It is particularly vital for enterprise competitiveness and critical for the general well-being of society that women's skills and knowledge are fully utilized and that women are enabled to make their full contribution, given their much increased levels of education and experience, their large share of the labour market as well as the creativity and commitment they bring to their work.

Obstacles to women's career development

3. Cultural biases, gender stereotypes and attitudes against women coupled with their not being viewed as primary income-earners are major obstacles for women's advancement. Consequently, when a woman chooses not to accept a high-level post, it is often assumed that all women would choose the same. In addition, higher performance standards are often expected of women. Furthermore, the absence of clear job descriptions for higher echelon jobs and the lack of formal systems for recruitment, in some instances, also tend to create obstacles. Moreover, the existence of informal male networks, sometimes referred to as "old boys' networks", also tends to exclude women from top jobs.

4. The dilemma of dividing time, not only on a daily basis, but also over a life-time, between work and family is a key gender issue. It often forces women to make difficult career and family choices. In that regard age and age discrimination are critical concerns. Often the period most significant for career development is when many women would be also involved in rearing a family and/or caring for aged family members. At the age a woman is able to devote more time to work, she may be considered as too old for career advancement, even though she may have acquired many skills and be highly motivated. This is not true to the same extent for men, even though men can find themselves confronted with the same problem when they become responsible for family care.

5. Accordingly, effective human resource management reflected in career planning, adequate record-keeping, formal systems for recruitment and clear job descriptions free of gender bias for higher echelon jobs, affect women positively, and also men and therefore enterprise effectiveness in general.

Enterprise practices and career development

6. As a consequence of the common preconceptions of women's and men's roles, men are often perceived to be the main earners and so are available both for working the long hours and for engaging in after-work socializing, which are often expected of managers. Because women are traditionally assigned the major share of family responsibilities, it is often assumed that they are less committed or less willing to take on managerial roles involving long hours and travel. Such preconceptions do not correspond to changing realities of today's world. Throughout the world women are providing an increasingly essential part of household income and, in some cases, the primary source. Up until now women, in some cases, have been managing demanding jobs and family care, despite the lack of adequate provision for child and elder care. In order to enable more women to enter managerial positions, support structures need to be established where there are none and strengthened where they are weak.

7. Men today are also interested in a better quality of life in terms of more involvement in family life and a healthier lifestyle. This implies working less stressful time schedules or having more flexible working time arrangements. When workers, be they women or men, opt to work part time at managerial levels they should not be excluded from training opportunities and promotion considerations.

8. Supportive work environments and role models are crucial for women to enter, remain and advance in non-traditional jobs and to build a critical mass of women at higher levels in an enterprise. Education and awareness-raising for all are very important for attitudinal changes and for women to acquire leadership roles. Assertiveness, decision-making and multi-skill training help women to break down barriers to management jobs.

9. The dynamic changes being precipitated by global competition, market changes and technology provide increased opportunities for women to play strategic roles and therefore the values, mission and culture of the emerging new enterprises must reflect this reality and support the integration of equal opportunities in hiring, training and promotion prospects.

Strategies to promote women into management

10. Regulatory mechanisms and legal frameworks are necessary to eliminate discrimination on the grounds of sex. Affirmative actions and guidelines should be implemented to genuinely change attitudes while taking existing diversities into account. Enterprises, institutions and governments should take appropriate steps to ensure that employees are aware of obligations and rights stemming from fundamental rights, equal employment laws, where applicable, and related legal requirements.

11. Recruitment and promotion procedures and criteria should be transparent and based objectively, on competence and merit, and not result in discrimination in practice. For this, it is essential that clearly defined job descriptions are established free of gender bias and that there is an objective system of job evaluation and a well-structured management performance appraisal system. It is good for enterprises, institutions, organizations and governments to set targets and goals and to monitor progress.

12. Women should be given opportunities for strategic assignments and job rotation to improve their promotion prospects to high echelons of management and breaking the glass ceiling. Upward mobility and career progression should be more flexible to allow women more opportunities based on their ability and competence. Career and succession planning and the tracking of women in enterprises and organizations help them gain visibility and experience, as well as provide a mechanism for monitoring their progress. Adopting objective policies of internal recruitment combined with the necessary job and coping skills training can give more opportunities to women to advance in their career.

13. Positive action and equal opportunities policies play an important role in levelling the playing field and ensuring equal opportunities and treatment for women in recruitment and promotion. These policies and actions help women bridge the gender gap through the provision of special training or assistance with family care needs. For those aspiring to management jobs, equal access to assertiveness and leadership training, as well as the development of decision-making skills are especially relevant. Life-long learning and on-the-job training should be accessible to women and men on the same terms. The qualifications, diplomas and level of education of women should be valued in the same way as men's.

14. Given the tension between the demands of family/private life and work at certain periods over the life cycle, ways need to be devised to enable not only women, but men too, to build a career and raise a family. This can include more flexible working hours, reduced hours of work and adequate child- and elder-care facilities and arrangements. A good balance between managerial and family/private life responsibilities not only benefits the health of the individual, the family and therefore society, but may well contribute to more creative and efficient management styles and better business decisions and results.

15. Ensuring women's equal access to networks both formal and informal, not only in the enterprise but beyond, can provide support and visibility, and as well be a source of invaluable information. Mentoring women, not only by other women, but also by men, could provide advice and assistance in coping skills, as well as in business strategies, leadership, public speaking, assertiveness and team building skills. The benefits to the enterprise of a mentoring programme include increased job satisfaction, efficiency, creativity and reduced staff turnover. The employee gains confidence and self-knowledge, understands better her role and the corporate culture and has the opportunity to express how she and others think and feel about company practices. Mentoring also helps a future manager define career goals and increase professional skills.

16. Diversity management conceived as a response to specific needs, career aspirations, contributions and lifestyles of the workforce, can be an important strategy to promote women to the top and may be good for business. As this is a new and evolving concept, however, further consideration should be given to this new managerial approach, taking into account the cultural and social context and implications. When analysing the subject of diversity management and equal employment opportunities approaches, the focus should be on the actual results with regard to women breaking through the glass ceiling.

17. Commitment of top executives to gender equality, making middle managers aware and accountable, and adopting a range of measures are central in ensuring the success of equal opportunities policies at the enterprise level. Recognition of best practice through awards at the national level can be important incentives to enterprises in promoting women. The appointment of corporate officers in the personnel departments of enterprises, who are responsible for the monitoring and promotion of equal opportunities throughout the enterprise, is an important means of sending a message throughout a company or organization and of making managers at all levels accountable for promoting women.

18. As running their own business is a potential area for opportunities for women, they should have access to business skills training and entrepreneurship development. This could be the case, for example, for women leaving large companies.

19. National tripartite commissions, wherever they exist, on the promotion of equal opportunities for women and men could be an important forum for addressing the issues outlined above and may offer solutions which protect employees and enhance good business practices. They can also play an important role in following and evaluating progress.

20. The right of all women including women managers to belong to organizations of their own choosing, in accordance with ILO Conventions, in order to promote women in enterprises, organizations and institutions, should be recognized.

Information base and data collection

21. Information and technology are driving change and defining competition today. There is a need for a free information flow. Accordingly, more accurate researches and databases are critical for tracking women in management and for measuring and monitoring statistical information on the movement of women into higher level management positions. Such data should not be merely numerical, but also qualitative in order to capture changes related to specific gender concerns. Adequate databases and continuous updating are essential for internal accountability and compliance with law.

22. The development and dissemination of guidelines, as well as the publication of success stories and awards on best practices are important for encouraging interest in women in management issues. Information sharing and counselling centres to encourage women to take up non-traditional occupations and to move faster up the career ladder are critical for women themselves, as is information sharing among entrepreneurial women.

23. Companies participating and cooperating in overall projects in a country or region to recruit and promote women are a valuable source of information sharing and enable the identification of successful strategies. Furthermore, this process allows for the identification of best practice companies and recognition through awards.

24. Use should be made of modern technology, especially the Internet, where available, to communicate and share knowledge and experience.

Role of governments and the social partners

25. The governments, employers' and workers' organizations have an important role to play in raising awareness; developing strategies; sharing information; monitoring, implementing and strengthening equal opportunities for women; and breaking through the glass ceiling. A tripartite approach is particularly strategic, especially for countries in transition and developing countries. Government, employers' and workers' organizations need to find common ground and goals to improve the situation of women at work. These can include the promotion of relevant training so that women in management obtain a broad experience across the enterprise, as well as working time and dependant-care arrangements to harmonize work and family life. Promoting policies on the prevention of sexual harassment and other forms of discrimination is also important. In addition, enlisting support from educational institutions and the mass media can ensure a more effective promotion of gender equality.

26. Collective bargaining is a powerful mechanism to promote women in strategic positions in public and private enterprises.

27. Both employers' and workers' organizations should actively promote women to top positions in their own structures.

28. Employers' organizations are encouraged to carry out surveys and publicly promote best practices, demonstrating women's economic contribution and their effectiveness in implementing business strategies.

29. Governments should be encouraged to ratify and ensure the full implementation of the relevant Conventions, in particular: the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87); the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98); the Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100); the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111); the Maternity Protection Convention (Revised), 1952 (No. 103); the Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981 (No. 156); and the Part-Time Work Convention, 1994 (No. 175).

30. Governments should systematically review legislation, taking into account the standards of ILO and other international organizations. They should not only legislate against discrimination, but move in the direction of actively promoting gender equality and equal opportunities and treatment in employment. Enforcement and implementation mechanisms should be strengthened, where necessary, and positive action programmes promoted.

31. Governments should work together with employers' and workers' organizations and women's associations to prevent sex discrimination in the workplace. They should also provide tax incentives for child and elder care. Income tax systems should be reformed so as not to discourage women from entering the workforce. Women should be made aware of their rights through information on legislative provisions regarding gender equality and equal opportunities.

32. Governments should ensure that equal opportunity policies and measures are integrated in the general and vocational educational system to overcome stereotypic roles of men and women and create the opportunities for a wider range of occupational choices, especially in non-traditional careers.

33. Governments should set the example by implementing equal opportunity policies. Government and the public sector should not be exempted from legislation to that effect and more women should be appointed to high-level positions.

Role of the ILO

34. The ILO should play an important role in standardizing the collection of comparative data, and information on benchmarking and best practices and success stories. ILO should collect data based on country definitions of women in management. Taking into account the diversity of definitions of management, the ILO should examine the feasibility of revising the International Standard Classification of Occupation, so it can do comparative analyses regarding gender equality issues. Adequate tools and appropriate indicators will be required in order to achieve reliable qualitative and quantitative data for such purposes. The ILO should help developing countries to gain better access to existing studies, training materials and research findings. The ILO should continue to promote women in management and develop networks for sharing information on strategies. In particular, it should follow and evaluate progress in achieving equality for women in managerial positions and a study should be carried out on the situation of men and women in senior decision-making positions, in both the private and public sectors. A tripartite meeting should be organized, as soon as possible, with the aim of producing a manual of best practices regarding the promotion of women in management. It should include ways of addressing the myths and stereotypes that keep women below the glass ceiling.

35. The ILO should collect and disseminate information on tripartite approaches in addressing issues of gender equality. It should also encourage tripartite collaboration and strategies to promote women in management and support the entrepreneurial route to management and leadership roles for women.

36. The ILO should ensure the presence of gender specialists in the multidisciplinary technical advisory teams and give them a higher profile in order to fully integrate ("mainstream") gender issues in its Active Partnership Policy. The ILO should also monitor the integration of the principle of equal opportunities and treatment in all activities, in particular, technical cooperation activities.

37. The ILO should ensure follow-up to this Meeting and disseminate its findings to a wide audience. It should organize tripartite meetings on women in management issues in all regions, in particular in Africa and countries in transition, emphasizing regional cooperation for promoting equality of opportunity for men and women in integration processes, in order to address the specific needs and problems facing women in all continents.

1. Adopted unanimously.

Part 2

Resolutions

Consideration and adoption by the Meeting
of the draft resolutions

At its third plenary sitting, the Meeting set up a Working Party on Resolutions, in accordance with article 13, paragraph 1, of the Standing Orders.

The Working Party, presided over by the Chairperson of the Meeting, consisted of the Officers of the Meeting and three representatives from each of the groups. The members of the Working Party were:

Officers of the Meeting

Ms. M. Rozas Velásquez (Chairperson)
Ms. A. Benyiwa-Doe (Government Vice-Chairperson)
Ms. P. Hernandez (Employer Vice-Chairperson)
Ms. A. Gono (Worker Vice-Chairperson)

Government members

France: Ms. D. Refuveille
Kenya: Mr. E. Ngare
Uruguay: Ms. M.S. Paysse

Employer members

Ms. T. Petäjäniemi (Finland)
Ms. F.M. Kone (Côte d'Ivoire)
Ms. M.A. Sáez (Argentina)

Worker members

Ms. M. Phillips (Jamaica)
Ms. M. Valkonen (Finland)
Ms. M. Vélez (Argentina)

At the Meeting's sixth plenary sitting, the Chairperson, in her capacity as Chairperson of the Working Party on Resolutions and in accordance with article 14, paragraph 8, of the Standing Orders, submitted the recommendations of the Working Party regarding the draft resolutions before the Meeting. As required by the same provisions of the Standing Orders, the three Vice-Chairpersons of the Meeting had been consulted on the contents of her oral report.

The Working Party had before it three draft resolutions, one of which was submitted by the Employers' group and two by the Workers' group. The resolution concerning areas of ILO future activity in the financial and professional services sector was declared receivable; the two other draft resolutions were also declared receivable, but only after the Working Party agreed that the titles were to be changed to indicate that they referred specifically to the financial and professional services sector. The Working Party amended the three texts within the time-limit set by the Officers of the Meeting and agreed unanimously to submit them to the Meeting for adoption.

I. Resolution concerning areas of future ILO activity
in the financial and professional services sector

The Chairperson indicated that this draft resolution was based on a text originally submitted by the Employers' group. The Working Party approved the amendments proposed by its members.

The Meeting unanimously adopted the draft resolution.

II. Resolution concerning measures to be taken by
the ILO for the advancement of women in the
financial and professional services sector

The Chairperson indicated that this draft resolution stemmed from a text submitted by the Workers' group. The Working Party reached agreement on an amended text.

The Meeting unanimously adopted the draft resolution.

III. Resolution concerning the promotion of gender
equality in all ILO policies and programmes
regarding the financial and professional
services sector

The Chairperson indicated that this draft resolution also originated from the Workers' group. The Working Party agreed to a revised text following amendments proposed by its members.

The Meeting unanimously adopted the draft resolution.

Texts of the resolutions adopted
by the Meeting

Resolution concerning areas of future
ILO activity in the financial and
professional services sector ⁽¹⁾

The Tripartite Meeting on Breaking through the Glass Ceiling: Women in Management,

Having met in Geneva from 15 to 19 December 1997,

Bearing in mind existing ILO standards promoting equality of opportunity and treatment in employment, and in particular the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), one of the core ILO Conventions,

Bearing in mind the United Nations Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women,

Welcoming the response given by the ILO to the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995 and to the World Summit for Social Development held in Copenhagen in 1995,

Welcoming the development of the ILO's International Programme on More and Better Jobs for Women,

Welcoming thus the new impetus given to the ILO's long-standing commitment to promoting full, freely chosen, productive and remunerative employment in conditions of equality,

Recognizing that women's presence in the labour force will continue to grow numerically and qualitatively,

Convinced that actions aiming at equality within the enterprise are also in the interest of business,

Noting with interest the statement in the report submitted to the Meeting that positive action should not lead to reverse discrimination,

Noting with interest that the concept of special quotas has been replaced by the concept of targets;

Adopts this nineteenth day of December 1997 the following resolution:

The Tripartite Meeting on Breaking through the Glass Ceiling: Women in Management invites the Governing Body of the International Labour Office to request the Director-General to ensure that:

(1) the ILO continues to emphasize particularly the promotion and ratification of existing relevant standards and urge governments to implement these standards in their national action programmes aiming at the promotion of women in management;
(2) the ILO intensifies education programmes focusing on employment, recruitment, career planning, respect of fundamental workers' rights and promotion of women in management as well as on the position of female entrepreneurs. In this field, governments as well as employers' and workers' organizations have a key role to play;
(3) the ILO encourages employers' and workers' organizations to facilitate women's access to membership of their boards and equally to representation at management positions within the structure of their organizations;
(4) on the basis of the report submitted to the Meeting, the ILO conducts studies on relevant approaches and new concepts of management such as diversity management and total quality management, including best practices, and on their impact on opportunities for women to have access to management positions, thus breaking through the glass ceiling.

Resolution concerning measures to be taken by
the ILO for the advancement of women in the
financial and professional services sector ⁽²⁾

The Tripartite Meeting on Breaking through the Glass Ceiling: Women in Management,

Having met in Geneva from 15 to 19 December 1997,

Considering that over the past few decades, although women have come to represent over 40 per cent of the global workforce, their share of management positions remains very low,

Recognizing the need for tripartite consultations and cooperation with the social partners at the appropriate levels in each country,

Recalling the relevant ILO Conventions on the equality of treatment and non-discrimination between men and women;

Adopts this nineteenth day of December 1997 the following resolution:

The Tripartite Meeting on Breaking through the Glass Ceiling: Women in Management invites the Governing Body of the International Labour Office:

(1) to continue to discuss ways and means of improving women's access to managerial positions and to promote the need for gender equality in governments, workers' organizations, employers' organizations and the ILO;
(2) to urge all member States who have not yet done so to ratify the Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100), the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), the Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122), the Human Resources Development Convention, 1975 (No. 142), and the Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981 (No. 156), and to promote their full application;
(3) to request the Director-General:

(a) to study the feasibility of:

(i) establishing an observatory to follow and evaluate progress in achieving equality between men and women in management positions and to inform the Governing Body on proposals and developments made;
(ii) the ILO sponsoring national awards for best practices to be presented to an organization which has excelled in promoting a genuine system of equal opportunities and which actively encourages women to take up management positions, and of promoting such initiatives internationally;

(b) to conduct a study on the situation of women and men in management positions, in both the private and public sectors;
(c) to continue to cooperate with intergovernmental and international employers' and workers' organizations, so as to address problems relating to women's access to management positions worldwide, particularly in developing countries;
(d) to cooperate with employers' and workers' organizations to promote equality between men and women worldwide;
(e) to organize a tripartite meeting of experts as soon as possible with the aim of producing a practical manual to guide promotion of women to management positions.

Resolution concerning the promotion of gender
equality in all ILO policies and programmes
regarding the financial and professional
services sector ⁽³⁾

The Tripartite Meeting on Breaking through the Glass Ceiling: Women in Management,

Having met in Geneva from 15 to 19 December 1997,

Recognizing the valuable contribution women make to the economy,

Noting that women's career paths are often impeded as a result of a lack of policies geared towards gender equality,

Considering that obstacles may begin at the recruitment stage, where the selection and appraisal criteria and procedures are insufficiently developed to ensure that men's and women's competences are equally assessed,

Recalling that one of the reasons why the advancement of women to management positions is not always a focal concern within the enterprise is because gender equality promotion is still seen as peripheral to decision-making;

Adopts this nineteenth day of December 1997 the following resolution:

The Tripartite Meeting on Breaking through the Glass Ceiling: Women in Management invites the Governing Body of the International Labour Office:

(1) to encourage member States as well as employers, workers' organizations and the ILO to integrate gender equality into ILO activities that are funded or executed (e.g. projects, programmes, policies); and
(2) to request the Office to promote the following:

(a) active training programmes, and development and implementation of policies aimed at enhancing gender
equality;
(b) recruitment and promotion procedures to reflect the need for competence and gender equality;
(c) the creation of inter and intra-organizational networks, databases and cooperation to allow for an exchange of information relating to gender mainstreaming;
(d) the development or improvement of tools to assess and follow progress in this area;
(e) the accountability of organizations/enterprises for their own progress in this field;
(f) internal auditing to measure the extent to which gender equality is integrated into policies, programmes and practices of the organizations/enterprises.

Part 3

Other proceedings

Panel discussions

ILO policy and action on gender equality
and promoting women in management

Chairperson:

Ms. K.A. Hagen, Deputy Director-General responsible for Relations with the UN System Organizations and the Bretton Woods Institutions, ILO, Geneva

Panellists:

Ms. Y. Zhang, Special Adviser for Women Workers' Questions, ILO, Geneva
Ms. C. Elstob, International Labour Standards Department, ILO, Geneva
Ms. J. Capt, Enterprise and Cooperative Development Department, ILO, Geneva
Ms. L. Howell, Bureau for Employers' Activities, ILO, Geneva
Ms. A. Sietaram, Bureau for Workers' Activities, ILO, Geneva

In opening the panel discussion, Ms. Hagen noted that two of the four highest level positions in the ILO were occupied by women and that there had been steady improvements in the number of women in the Professional and higher categories. The overall figure, nevertheless, equalled the average of other United Nations system organizations.

Ms. Zhang provided the background of the ILO's policy and action on equality of opportunity and treatment between women and men, noting that it was considered as a matter of human rights, social justice and sustainable development. Of the 181 Conventions and 188 Recommendations adopted by the ILO, a number were of special relevance to women, such as those concerning equal pay for work of equal value, equality of opportunity and treatment in employment, equal access to vocational training, workers with family responsibilities, part-time work and home work. The International Labour Conference had adopted three resolutions to promote gender equality in employment. The ILO's overall approach to the promotion of equality was to ensure that gender equality concerns were integrated across the board in all policies, programmes and activities. Since the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995, there had been an enhanced commitment to women and gender equality issues which was reflected in the ILO's new International Programme on More and Better Jobs for Women, recently approved by the Governing Body. Six countries had now been chosen to launch the first phase of the programme. Numerous other activities were being undertaken, such as programmes relating to the promotion of employment for women in the context of economic reform and restructuring, women workers' rights, export processing zones, social funds, and micro and small enterprise promotion. Globalization would pose many future challenges with regard to poverty alleviation and employment generation. While priority was rightly given to these areas as women constituted 70 per cent of the world's poor, it was also vital to develop innovative measures to help women break through the glass ceiling and glass walls into managerial and decision-making positions.

Ms. Elstob addressed the issue of international labour standards, noting that the ILO had a fairly comprehensive group of instruments designed to eliminate discrimination and provide equality of opportunity and treatment in employment, the most far-reaching of which was the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), which prohibited discrimination on the basis of race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction and social origin. Although the instrument covered discrimination on seven grounds, sex being only one of them, it had considerable impact on promoting gender equality both as regards the form of discrimination all women could face, and in relation to women who were multiply disadvantaged. The Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100), in laying down the principle of equal remuneration for work of equal value, also had a significant impact in overcoming one of the most persistent forms of discrimination. The Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981 (No. 156), was intended to overcome discrimination and promote equality of opportunity and treatment, both between men and women with family responsibilities, and between those workers with family responsibilities and those without. The ILO emphasized the need for taking a comprehensive approach in applying any or all of these Conventions. Recognizing the multiple, interrelated causes of women's lack of enjoyment of equality of opportunity and treatment, the ILO and its supervisory bodies had consistently pointed out the desirability for member States to ratify and implement the three Conventions to ensure that there was a general context conducive to equality at the national level. It was considered that the achievement of gender equality required two elements: commitment to overcoming barriers and accountability in measures being taken in pursuance of that goal. There had been progress in member States, most of which had formulated anti-discriminatory policies oft

Government group
	Chairperson:	Ms. S. Wilcher (United States)
	Vice-Chairperson:	Mr. G. Basaran (Turkey)
	Secretary:	Ms. P. Mäkinen (Finland)

Employers' group
	Chairperson:	Ms. T. Petäjäniemi (Finland)
	Vice-Chairpersons:	Ms. A. Benhamou (France) Ms. F.M. Kone (Côte d'Ivoire) Ms. S.I. Ramli (Malaysia) Ms. M.A. Sáez (Argentina)
	Secretary:	Mr. J. Dejardin (International Organization of Employers) (IOE)
	assisted by:	Ms. B. Perkins (IOE)

Workers' group
	Chairperson:	Ms. P. Scarcelli (United States)
	Vice-Chairpersons:	Ms. A. Wobil (Ghana) Ms. H.M. Rao (India)
	Secretary:	Ms. S. Tiernan (International Federation of Commercial, Clerical, Professional and Technical Employees)

	Argentina:	Ms. Raimundo
	Chile:	Ms. Galilea Ocón
	Finland:	Ms. Kauppinen (adviser)
	Ghana:	Ms. Benyiwa-Doe
	United States:	Ms. Wilcher

Chairperson:	Ms. K.A. Hagen, Deputy Director-General responsible for Relations with the UN System Organizations and the Bretton Woods Institutions, ILO, Geneva
Panellists:	Ms. Y. Zhang, Special Adviser for Women Workers' Questions, ILO, Geneva Ms. C. Elstob, International Labour Standards Department, ILO, Geneva Ms. J. Capt, Enterprise and Cooperative Development Department, ILO, Geneva Ms. L. Howell, Bureau for Employers' Activities, ILO, Geneva Ms. A. Sietaram, Bureau for Workers' Activities, ILO, Geneva