Working Women Challenges as Graduate and Post-graduate teachers at Belagavi- a Pilot Study

INTRODUCTION

We celebrate ‘women’s day’ every year in every institution and embrace gender equality, but in reality, does equality exists in its true spirit when it comes to profession and proving one’s ability? Are women at workplace treated as individuals and are given their deserving place in the institution. Are the task and duties assigned to women as per their ability or there is a glass ceiling that exists in the form of gender biases which needs to be broken in time.

Figures shows that the number of women in the profession of graduate and post-graduate teachers are more as compared to men, still we find hardly few women to be on the top of the organization chart. Promotions are often denied to deserving women who have to work doubly hard to prove their mettle. The top positions in most organizations are usually occupied by men despite there being eligible women who are equally qualified and capable of shouldering the responsibilities.

High achieving women should evolve personally and professionally without any barriers to fulfil their ambition and rise in their profession beyond a certain level in hierarchy. In the profession of Graduate and Post-graduate teachers there are unacknowledged barriers like the unconscious gender bias where the competency of a women is questioned whether she will be able to handle the pressure or will be able to perform an important task.

Keeping in view these factors a pilot study was conducted to identify the challenges faced by women as graduate and post-graduate teachers in Belagavi.

Benefits of the study: As the participants answer the questions, they will realize that maybe they are unconsciously dealing with challenges day in and day out that are not work related but are due to circumstances that put them in an anxious situation. And they accept these challenges forgetting their self-worth. Participants may realize there were challenges they could have dealt with smartly without compromising and later regretting. Confronting those challenges looked more difficult and ignoring them was found the best way to deal with it. Their participation will bring forth many such situations women deal with and accordingly solutions can be proposed that will benefit the present and future generation women to work more effectively.

The study was taken up with the intention of creating awareness among female teachers in Belagavi that when they are ambitious and are capable of achieving high why be satisfied with little. If they are career oriented and focused there will bound to be challenges in many different forms which needs to be analysed, many a times women with their multi-tasking ability get confused or fail to understand their worth, and efficiency and in a long run accept these challenges as a part of their fate, or as a women they should not try to speak up and follow as they are been told.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of the study was to identify the challenges faced by women as teachers at their work place., and to propose solutions to the challenges for the effective outcome.

METHODOLOGY

A pilot study was done on 313 participants in the form of self-generated Open-ended questions. Informed consent had been taken from the participants before they participated in the study. Participation in this research was entirely voluntary. It was the participant’s choice whether to participate or not. During the research the participants were asked to take some time to pause, meditate to the questions provided and answer them to the best of experience and inference drawn from experience.

There was no anticipatory risk involved and side-effects in this study,

CONFIDENTIALITY

The information that we collected from this research project were confidential. Information about participants collected during the research were put away and no-one but the researchers were able to see it. Any information about participants had a number on it instead of their name. Only the researchers knew their number and information was kept in a lock and key. It was not shared with or given to anyone except chief researcher.

Sharing the Results

The knowledge that we got from this research was shared with the participants if they were interested to know. The research findings were shared more broadly, for example, through publications and conferences. The participants were informed before it was published/widely available to public; however confidential information was nor shared.

Right to Refuse or Withdraw

Participation was absolutely voluntary and they may stop participating in the research at any time they choose. It was their choice and all of their rights was be respected.

This proposal had been reviewed and approved by AMSHMC-Research Committee which is a committee whose task was to make sure that research participants are protected from harm. It had also been reviewed by the Ethics Review Committee of AMSHMC.

In the following questionnaire, the women teachers were requested to make their honest confession in answering them.

Questionnaire

Name:

Age:

Designation:

Experience (No of Years):

Contact No:

Address:

1. Do you think you are giving your 100% at your work place.

2. Is your work your passion or struggle for survival. 3. Are you confident at your work place.

4. Was it easy for you to get a job.

5. Are you able to maintain balance between your work & family.

6. Is there equity [justice + equality] at your work place.

7. Are your views & suggestions called for.

8. Are your suggestions accepted & supported without gender bias.

9. Mention the hindrances /obstacles at work place for career advancement.

10. Do you feel safe & secured at your work place.

11. Are you optimistic /pessimistic for the circumstantial influences on you support answer with example.

12. Does your Organisation have strategy to confront inequities/leadership opportunities at work place.

13. Do you remain silent & comply with harmful behaviour at work place.

14. Response to the experience on any of the above points.

15. Out of the above list other challenges, if any; Signature with name & date

RESULTS

Total 313 participants volunteered in the study. It is observed that

110 participants had experience of 0 - 5yrs

150 participants had experience of 5 -15 yrs.

42 participants had experience of 15 -25 yrs.

11 participants had experience of 25 – 35 yrs.

46.64% of women found it easy to get a job and 53.35% of women found difficult to get a job.

84.34% of women feel there is equity at their work place i.e. justice and equality.

72.52% of women say that their views and suggestions are called for.

69.96% of women say that their suggestions are accepted and supported without gender bias.

100% of women feel safe and secured at workplace.

86.26% of women are optimistic of the circumstantial influences on them.

56.86% of organizations have strategy to confront inequities and leadership opportunities at workplace.

59.42% of women do not remain silent and comply with harmful behaviour at workplace.31.30% of women remain silent, 4.15% are doubtful about their response, and 5.11% have not attempted the question.

37% of women did not attempt out of the list challenges and 44% of women found that the mentioned challenges are the only ones they were susceptible to, 18.84% of women had certain challenges out of the list.

60% of women did not attempt the question where in response to the experiences on any of the mentioned questions.

DISCUSSION

I matter. I matter equally. Not ‘if only,’ not ‘as long as’. I matter. Full stop.1 - Chimamanda Adichie, Nigerian writer. This quote makes a woman ponder on whether she matters equally and especially at her workplace. Every day, women confront a lot of work issues and professional challenges at workplace.¹

Gender equality, equality between men and women, entails the concept that all human beings are free to develop their personal abilities and make choices without the limitations set by stereotypes, rigid gender roles and prejudices. Gender equality means that the different behaviours, aspirations and needs of women and men are considered, valued and favoured equally. It does not mean that women and men have to become the same, but that their rights, responsibilities and opportunities will not depend on whether they are born male or female. Gender equity means fairness of treatment for women and men, according to their respective needs. This may include equal treatment or treatment that is different but which is considered equivalent in terms of rights, benefits, obligations and opportunities.²

The Gender Inequality Index (GII) is an index for measurement of gender disparity that was introduced in the 2010 Human Development Report 20th anniversary edition by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). According to the UNDP, this index is a composite measure to quantify the loss of achievement within a country due to gender inequality. It uses three dimensions to measure opportunity cost: reproductive health, empowerment, and labour market participation.³

India has slipped to the 112th spot from its 108th position in 2018 in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index 2020, which covered 153 economies. The report said it will take nearly 100 years to close the gender gap across politics, economic, health and education. Among the 153 countries studied, India is the only country where the economic gender gap is larger than the political gender gap,” it added.⁴

According to an article on “The Changing Status of Working Women in India”, the challenges faced by working women outside the workplace include: 5

1. The patriarchal system of insecure members of male species which is unable to accept the fact that women are finding their place in the workplace and tend to put down their female colleagues attempting to damage their selfesteem to assuage their own ego.

2. Responsibilities of childcare and housework borne disproportionately by women, in addition to their paid labour.

3. According to the Oxfam study, women’s ability to undertake paid work is not merely determined by economic considerations but also by social norms. Women are expected to return home at a certain time, cook, clean and take care of family affairs. This creates a huge burden, one that even top leaders like PepsiCo CEO, Indra K. Nooyi, were unable to escape from.

4. The feeling of entitlement where the women do not feel entitled to putting their own needs, comforts or ambitions first, in relation to their male partners.

The Challenges Indian Women Face in the Workplace are:

1. The infamous glass ceiling where a woman has to accept limitations to career growth and promotions due to factors like family commitments and gender discrimination.

2. Unequal wages as compared to her male colleagues.

3. Uncaring employer: Just 30 per cent of the women agreed that their employer provided wellbeing initiatives that cater specifically to women’s needs, such as periods, menopause, and pregnancy.

4. A study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology confirmed inherent biases against expectant mothers that make them feel unwelcome in the workplace.⁶

5. Workplace sexual harassment is still an existing problem in India,

6. Security factor and travelling for work.

According to a research conducted by Sampurnaa Dutta, in North Eastern Hill University, Shillong, India on ‘Problems and challenges confronted by Indian women at the workplace’, the main challenges enumerated were Gender pay gap, sexual harassment, inadequate sanitation facilities, unsafe road and transportation, gender-based discrimination and poor work-life balance. The study also concluded that here is a steady increase in the number of reported crimes against women, but there exist many more unreported cases because of fear and social stigma that is why providing safety or finding solutions need to be observed within a framework of rights. Only then can women access the full range of rights of being a true citizen.⁷

Another study was based on primary data collected from Rourkela city to find out the possible solutions for working women which could help them to overcome the problems that they face in the workplace. The results of the study showed that different age group of working women have different kinds of problems and challenges and different categories as married, single, divorcee, single parent, separated, have different issues at stake in the workplace. Some problems are common, like mental and physical stress, lack of proper balance between employment and family care, unfair treatment in the workplace, stressful life and work place discrimination etc. But some challenges are age or category specific, like prejudiced and stereotyped thinking, safety and security issues, ego hassles with colleagues, and problem of glass ceiling etc. The study concluded that proper safety and security measures by the parent organizations, sensitive and supporting partners at home, effective child care policies and appropriate grievance redressed mechanisms for women in place at the workplace could help overcome the problems of urban working women⁸ .

Looking into the Challenges and Issues of Working Woman in 21st Century, Aarti Verma concluded that the Three Factor Model which advocates the tips for Work-Life Balance should be adapted as a solution to the work challenges faced by women in the 21st century. According to this model, a healthy work-life balance can be maintained by balancing three factors: Knowledge, Skills and Behaviour in both family as well as work life. The working woman should have a knowledge of self, others and tasks in family life which enables her to engage effectively in her multiple roles as mother, spouse, sister, daughter and so on. She should also have the skills to deal with both family and work place. In family, she should be peace-keeping by sharing feelings and encouraging others to do the same. She also should network effectively. In the work place, women must have decision making capabilities, technical skills and ensure that they build effective communication with their team. The working Women also have to manage their behaviour by maintaining the relationship with family members, being socially active through their informal interaction. Their behaviour in work place also should be role based and therefore professional and formal.⁹

In the pilot study, we tried to analyse the present state of women as graduate and post-graduate teachers at Belagavi. Our attempt was to verify whether women work freely without any hindrances as males or there are challenges which hinder their progress.

Most of the questions were answered as yes and no.

It was observed that though 90.09% of women gave their 100% at their workplace, 87.85% of women considered their work as passion. 84.34% of women were able to manage balance between work and family and all the 100% of the women were confident of their work. Still we found that only few women were recognized in the frontline of their organization.

50% of women faced hindrances at workplace for career advancement. Issues or challenges given were

1. Unaware of things happening around due to which unknowingly comply with harmful behaviour

2. Unawareness of opportunities.

3. Doubtful about gender bias or feel it’s ok. It is found that most of the women have accepted the gender biases as normal.

4. Many don’t want unnecessary complications regard the workplace, and avoid problems

5. There is Discrimination, persuasion and partiality that leads to Favouritism and politics.

6. There is Stagnation at workplace and no recognition and reward system.

7. Seniority not considered

8. Less payment.

9. Women are given works which do not match their calibre like Documentation, maintenance of files.

10. In some instances they are asked to do a task and the credit is not given to them.

At the end of the study it was found that all the participants felt safe and secured at their workplace. But there still existed a gender bias when it came to giving promotions or reaching a top post in the hierarchy. The male dominance persisted and had an unacknowledged authority that regulates the dos and don’ts for women. There was hesitation in expressing their views and proposing their views and ideas. There existed hesitation in speaking up the challenges which required interview method to be incorporated while conducting the study to critically analyse and explore in depth the reality.

CONCLUSION

India is a developing country and if it has to come in the category of developed country, women as graduate and post-graduate teachers need to acknowledge that there exist a crystal ceiling and they need to break it. This study concludes that there should be no chance for the acceptance of gender bias and women should be respected as individuals and should be given their worth as per their efficiency at work. There are limitless possibilities that lie before a woman when she is provided with the right opportunities to nurture her talent and explore her potential. Let us give women the right treatment that they deserve and they in turn will give us endless reasons to be proud of.

Solutions proposed

AT THE LEVEL OF ORGANIZATION

It is for the employer to create a positive atmosphere at the workplace where a woman is encouraged to come to work, secure in the knowledge that she will be treated with dignity, respect and will be protected from harassment. This can be done by ensuring that at the time of orientation, women in organizations are made aware of their rights, facilities and actions that they can initiate regarding any challenges they face at their work place. Timely reporting challenges by a neutral unbiased committee to the Managing Director or a senior member of the management which includes a senior woman and strict disciplinary action against those found violating the code of conduct to ensure that it is not repeated.

Awareness and Training of Women

The awareness of women employees of their organization policies on sexual harassment and gender discrimination should be encouraged and supported. The more women are confident to report all instances of discrimination without fear, the greater would be their feeling of security and empowerment.

Awareness of the organization policy on sexual harassment, gender discrimination or gender biased approach and the complaint process, educate them about their rights and facilities all this should be a part of their training.

Merits of the study.

1. Focus group consisting of graduate and post graduate women as teachers.

2. Open ended questions were asked to rule out the maximum biases

3. Flexibility in answering the questions was respected, hence certain issues were identified which can be investigated in future studies.

Demerit of the study

An interview method is suggested to be incorporated in the future exploratory study. A formal qualitative research through in-depth interviews to create a better rapport and gain confidence of the volunteers to open up the obstacles more precisely.

Acknowledgement

My thanks are to Dr Nusrat Jamadar, Associate Professor, Dr Aneesa Arkate, Assistant Professor and Dr Anisha Naik, Postgraduate Student in the Department of Organon of Medicine, A M Shaik Homoeopathic Medical College and Hospital for their help in organising the study.

Financial support and sponsorship: Nil

Conflicts of interest: Nil