Equality between men and women at work has improved over the years but more still has to be done to achieve better gender balance at home, according to a report presented in Parliament.
“Far more progress has been made in making the workforce equal than has been achieved in ensuring equality in the home. The latter is hindering the former... If we are to make further progress towards gender equality, we have to address the fact that it is neither ‘normal’ nor ‘natural’ for women to be performing most of the unpaid labour,” according to the report presented to Parliament’s social affairs committee.
The report was the fruit of workshops for representatives of various NGOs and stakeholders organised by the President’s Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society on occasion of Women’s Day in March.
The outcome of these workshops was gathered in the report which lists a series of recommendations that include having a gender-inclusive educational system that eliminates career and family stereotypes to promote gender equality.
Girls and boys are still being pushed towards stereotyped subjects and “until educational sexism is eradicated, more than half our children will be short-changed and their potential lost”.
Employers should measure productivity rather than the amount of hours logged in
This echoed the concern raised earlier this year by businesswoman Claudine Cassar who said Malta was losing “hundreds of talented girls” because they were not being encouraged to pursue the careers they really wanted.
She said she knew of instances of young girls who were discouraged from becoming engineers or pursuing a career in IT by their school guidance teachers or parents because those were “boy’s jobs” and one day they would have a baby.
The report also noted that many participants felt that discrimination was still an issue.
Women faced conflicting pressure when, for example, the idea that “a good mother” should stay at home with her children clashed with the ideal employee giving “her all” at work.
The fact that working mothers tried to find a balance with reduced hours often meant they were not considered for promotions.
“Employers should measure productivity rather than the amount of hours logged in,” the report said.
Many felt that women made more compromises than men in order to balance their professional success and personal fulfilment and this was because most housework was done by women.
The report concludes that the themes that promoted women’s well-being included education, a supportive family environment, supporting social structures and dialogue with men.
Themes that hindered well-being included stigma, pressure to conform, discrimination, difficulty achieving a work-life balance and violence against women.