Sri Lanka lags behind in women’s participation in the workforce, especially compared to other middle-income countries says a new report from the World Bank, titled, ‘Getting to Work: Unlocking Women’s Potential in Sri Lanka’s Labor Force’.
The report confirms that for women marriage can function as a deterrent to participation in labour markets. It can drastically lower women’s odds by 26 percentage points of becoming a paid employee, while for men it slightly increases the odds, by 2.5 percentage points.
Getting women to work will require embracing comprehensive and multi-pronged strategies that require collaboration between various stakeholders, including the private sector.
Even as the economy expanded, female labour force participation (FLFP) declined from 41 percent in 2010 to 36 percent in 2016 in fact, Sri Lanka has the 14th-largest gender gap in labour force participation globally. Men’s participation remained above 75 percent during the same time period.
As noted in the report, a worrying trend has poorer and less educated women falling further behind their more educated and wealthier counterparts.
The report notes that women are not acquiring the proper skills demanded by job markets.
Primary research done for ‘Getting to Work’ confirms that employers actively discriminate by gender to a much smaller degree than employees suspect.
Yet, this may not be the case for promotions—occupational segregation endures, and especially when it comes to high-skill and management jobs, men continue to dominate.
Going forward, the report recommends four priority areas to focus on, each designed to address different barriers to women gaining paid employment and then continuing to thrive in the workplace.
It also offers specific recommendations for improving women’s participation in the five private sector industries studied: information and communication technology (ICT), tea estate work, tourism, garments, and commercial agriculture.
Starting young, career development initiatives can help girls acquire the education, skills and confidence to pursue courses, particularly in the STEM fields or in technical and vocational education and training (TVET) programs, which are in demand with prospective employers.
Women entrepreneurs could be enabled to work out of their homes by providing relevant training and access to credit and market linkages, which allow them to establish successful businesses.
Women who wish to travel outside the home for work could be better supported by improved access to safe transportation.
Workplaces must embrace gender equity in labour legislation and non-discriminatory policies, including zero tolerance for sexual harassment.
By undertaking affirmative action and ethical branding initiatives, the private sector could help expand women’s share of employment and firm ownership in emerging industries.
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