ADDRESSING GENDER ROLES

Traditional gender roles and stereotypes continue to have a strong influence on the division of labour between men and women at home, in the workplace and in society at large despite the role education has played in minimizing the challenge, and tend to continue a vicious circle of obstacles for achieving gender equality. Although the role of the social partners is not to interfere with private life, social partners do have a role to play in addressing gender roles and stereotypes in employment and in the workplace. In the past three decades, as the result of education women’s employment rates have increased significantly and faster than men's, but not equally in all sectors and occupations. Women tend to be overrepresented in specific areas of activity related to traditional gender roles such as care, education, cleaning, retail etc., and to be underrepresented at higher levels of occupation.

In this education has helped breaking down cultural barriers to ensure that women and men follow a more diverse range of careers and to encourage their participation across the labour market is a complex task given the numerous socio-economic factors to be taken into consideration. It is nevertheless crucial to desegregate labour markets in order to achieve occupational gender equality.

Stake holders have therefore in other aspects helped in Promoting non-gender biased education in schools, universities as well as efficient and non stereotyped careers advice services, for students and those already at work, to enable individuals to make better informed education and career choices. Encouraging pupils, students and parents to consider all the available career options for girls and boys at an early stage. Examples of practical tools to do so include: Organising open days in companies for girls in order to show that pre-conceived ideas about women’s compared with men’s jobs are not justified in practice and inform them about career options they may not have considered otherwise; Encouraging parents to promote companies as a place for their daughters to pursue careers; Cooperation programmes with public and/or education authorities to raise awareness on labour markets needs; Participation in career fairs. Making a special effort to attract girls and young women into technical and scientific professions which can also help address skills and labour shortages hampering economic growth


PROMOTING WOMEN IN DECISION-MAKING
More women have acquired education in the last decade especially in developing countries, and this has facilitated them to fall in decision-making positions in all spheres of society, which is growing, notably as a result of increased participation of women in the labour market and their success in higher education. However, globally only 30 % of managers are women, only 10 % of members of boards of directors are women, and only 3 % of CEO’s or equivalent positions are taken by women3. Social partners have a clear responsibility to ensure that the overall working environment supports a more balanced participation of women and men in decision-making.