Making Inroads for Women : A Qualitative Study on Constraints and Opportunities of Women’s Equal Participation in the Roads Sector in Malawi
The study aims to understand the constraints to women’s equal participation in the roads sector inMalawi to inform the development of interventions to promote gender equality in the sector. The study adopts a career cycle approach that allows to id...
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| Language: | English |
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World Bank, Washington, DC
2019
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/976371556890275822/Making-Inroads-for-Women-A-Qualitative-Study-on-Constraints-and-Opportunities-of-Women-s-Equal-Participation-in-the-Roads-Sector-in-Malawi http://hdl.handle.net/10986/31656 |
| Summary: | The study aims to understand the
constraints to women’s equal participation in the roads
sector inMalawi to inform the development of interventions
to promote gender equality in the sector. The study adopts a
career cycle approach that allows to identify and describe
the barriers to career progression for women in the roads
sector at each stage in the career cycle focusing on:
attraction, selection, retention, and advancement. The study
employs qualitative research methods consisting of focus
group discussions with women and girls along the career
cycle in the roads sector and key informant interviews. The
study has yielded insights into the multiple and
overlapping factors embedded in the socialization, learning
and hiring processes that result inhigh rates of attrition
of women in the engineering and roads-related technical
field at different stages of the career cycle, often called
the “leaky pipeline” in policy discussions about women in
STEM. From secondary school through university and
vocational schools, female students report less confidence
and aspiration in engineering and vocational training in the
roads sector. At the selection stage, women face gender bias
in hiring and difficult work environment, representing an
exodus of talent among women who could otherwise become the
next generation of architects, engineers, and roads sector
contractors. At the retention and advancement phase women
confront a difficult work environment where women are
sidelined from career advancement opportunities, face sexual
harassment and have difficulty balancing work and family
obligations in a sector wheremany of the opportunities are
in remote locations. The roads sector in Malawi offers
opportunitiesfor women: opportunities in the forms of
generating substantial incomes, designing transport
infrastructure to foster socio-economic development, and
providing role models for the young women of the future.
Increasing the gender balance in the roads sector requires a
comprehensive and multi-sectoral approach and one that needs
to address the underlying causes that subtly results in
gender stereotypes and gendered occupational cultures and
career choices. The table summarizes the key study findings
and core set of actions to help women overcome the obstacles
at different stages of the career cycle targeting women at
all age groups. |
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