International Convention

and Constitutional Man- UNIT 7 WOMEN IN THE ORGANISED SECTOR

dates for Gender Equality

Contents
7.0 Aims and Purpose
7.1 Introduction
7.2 The Nature and Growth
7.3 Women’s Employment by the Public and Private Sectors
7.4 Variation of Employment by State
7.5 Women in Higher Positions in the Organised Sector
7.6 Problems Faced by Women in the Organised Sector
7.7 Women in the Organised Sector in Australia : An Overview
7.8 Concluding Remarks
7.9 Clarification of the Terms Used
7.10 Some Useful Readings

7.0 AIMS AND PURPOSE

This unit deals with the state of women’s employment, their working conditions
and problems in the organised sector. It provides you information both about
India and Australia and will help you develop a comparative perspective on
women’s work participation in the organised sector. After reading this unit,
you should be able to:
• Explain the form and extent of women’s employment in the organised
sector in India;
• Analyse their distribution in the public and private enterprises in the
organised sector in India;
• Describe the problems faced by women in the organised sector in India;
and
• Delineate the facets of women’s work participation in Australia.

7.1 INTRODUCITON
As the economy of India is expanding, the proportion of women working in
the organised sector is also increasing gradually. In the organised sector, we
find two sub-sectors i.e. the public sector and the private sector. In both
these sectors women are involved in the following types of activities : (a)
agriculture and allied occupations, (b) mining and quarry, (c) manufacturing,
(d) electricity, gas and water, (e) construction, (f) wholesale, retail business
and hotel and restaurants, (g) transport, storage and communication, (h)
financial, insurance, real estate and business services, (i) community and social
services. It is important that in the wake of globalisation the patterns of
women’s work participation in these varieties of activities have changed. In
this unit we have explained these changes in detail. India is a vast country so
there are diverse patterns of women’s work participation in the organised
sector. To highlight these diversities, we have shown women’s work
participation in various states and union territories in India. Women in the
organised sector face various problems which are qualitatively different from
those in the unorganised sector. In this Unit, we have provided a glimpse of
these problems through a case study undertaken by Southern Asian Research
and Development Initiatives. In the last part of the Unit, we have also described
the patterns of women’s work participation in a developed country, Australia.
In the developed countries women predominantly participate in the formal
114 sector. The last section will help you make a comparison between India and Australia.
 Global Debates and
7.2 THE NATURE AND GROWTH their Impacts

The organised sector is defined as those economic establishments or enterprises

which are governed by sets of recognised rules and regulations. The organised
sector of the Indian economy comprises the following:

a) All public sector enterprises i.e., all services under the Central, State and
local governments and occupations in public undertakings in the fields of
industry, credit financing, public utilities etc.
b) All non-agricultural private sector establishments which employ 10 or more
persons (CSWI 1974).

The organised sector plays a significant role in the economy of a country not
only by producing goods and services but also by providing employment to a
vast number of people. As this sector is governed by established rules and
regulations pertaining to recruitment, retirement, promotion, retrenchment,
social security, maternity, child care facilities etc., we can get accurate data
about the status of the workers in this sector of the economy. It is important
that the organised sector is also very often known as the formal sector as it
is governed by formal rules and regulations of the state. It sets the standard
for labour employment, their quality, remuneration, output, social security
etc. In the developing countries there has been a steady growth of the
organised sector of the economy in the last few decades.

Along with the steady growth of the organised sector in the Indian economy
women’s participation has also increased in this sector over the years. In 1971,
the organised sector absorbed only 11% of the total women workers, while in
1999, this sector had absorbed 17.4% of women workers. The changing
proportion of women’s employment in the organised sector is shown in Table
I and their employment in public and private sectors shown in Table 2. In India
workers are usually clubbed under nine industrial categories. Again these
categories are available both in the public and private sectors. The extent of
women’s employment by these industrial categories and their distribution
over the public and private sectors are shown in table 4.

Table 7.1: Percentage of Women in the Organised Sector

Year 1971 1981 1991 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

Percentage 11.00 12.20 14.10 15.40 15.80 16.40 16.90 17.40

Source: Manpower Profile, India Year Book, 2000

Table 7.2: Employment of Women in the Organised Sector by Industry

Classification (in thousands)
Industry Division Public Sector Private Sector Total
1971 2000 1971 2000 1971 2000
Agriculture and
allied occupations 12.7 48.3 383.5 464.4 396.2 512.8
Mining and
Quarrying 11.9 55.6 40.6 8.4 52.5 64.0
Manufacturing 24.9 93.0 388.4 937.0 413.3 1030.0
Electricity, gas
and water 16.8 44.7 0.6 1.3 17.2 46.1
Construction 31.4 62.3 28.0 4.0 59.4 67.3
Wholesale, retail
business and hotels 115
International Convention
and restaurants 16.3 17.4 15.2 29.4 31.5 46.8
and Constitutional Man-
dates for Gender Equality Transport, storage
and communications 45.2 174.9 1.5 8.1 46.7 182.9
Financial, Insurance,
Real estate and
business services … 184.8 … 60.2 … 245.0
Community, personal
and social services 716.6 2177.2 205.2 577.3 921.8 2754.5
Total 860.8 2859.2 1062.8 2090.1 1869.6 4949.3

Source: Manpower Profile, India Year Book, 2000

Notes: Figures in brackets are industrial codes of National Industrial Classification

Source:India, Ministry of Labour, Directorate General Employment and Training (2003).

‘Employment Review’ January-March 2001, New Delhi P. 24.

It is important that at the outset we should know the form, extent and the
emerging trends of women’s employment in the organised sector.

• The figures presented in the above tables show that there has been a
significant increase in women’s employment in the organised sector from
11% in 1971 to 17.40% in 1999.
• Over the years women’s employment has been significantly higher in the
private enterprises than in the public enterprises in the organised sector.
• The highest increase of employment of women has been registered in the
community, personal and social services division in the public sector. In
the private sector women get more employment in manufacturing and
agriculture. Significantly, financial, insurance, real estate and transport,
storage and communication have emerged as important areas of women’s
employment in the public sector. As the service economy is expanding,
the scope of women’s employment in these areas of activities has also
increased. Significantly, in the wake of globalisation and occupational
diversifications, women’s work participation has been conspicuous in most
areas of economic activities especially in the service economy which is
characterised by careers in services as the tourism, hotel and restaurants,
transports and communication, finance, and insurance, community services.

7.3 WOMEN'S EMPLOYMENT BY THE PUBLIC AND

PRIVATE SECTORS
In the organised sector women are employed in various types of bodies and
establishments. For example in the public sector the main avenues of
employment are central government, state government, quasi-government
organisations (autonomous bodies like educational institutions, developmental
institutions, public sector undertakings and so on), and various local bodies.
In the private sector again there are large scale and small scale industries. You
can get a glimpse of women’s employment in these bodies and establishments
in Table 3. This table shows the following facts:

a) The extent of women’s employment both in the public and private sector
has increased substantially over the decades. This increase has been
conspicuous in the public sector with an increase of 327% in the period
between 1971 and 1999. Women’s employment has increased by 175% in
the private sector during the same period.

116
b) The state governments have emerged to be the largest employers of Global Debates and
women employees followed by the quasi-central and state government their Impacts
bodies, central government and local bodies in the public sector

c) Though the public sector in general employs more women than the private
sector, the large private sector establishments employ the highest number
of women employees in the country than any individual segment of the
public sector (central, state, quasi govt. etc.). The large establishments
in the private sector also employ more women than the small
establishments.

d) An analysis of women’s employment over the years shows that women’s

employment in central government has increased by 323%, in state
government by 390%, in quasi-state and central government by 684% in
local bodies by 171% and large establishment public sector 195%. As a
section of women are getting more and more access to education and
training facilities, there has been an increasing extent of women’s work
participation in the organised sector.

e) However, notwithstanding such increase in women’s employment in the

organised sector, women constitute only a small segment of total employees
in India. In the public sector they constitute only 14.5% and in the private
sector 23.12% of the total workers. In the central government they form
only 7.6%, in quasi-state and central government 9.2%, in state governments
18.5%. They however, have relatively higher representation in the
government own local bodies with 26.16%, privately own large and small
establishments with 23.6% and 29.8% respectively.

Table 7.3: Distribution of Women Employed in the Organised Sector (in lakhs)

Category 1971 1999 Variation

Total Women % Women Total Women % Women of % women
employees
1999/1971
Public Sector
Central
Government 27.60 0.78 2.82 33.13 2.52 7.60 323%

State
Governments 41.50 3.53 8.50 74.58 13.79 18.50 390%

Quasi-Central
and State 19.23 0.86 4.50 63.86 5.89 9.22 684%

Local Bodies 18.78 3.44 18.30 22.59 5.91 26.16 171%

TOTAL 107.10 8.61 8.03 194.15 28.11 14.50 327%

Private Sector

Large
Establishments 67.40 10.63 15.77 77.70 17.92 23.06 195%

Small
Establishments 9.28 2.77 29.85

TOTAL 67.40 10.63 15.77 86.98 20.69 23.12 195%

Grand Total 174.50 19.24 11.02 281.13 48.30 17.18 251%

Source: Directorate General of Employment and Training

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International Convention
and Constitutional Man- Think it over 1
dates for Gender Equality
What is the organised sector? Write a note on the patterns of women’s
employment in this sector

7.4 VARIATION OF EMPLOYMENT BY STATE

India is a vast country. There are several regional variations in the pattern of
women’s work participation in the organised sector. There are some states
with sharp increase in women’s work participation in organised sector, such
as Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, some states with moderate increase like
Assam, Delhi, Himachal, some with minimal increase like West Bengal etc. and
some which have seen a decline, as in Bihar. There are also variations by
sectors (public/private) of employment.
In some of the states in India private sector provides more employment to
women than the public sector. For example in Assam, Karnataka, Kerala and
West Bengal more women are employed in the private sector. On the other
hand in states like Jamme and Kashmir, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland etc. only
a small number of women are employed in the private sector. However inspite
of there variations private sector has emerged to be prominent employer of
women work force in India.
Table 7.4: Employment of Women in the Organised Sector as on 31.3.2001
INDIA / STATE / UTs Employment of Women Employment of Women
(in thousands) 1991 (in thousands)As on 31.3.2001
#Public #Private *Public *Private *Total
Sector Sector Sector Sector

India 2346.8 1434.2 2859.2 2090.1 4949.3

1. Andhra Pradesh 146.1 72.9 223.7 195.4 419.1
2. Arunachal Pradesh - - N.A N.A N.A
3. Assam 61.2 259.2 79.1 275.6 354.7
4. Bihar 96.8 17.4 89.9 17.21 107.1
5. Chattisgarh - @ 36.8 4.7 41.4
6. Delhi 81.8 27.4 91.5 30.1 121.6
7. Goa 13.3 a
6.3 a
14.9 7.4 22.3
8. Gujarat 142.6 67.3 136.4 69.3 205.7
9. Haryana 51.7 17.0 62.7 27.5 90.2
10 Himachal Pradesh 28.7 3.3 42.2 4.9 47.1
11 Jammu & Kashmir 22.2 1.7 20.7 1.9 22.6
12 Jharkhand - - @ @ @
13 Karnataka 160.1 92.1 254.5 314.2 568.8
14 Kerala 185.6 223.4 193.5 292.4 485.9
15 Madhya Pradesh 145.6 26.1 129.2 21.3 159.4
16 Maharashtra 303.5 171.7 357.7 207.0 564.7
17 Manipur 8.6 0.3 18.0 1.0 19.0
18 Meghalaya 10.7 1.9 15.0 4.4 19.3
19 Mizoram 7.6 0.4 10.4 0.6 11.0
20 Nagaland 8.7 0.6 11.2 1.4 12.5
21 Orissa 54.1 13.1 88.3 10.4 98.7
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 Global Debates and
22 Punjab 84.2 23.0 99.5 34.4 133.9 their Impacts
23 Rajasthan 99.3 40.7 131.7 40.9 172.6
24 Sikkim - - N.A NA. N.A
25 Tamil Nadu 323.5 179.4 402.0 327.5 729.6
26 Tripura 14.0 4.6 21.0 5.8 26.9
27 Uttar Pradesh 16.29 489.2 159.8 48.5 208.3
28 Uttaranchal @ @ 28.8 4.3 33.1
29 West Bengal 114.2 132.0 119.8 133.7 253.5
30 Andaman &
Nicobar Islands 3.1 0.1 5.3 0.2 5.5
31 Chandigarh 9.4 2.7 12.7 6.3 19.0
32 Dadra & Nagar Haveli - - N.A N.A N.A
33 Daman & Diu - - 0.4 1.5 2.0
34 Lakshadweep - - N.A N.A. N.A
35 Pondicherry 7.4 1.4 2.3 0.6 2.8

Note: @The figures for these States were included in their parent States
http://nrcw.nic.in/statistics%20 tables/employmentorg.html
Source: # India, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Central
Statistical Organization (2003). Women & Men in India 2002. New Delhi
P.45
* India, Ministry of Labour, Directorate General of Employment and Training.
(2003). Employment Review Jan-Mar. 2001. P. 23.

7.5 WOMEN IN HIGHER POSITIONS IN THE ORGANISED

SECTOR
Women work at different levels and under different conditions in the organised
sector. A large number of women work in agriculture, mines, factories and
plantations as labourers or as assembly level workers in formal establishments.
Their numbers are proportionately increasing than those of the women working
at the managerial level. An estimate suggests that not even one percent of
the Indian women workforce are found to work at the managerial level. In the
private sector only a few female CEOs are found to lead their enterprises.
However, with the expansion of educational opportunities, diversification of
economy and introduction of various schemes and programmes, more women
are now gradually becoming visible in the managerial categories in the private
sector.

The increased access to higher education has made it feasible for large numbers
of women to compete for higher positions in Government. Since the 1970s,
larger numbers of women have appeared and succeeded in competitive
examinations to various services. The proportion of women in Central
employment rose from 67000 to 289,000 that is, from 2.51% in 1971 to 7.58% in
1991. Amongst the All India Services, women’s representation is the highest in
the Indian Postal Service. During the reference period, it has increased from
17.5% to 21.5%. Next in rank come the Indian Audit and Accounts Service,
Indian Information Service and Indian Revenue Service. Representation in the
Indian Foreign Service has also increased from over 10% to about 14% and the
Indian Administrative Service Iron 9% to 10%. In the rest of the Services,
women’s representation is less than 7%. Indian women have the lowest
representation in the Indian Police Force and the Indian Forest Service (2% and
3% respectively) (Govt. of India 2005). 119
International Convention
and Constitutional Man-
Think it over 2
dates for Gender Equality Write a brief note on the nature and trend of women’s employment in the
public sector.

7.6 PROBLEMS FACED BY WOMEN IN THE ORGANISED

SECTOR
Though in the organised sector women are employed following prescribed
rules and procedures, and their working conditions are governed by well
established rules and norms, they encounter several problems. Many of these
problems remain unidentified and are therefore not addressed.

Research conducted in India on the working situation of women in the organised

sector reveals several dimensions of these problems. In the following section
we shall be discussing some of those problems which are general in nature.
This discussion is based on a research undertaken by the Southern Asian
Research and Development Initiatives (SARDI), New Delhi, focusing on selected
industries located in Bangalore, Mumbai, Thane, Pune and in Delhi National
Capital Region. Some of the findings of this study are as follows.

i) Concentration in Paid Unskilled Jobs: This study finds that in the

industries women are highly concentrated in the low paid unskilled jobs.
This is mostly because of the fact that women have low access to training
and education and they are slotted into low paid jobs.

ii) Inequality in Pay: The study highlighted that women have been the victims
of unequal pay for equal work. Women are appointed in the unskilled jobs
and for specific shifts where the wages are low. However, women’s mean
wages were highest in multi-national companies, followed by public sector
firms, then by companies with foreign collaboration. Their wage is the
lowest in the private industry. Inequity in pay, as this study highlights,
are dependent on the following factors:

• Women are not deployed for overtime shifts where payments are
higher.
• In general, men receive more promotions than women. Unlike women,
the nature of men’s jobs often changed with these promotions,
while women keep on slogging in the same position.

iii) Inadequate Access to Benefits and Facilities: Overall a larger proportion of

men reported having access to facilities at the workplace than did women.
In general there was inadequate provision for women workers such as
rest rooms and childcare facilities. There is not much of a difference in
facilities for women even where there is a union. It is important that in
spite of mandatory statutory provisions, these facilities are not provided
to the women employees in these industries.

iv) Access to Training, Skills and Education: The study revealed that more
than three fourths of the men received training compared to less than
half of the women while in employment. Among those trained, a higher
proportion of women reported getting basic training, while a higher
proportion of men reported getting higher skilled training. Here a
discriminatory attitude of the employer is reflected in providing
opportunities of training to women.

Most of these industries have undergone a process of technological

modernisation and restructuring. It was found that during the periods of
modernisation and restructuring, more men get retained rather than
120
 women. As a large number of women worked on non-permanent basis, Global Debates and
and they were not given the opportunity for training, consequently they their Impacts
were easily removed from the jobs during the period of restructuring.

v) Low Level of Awareness about Occupational Health and Safety: A very

low level of awareness exists among women workers and unions about
occupational health hazards. A large section of the workers were found
to work in hazardous conditions. However, few workers find any links
between the nature of their work, the materials used, their posture
during work and the ailments they experience.

However notwithstanding the lack of awareness, several important

problems raised by women related to their reproductive health. At least
a fifth of the women reported health problems such as white discharge,
and these women were also mostly confined to one particular position in
their work situations. They expressed the urgency for rest rooms. However,
provision for rest room is rarely available.

vi) Sexual Harassment: As a large number of women are placed in unskilled

and low paid jobs, they have little power to voice their grievances. They
mostly remain silent on all issues of oppression including the issues of
sexual harassments as power relations are involved. A politics of silence
around the issue of sexual harassment reflected itself in the fact that
very few women reported both the incidence of harassment as well as
the incidence of complaints. Management has been largely indifferent
towards these issues as indicated by the virtual absence of sexual
harassment committees, lack of punitive action in cases reported and the
fact that at times women who voiced complaints were punished rather
than the offenders. Women too were unaware of the importance of
appointing a committee to whom such complaints could be addressed, or
having a woman at the head of such committees.
This study also found that :

• Sexual harassment committees have not been set up in most places

and where they have been appointed, the workers are not aware of
it. Moreover these committees have no powers to take action, only
to recommend.
• Most women do not complain and when they do, they complain mostly
to the management.
• The action taken is usually warning and suspension. Most of the cases
are pending. Current redressal mechanisms have been found to be
non-existent or ineffective.
• At least 25 per cent of women reported problems with their
supervisors.
• A major problem faced by women employees was that they were
frequently bullied by the male supervisors.
• The presence or the absence of unions seems to have no significant
impact on the extent of sexual harassment at the work place (SARDI
2002).
Problems Raised by Women
Women workers listed out several problems faced by them:
a) Sexual Harassment from the male clients or workers: This is clear in the
following statements made by women workers:
• Men use vulgar language
• Men write unpleasant remarks about women in the toilets
121
International Convention
and Constitutional Man-
dates for Gender Equality
• Men pass comments
• Sexual harassment from male patients is common among women
working in the health sector.
• Nurses are facing a lot of problems with patients, attendants and
administration. Patients posed the maximum problems for nurses as
their work involved closer proximity to men than does other kinds of
work.

b) Job Security: A second set of problems related to insecurity about being

fired or transferred as jobs get reorganised or eliminated. This is evident
from the following comments;

• A sense of insecurity at loss of jobs

• Uncertainty of the future and career prospects of Medical
transcription
• Fear of transfer

c) Lack of Training: The lack of job security was compounded by the fact
that women have little or no access to training. Women stated their fears
of staying in the same job forever or being fired and not being able to
get a new job.

The Government of India has initiated several legislative measures and has
formed elaborate policies to protect the interests of women workers in the
organised sector. It has also been made mandatory to have a sexual harassment
committee in all the government recognised bodies. We shall be discussing all
the legislative arrangements for women working in the organised sector in
Block-4 Women, Crime and Law in detail.

Learning from the Experience 1

Interact with at least 10 women working in the organised sector and
collect information on the problems they face in their organisations. Based
on the information write a note on the problems faced by women in the
organised sector in your area.

7.7 WOMEN IN THE ORGANISED SECTOR IN

AUSTRALIA : AN OVERVIEW
In the previous sections of this unit we have discussed women’s work
participation in the organised sector in India. The Indian case represents a
typical story of the developing countries. You should also know the situation
of women’s work participation in Australia which represents the case of a
developed nation. In this section, we shall be dealing with women’s work
participation in Australia and we shall be focussing on the organised sector.
After reading this section carefully you should be able to bring forth several
commonalities and differences in women’s working situation in the organised
sector in developing and developed countries.
In Australia women’s work participation has been steadily increasing in the
Post World War II period. In 1954 women’s work participation was only to the
extent of 29%. In mid 1950s it increased to 41% and in 2002 it was 66% of the
total workforce. The Office of the Status of Women in Australia underlines the
following reasons that favourably affect women’s work participation:
• Increasing school retention rates for girls and their participation in post
school education and training;
• Changes in the nature of work in Australia, which includes growth in
female dominated industries and occupations, and a greater availability of
122 part time and other flexible working environments.
• Availability of childcare services Global Debates and
their Impacts
• Introduction of anti-discrimination and equal remuneration legislation
• Changing societal values regarding women’s role” (OSW 2004:52)
Let us examine the form, nature and extent of women’s work participation in
Australia.

i) Forms of Contract: Full, Part and Over Time Workers

The labour force in Australia includes all able bodied persons aged 14-64 years.
They may be employed, unemployed or job seekers. They may also be part
time or fulltime workers. The Australian Bureau of Statistics defines full time
workers as those persons who usually work 35 hours or more per week in all
jobs. Part-time workers are those who usually work less than 35 hours per
week. In 2002, as high as 66% of Australian women were in the labour force,
of which around 45% were fully employed and 39% were employed part time.
In the case of men, 66% were full time and 11% part time workers.

There are several reasons like household and childcare responsibilities and
other economic and personal reasons for women opting for part-time work in
Australia. It is significant that 18% women as against 1% men mention childcare
as a reason for opting for part time work. “However 12% women and 29% men
in couple family said their main reason for working part time was that there
was not enough work or no other job available (Ibid: 54). In view of the
familial and reproductive considerations OSW (2004) has identified the following
trends in female employment in Australia

- Women with an employed partner were more likely to be employed than

a lone female partner.
- Women were likely to be more employed as the age of the child increased.
- Formal and informal childcare facilities affect women’s work participation
and vice versa.
- Employers and work places increasingly acknowledge the need to balance
work and family responsibilities. Here the provisions like flexible working
hours, permanent and part-time work, home-based work, job sharing etc.
have contributed to encourage women’s work participation.

Besides the part-time and the full-time employees, there were casual employees
who were entitled to neither paid sick leave nor paid holiday leave and were
identified as casual (ABS 2001).

It is important that due to the reproductive responsibilities, and non-availablity

of suitable alternatives a sizeable section of women in the workforce take
recourse to casual employment in Australia. However due to the nature of
contracts given to them they are deprived of several benefits. The casual
employees at times have long-term relationships with the employers. Statistics
show that 14% of the casuals have been in the same jobs for the last five years
and 75% for more than one year. The intensity of casual employment is growing
in Australia and it accounts for 20% of all employment. What is significant in
this context is that the majority of casual employees in Australia are women,
who are deprived of paid sick or holiday leave notwithstanding the long
association with the employer (OSW 2004).

A large section of women workers in Australia are engaged in unpaid over time
jobs. Around 44% of full time women employees working as secretaries, personal
assistants, book keepers and travel attendants work over time without
getting paid. While more men work over time than the female workers, more
men are paid for the over time work than their female counter parts (Ibid
2004).
123
International Convention ii) Industrial Categories
and Constitutional Man-
dates for Gender Equality Women workers in Australia are concentrated in specific kinds of jobs. According
to the OSW report, in 2002, their work participation by various categories was
as follows:

a. Clerical, Sales and Service (Including Advanced, Intermediary

and Elementary Levels of these occupations) 51%

b. Professional 22%

c. Others 27%

It is important to note that while women predominate in health and community

service, in education and in clerical, roles and service, where they form 77%,
69% and 89% respectively of the total workforce, they form only 10% of those
working in trade and related activities.

iii) Woman in the Economic Decision Making Position

In Australia there has emerged a gender gap so far as women’s representation
in the economic decision making bodies is concerned. According to the Census
of 2003 only 8.4% of the board seats of the big companies were held by women
in Austrlaia. 52.7% of the companies had only one woman board director, 49.1%
of the Australian companies had no female executive manager at all. Only five
of 200 Australian companies had women CEOs in 2003. The Census report also
reveals that 4% of all employed women were at the level of managers and
administrators in 2003 while for men the corresponding figure was more than
9%. Again women comprise only 25% of managers and administrators. However
female managers earn 80% of male managers salary across all industries.

The gender based occupational segregation is also widely prevalent in Australian

Public Services. Women form 53% of all permanent employees in the Australian
Public Services and occupy only 30% of the senior executive positions. There
however, has been a steady increase in women’s representation in the executive
positions in the last decade (Ibid).

Table 7.5: Managers and Administrators by Gender in Australia 2003

Units Women Men Female

proportion %

Total managers and administrators ‘000 156.6 479.8 24.6

Generalist managers ‘000 18.9 113.0 14.3
Generalist managers and administrators ‘000 11.4 38.0 23.1
Specialist managers ‘000 91.7 247.6 27.0
Resource managers ‘000 20.3 37.3 35.2
Engineering, distribution and process managers ‘000 11.2 88.1 11.3
Sales and marketing managers ‘000 27.6 79.0 25.9
Miscellaneous specialist managers ‘000 32.7 43.2 43.1
Policy and planning managers ‘000 6.8 6.5 51.1
Health service managers ‘000 5.0 3.1 61.7
Education managers ‘000 6.7 10.9 38.1
Child care coordinators ‘000 5.7 0.6 90.5
Media producers and artistic directors ‘000 2.8 5.2 35.0
Farmers and farm managers ‘000 46.1 119.2 27.9
Managers and administrators as a proportion
of total employed % 3.7 9.3 ..

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Labour Force Survey May, 2003, cf. Women in
Australia. 2004
124
Iv) Earnings and Gender Differentials Global Debates and
their Impacts
Women in Australia earn substantially less than men. The women’s earning,
received as salary and wage is only 84% of the amount earned by their male
counterparts. Again women’s gross weekly earning is lower than men’s gross
weekly earning in all the age groups.

In Australia, however there is gender based wage discrimination as

reflected in the salary of the graduates. In 2003 the median starting salary for
male graduates was $38,000 and for female graduates it was $36,000 (Ibid
2004).

Think it over 3
Explain the various social and economic factors that influence women’s
work participation in Australia.

In this section you must have observed that women in Australia have a higher
rate of work participation than in India. Various factors like increase in the
rate of girls retention in the school, emergence of women friendly environment
in employment, increase in the availability of child care facilities, introduction
of anti-gender discriminatory legislation etc. help women’s work participation
in the organised sector. However, inspite of all these positive developments
women in Australia are also discriminated against the work place. It is evident
from the facts and figures available that there has been a high concentration
of women workers in the low paid and part time jobs. Male workers are placed
in an advantageous position as compared to their female counterparts, due to
several socio-cultural situations. However, women in Australia have been
responding to these issues through organised movements. There have been
demands, along with several other issues, for pay parity and more women-
friendly work environments in Australia.

7.8 CONCLUDING REMARKS

The form and extent of women’s work participation in the organised sector
is qualitatively different from that in the unorganised sector. You must have
realised that in the organised sector, women workers are employed following
strict procedures of recruitment. They have specific educational and training
qualifications. They are entitled to several economic and social security benefits
as stipulated by the law of the land. However, women workers in general have
been the victims of the patriarchal social order. They are predominantly
employed in the lower ranks of the organisation as they are devoid of higher
educational qualifications, expertise and skills due to sustained pre-market
discrimination that starts in the family, and with larger social arrangements.
Within the organised sector, women face several problems like inequality in
pay, inadequate benefits and problems of sexual harassment. We have discussed
all these issues in this unit. The kinds of problems faced by women workers
in Australia are also discussed in this unit.

7.9 CLARIFICATION OF THE TERMS USED

Public Sector : State owned organisations or establishments.

Private Sector : Individual(s) owned establishments or organisations

having own sets of rules and regulations.

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International Convention Quasi government organisations : These are formed by the broad rules framed
and Constitutional Man- by the government. However, these
dates for Gender Equality
organisations are managed by autonomous
bodies and have the power to frame their
own rules and regulations for their own
functioning.

7.10 SOME USEFUL READINGS

Bajpai, A. (ed) 1996 Women’s Rights at the Work Place. TISS; Bombay.

Aus Stats: 2001 Women and Government in Australia.

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