Gender Equality in Bangladesh

Impact of Gender Role on Societal and Organizational Culture
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Abstract
Women, in custom and practice, remained subordinate to men in almost all aspects of their lives; greater autonomy was the privilege of the rich or the necessity of the very poor. Most women's lives remained centered on their traditional roles, and they had limited access to markets, productive services, education, health care, and local government. This lack of opportunities contributed to high fertility patterns, which diminished family well-being, contributed to the malnourishment and generally poor health of children, and frustrated educational and other national development goals. In fact, acute poverty at the margin appeared to be hitting hardest at women. The last decade has witnessed an impressive rise of women in the workforce in Bangladesh. The encouraging rate of growth has been reflected in a variety of sectors. Being able to identify some women in high positions in the normally male-driven corporate industry is certainly encouraging. With change comes a social pressure for cultural shifts in perceptions. For example, today, the working women's future 'dreams' are not just obtaining independence, but advancing in their respective careers. Such notions of career advancement closely resemble the historical aspirations of men. However, women's paths towards such dreams are vastly different from men and the reaction that such women face from their peers and families continue to be problematic. Combined with the general consequences of a patriarchal society, women in Bangladesh's corporate world are driven by additional determinants. The economic contribution of women was substantial but largely unacknowledged. Women in rural areas were responsible for most of the post-harvest work, which was done in the chula, and for keeping livestock, poultry, and small gardens. Women in cities relied on domestic and traditional jobs, but in the 1980s they increasingly worked in manufacturing jobs, especially in the readymade garment industry. Those with more education worked in government, health care, and teaching, but their numbers remained very small. The gender roles of male and female still remain significantly distinctive, which makes our society a masculine one. These roles have strong impact on the societal and organizational culture and this paper discusses about it.
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Gender Equality in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is a highly patriarchal society and gender discrimination is evident across all levels. Women are dependent on men throughout their lives, from their fathers through to husbands, brothers or sons. The Constitution affirms gender equality, but state legislation and institutions frequently disregard womens rights. For example, women and young girls are more disadvantaged than men in their access to education, health care and financial assets. Traditionally, women were recognized mainly for their reproductive role, and were often discouraged from participating in public life. Due to increased poverty and demand for labor, female employment has risen since the mid-1980s. Most of the information below concerns the Muslim majority, which makes up over 80 per cent of the population. Where available, information regarding Bangladeshs Hindu and Christian populations is also included. Family Code: Women in Bangladesh have a relatively low level of protection in the family context. The country has the highest rate of early marriage in Asia, and ranks among the highest worldwide. A 2004 United Nations report estimated that 48 per cent of all girls between 15 and 19 years of age were married, divorced or widowed. Traditionally, parents marry their daughters young to decrease the economic burden on the household. Increased use of contraceptives and declining fertility rates provide more encouraging evidence that the role of women in Bangladesh is changing. Polygamy is legal in Bangladesh, but many consider the practice to be outdated. The incidence of polygamy has decreased over the past 50 years (particularly in the cities); at present, about 10 per cent of married men are in such unions. As reported by the Islamic Republic News Agency, in 2006 the city of Rajshahi (the countrys fourth-largest city) introduced a new law and a so-called polygamy tax; any man taking a second wife must pay a one-time amount of BDT 10 000 (Bangladesh takas) (USD 125). The tax rises to BDT 30 000 (USD 375) for a third wife and BDT 40 000 (USD 500) for a fourth wife. In Bangladesh, parental authority is closely linked to religion. Islamic Sharia law regards women as custodians but not legal guardians of their children. In the event of divorce, women can retain custody of sons until age seven and daughters until puberty. If a father dies,
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his children may be taken away by his family. Hindu law also views fathers as the natural, legal guardians of children. Inheritance practices also follow religious teachings. According to Islamic law, daughters inherit half as much as sons. In the absence of a son, daughters can inherit only as a residuary (that is, only after the settling of all debts and other obligations). In principle, wives are entitled to half of the assets of a deceased husband. Under Hindu law, a widow (or all widows in the case of a polygamous marriage) inherits the same share as a son. For Christians, the Succession Act of 1925 provides equal inheritance between sons and daughters. Physical Integrity: Bangladeshi women have a low level of protection for their physical integrity. Violence against women is quite common. A study released by the UN Population Fund in 2000 reported that 47 per cent of adult women surveyed had suffered physical abuse by their male partners. Early marriage and dowry customs are major factors in the ongoing problem of domestic violence. As reported by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the government has taken steps to address this problem by passing laws against these practices. The Prevention of Women and Children Repression Act, adopted in 2000, contains several important provisions. It identifies sexual harassment and repression as punishable crimes, and establishes a death penalty for those found guilty of rape charges. It also protects women by prohibiting newspapers from publishing photographs that identify the victims of such crimes. However, these laws have proven difficult to enforce, especially in rural areas where traditions and family customs tend to govern social life. Gender-based violence outside the home includes sexual harassment in the workplace, assaults and rape. Acid attacks are also quite common, and are usually undertaken as an act of revenge by a rejected suitor or in response to land disputes. The government, the media and womens rights organizations are working to raise awareness of the problem of general violence against women. However, the lack of social infrastructure discourages women from filing complaints. In the absence of sufficient shelters for victims of abuse, the government must often resort to using prisons as holding places for women who file complaints and need
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safe housing. This situation frequently leads to further abuses. Female genital mutilation is not believed to be practiced in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is one of the very few countries in the world in which males outnumber females, providing strong evidence to suggest that there is a problem of missing women. Census data reported by Hudson and others show that more than 2.7 million Bangladeshi women were missing in 2001. This is primarily the result of son preference, which leads to female sexselective abortions, relative neglect of girls (compared to boys) in early childhood and abandonment. Ownership Rights: Tradition and social norms limit the ability of Bangladeshi women to achieve financial independence. Despite their growing role in agriculture, social and customary practices effectively exclude women from any hope of direct access to land. Similarly, although national law accords men and women equal rights to access to property other than land, women own very few assets. Their situation is further impaired by discriminatory inheritance laws and cultural norms: Bangladeshi women are unlikely to claim their share of family property unless it is offered to them. In Bangladesh, womens access to bank loans and other forms of credit is often determined by the demographic composition of their households. Lack of mobility, particularly in rural areas, forces women to depend on male relatives for any entrepreneurial activities. Several NGOs provide micro-credit to Bangladeshi women, but there is a growing concern as to whether these women actually retain control over their loans. Civil Liberties: Women in Bangladesh face several restrictions in relation to civil liberties. Their freedom of movement is usually restrained to the vicinity of their homes and local neighborhoods. The Islamic practice of purdah may further limit their participation in activities outside the home, such as education, employment and social engagements. The degree of these restrictions depends very much on the traditions of individual families, but many women generally need the permission of their husbands to engage in any such activities. Although there are no legal
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restrictions to womens freedom of dress, it is customary for most Bangladeshi women to cover at least their hair. Bangladesh, like most of South Asia, is described as being staunchly patriarchal.' Men are valued largely for their ability to provide materially for a household (typically through agricultural or non-agricultural manual labor or through some form of market work) and women are valued largely for their ability to bear and rear their husband's children.' These values are instilled from an early age, as are the roles they are to carry as adults (e.g., Cain 1977). The kind of 'partnership' that men and women form in Bangladeshi households is based on highly specialized roles, sometimes involving only a husband, a wife, and their children. Often this 'partnership' also involves related kin, such as the husband's parents or siblings, and occasionally the wife's kin. Unlike some parts of South Asia, women are heavily secluded and segregated, maintaining the tradition of purdah (e.g., Mandelbaum 1988, Dixon 1976, Jansen 1986, Abdullah and Zeidenstein 1982). They typically do not participate in primary agricultural activities, but take responsibility-within the confines of their homestead (bari)-for a large share of secondary agricultural activities, such as rice processing (e.g., Arens and van Beurden 1978, Dixon 1976). There are also strong norms that effectively discourage women from seeking work that is outside the home (e.g., Abdullah and Zeidenstein 1982, Amin 1995). Men also have primary responsibility for activities involving the market place or that occur outside of the bari (including food shopping) while women have primary responsibility for the management of the children and the home (including all food preparation). Major investment decisions (such as, those concerning land or other asset acquisition or sales and those into the human capital of children) are considered men's responsibilities. Although in any given household these roles and responsibilities are not fixed, both men and women comply to a high degree with these norms.
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Culture
Culture is a kind of inter-related issue. Culture differs from society to society. This term Culture build based on three key factors and these are excellent taste in fine arts, a combined knowledge, behavior, belief, and finally a set of values, goals which practices by a definite society. By definition culture is, learned and shared human patterns or models for living; day to day. These patterns and models pervade all aspects of human social interaction. Culture is mankinds primary adaptive mechanism.1 Culture is a kind of collective programming, where in a certain geographic area, all the people believe, thinking and doing their work based on that program. Each society has its own culture and this culture changes as time passes. Societal Culture of Bangladesh: In a certain geographic area, people follow almost same culture. Again, culture of one country influences the culture of its neighbor countries culture. Bangladesh is placed in South Asia. In numerous sectors, it has been seen that Bangladesh and other South Asian countries have lots of similarities in their cultural aspects. From the culture of this geographic area, we have found that people of these areas are in love with festive. Though this is one of the poorest and populated sides of the world, but still people are mostly in delighted mood. Relationship between families is a great issue for the South Asian people. The closeness between the relatives and friends is still higher than any other region. The culture of South Asia along with Bangladesh is rich with historic records. Though the culture of Bangladesh and South Asia is has a big portion of bright part, but still it has some black spots. A good number of people of these areas are still living under the dark of prejudice. Women are still facing discrimination in different parts of their life in this area. People are not equally treating in South Asian culture yet. In short, it can be said that, though it is not possible to have the best of culture, but still people of this region have to solve cultural problem related with human rights to speed the development.
Damen, L. (1987). (n.d.).Culture Learning: The Fifth Dimension on the Language Classroom. Retrieved from: http://www.carla.umn.edu/culture/definitions.html
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Organizational Culture
By the term of organizational culture we can understand that it is the collective behavior of people of the organization. An organizational culture also shows the values, visions, norms. The culture of organization also gives us the picture about systems and symbols of that particular organization. Organization cultures show that how the employees of the organization approach to the work, again what they believe, what they think. A clear organizational culture helps the organization to sustain in long run and gives a message to the public that what they may expect from this organization. It is also important for the new employees, because it helps them to learn how they have to work in that place. By the definition organizational culture is, The set of the set of beliefs, values, and norms, together with symbols like dramatized events and personalities that represents the unique character of an organization, and provides the context for action in it and by it."
Organizational Culture in Bangladesh and South Asia: Now, in terms South Asian countries, the term of organizational culture does not build up in different organization sector. Most of the organizations are following the old method and still they are highly depending on paper based work. In term of facility, most of the organizations in South Asia along with Bangladesh do not have any. But again, the private sector is giving importance to build up their own organization culture as their identity. In recent blow, many private organizations and also some governmental sectors are updated with current technologies. Also, some organizations are becoming the paper free and they are now being more focused on increasing the facility of the employee. Now, most of organizations are following the cultural base for dress code, language and talking style etc. Again, as in the culture of the country the discrimination rate is high, many organizations are still following the quota system to keep a balance condition based on the criteria like gender issue, tribal people and many other issues. . Also as the culture support discrimination itself, so automatically it creates impacts on the different organizational cultures.
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Impact of Gender role on our Societal Culture

Kaniz Almas, Giti Ara Safia, Siddiqa Kabir are few names of successful women in Bangladesh, but compared to the western culture if we try to find the proportion of successful women entrepreneurs or working women in our country, then the number is very low. The women in our country have to face challenges every day in both their organization and society. And additionally if the working woman has a family, then the responsibilities also add mainly onto their share. From generations to generations all over the world women take the responsibility of multitasking between work, family, and their society. In many cases women even have to choose between their work and family. Mostly women are not allowed to work, especially in the Asian countries and developing countries, such as Bangladesh. This masculine culture that women should not work along with the social pressure from family is constricting them to prosper and flourish. Across cultures, the family is the basic social structure most likely to meet individual needs and expectations. Women typically spend much more time in the house than men as they perform their reproductive and household roles. In all societies women are the prime cares of children, the elderly and the ill, and do most of the domestic tasks. Women's lives are greatly affected by reproduction, which has an incisive and direct impact on their health and on their educational, employment and earning opportunities. In societies where women marry very young and much earlier than men, wives defer more to husbands, and this has a substantial bearing on women's chances of finding paid work and receiving an education. More women than men are illiterate; and the lower a country's literacy rate, the wider the gap between the two sexes. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) estimates that 41 percent of women in developing countries are illiterate, compared with 20 percent of men. In some countries, the illiteracy rate of rural women between the ages of 15 and 24 years is twice to three times that of women in urban areas. Girls leave school earlier, especially in rural areas where they are needed to help with domestic and productive work. The lack of transport or of schools located near the home widens the literacy gap by directly affecting girls' school attendance, as parents tend to worry about the personal safety of their daughters. In some societies, rigid cultural patterns and social rules restrict women's movements outside the home.
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Gender inequality is a persistent feature of the public and policy-making spheres. Women continue to be under-represented in governments, legislative bodies and many other crucial sectors affecting public opinion, such as the mass media, the arts, religion and culture. Worldwide, there are only 16 countries in which more than 15 percent of ministerial posts are held by women, and in 59 countries there are no women ministers at all. Although women have the right to vote in nearly every country in the world, there are very few women in government; in 1994, only 10 percent of the world's parliamentary deputies were women. Available data on health, nutrition, education, and economic performance indicated that in the 1980s the status of women in Bangladesh remained considerably inferior to that of men. Women, in custom and practice, remained subordinate to men in almost all aspects of their lives; greater autonomy was the privilege of the rich or the necessity of the very poor. Most women's lives remained centered on their traditional roles, and they had limited access to markets, productive services, education, health care, and local government. This lack of opportunities contributed to high fertility patterns, which diminished family well-being, contributed to the malnourishment and generally poor health of children, and frustrated educational and other national development goals. In fact, acute poverty at the margin appeared to be hitting hardest at women. As long as women's access to health care, education, and training remained limited, prospects for improved productivity among the female population remained poor. Finally, it can be seen that due to this high masculinity culture and difference in gender roles among men and women in Bangladesh, which results in high population rate, less healthcare for the mothers. Women are mainly seen as a product for house hold work and child bearing.
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Impact of Gender Role on organizational culture

Gender roles form a fundamental part of everything people do. This fact includes the behavior of males and females in business organizations. And, male/female nature plays a vital part in how businesses market and service their customers in the corporate word. Over the past few decades, many nations and communities have made great strides in accepting and adjusting to new definitions of gender roles within their respective organizations. With the increased presence of women in the workplace, old attitudes and behaviors have had to change. Women are getting more qualified in every aspects and areas and giving a tough competition to the male dominated society. Men and women are more aware of sexual harassment than previously; whereas 20 years ago a woman who refused to have an affair with her boss may have had to quit, she now has other options. Companies are now experimenting with policies that are family-friendly, such as flex time, job sharing, and on-site child care--policies that benefit both men and women. In addition, in many areas even after working equal to men, women still earn far less money than men do for the same work, even though their salaries are vital to maintaining their families' economic health. Since 80% of the worldwide nations are male dominated, that is why the women are still lacking behind men instead of working just like their male colleagues. At this 21st century, we many say that now, men and women are getting equal rights and there is no discriminations on corporate world but still we cannot deny the fact that, we do gender while we are at work, while we produce an organizational culture and its rules governing what is fair in the relationship between the sexes. The inner ambiguity of gender construction is expressed in the dilemma: how can we do gender without second-sexing the female? The management of cross-gendered situations is based on a two-stage ritual involving the ceremonial work of paying homage to the symbolic order of gender and the remedial work of repairing the inequality inherent in gender difference. Studying the ambiguity of gender symbols enables us to use indirect speech and discursively to change gender relationships in organizations. In the corporate culture of Bangladesh, the participation of women is remarkable. Now women are getting degrees from foreign countries to work and they are joining each sector like teaching, engineering, medical, literature etc. Though they are working with men at the equal levels but in many cases they are being deprived of many opportunities and getting
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victimized of sex discriminations. Like their male counterparts, they are not able to enjoy all the benefits they deserve by contributing with their works. And in many cases, Bangladeshi women are fine with it. According to them, they have always been dominated by the male members of the society and their work always comes second after their family. They do not want to go too high on the ladder of success in their organizations because, they think that if they do so that might hamper their social life which they value more than their workplace. Of course, not each case are same, in many cases women want to be independent and want to go to t6he peak of the success. The ideology in our country is that, women are suppose to take care of the family and household but this ideology is changing and the change is in a high rate. Even if we look at the lower levels, in the RMG sector in Bangladesh, which gives the highest amount of DFI in our GDP, 80% are women workers. So we know how much women our contributing in the organizations through their respective works.
The shifting of gender roles in the past 30 years has been huge. It has happened so quickly that men and women are still trying to sort out what the new roles and rules mean to them. Although women are no longer expected to be the keepers of the house, in reality, they are in most families. Although men are generally open to the successes enjoyed by the women they share their lives with, some still find it hard to celebrate a woman's triumphs because they feel it diminishes their own. However, rather than blaming each other for the situation, men and women are increasingly willing to work together to learn about their new roles. Successful marriage partners learn to negotiate and share tasks. Managers take employees aside and tell them when comments are inappropriate. It will take time to sort out all the implications of the changing gender roles of Americans, but new expectations should result in better workplaces, better relationships, better schools, and better lives.
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Findings from Working Women 1. How much do you believe your organization is encouraging women participation?
In the first question women of both in private and public sectors were asked, how much encouragement they get from their respective organizations. Three out of four women (2 public and 1 private) chose the option A, which was Supportive. Only 1 woman chose the option C, which was fair policy. And no one chose option B or D which represented Holds back and Discriminations. So, we after analyzing their answers, both in private and public sector it can be cleared out that, public organizations are seen to be more supportive than private organizations. At the same time we can also agree at the point that in our country women participations in job sector is getting more and more encouragement. Compared to last 10 years, now women are engaging in jobs and organizations are encouraging them to do so, which is actually helping our economy. These two both public and private organizations we have taken interviews, the result shows that the Holding back and Discrimination is 0%, which means in both of these organizations women are treated equally like their male colleagues.
80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% a. Supportive b. Holds back c. Fair policy d. Discrimination
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2 Do you believe you and other women have good career development opportunity in your organization?
In answering this question, there was an equal weight on two options. They are option A and option C. Option A says; Yes they believe that she and other women have good career development opportunity in those organizations. On the other hand two out of four women said that, the career development opportunity in their organization was dependent on the potential of those people. No-one chose option B or option D. The responds were mixed in terms of private or public organization means, 1 women from private chose option A, 1 women from public chose option C, 1 women from private chose option C and 1 women from public chose A. The analysis of the answers can be explained this way that, women in both public and private sector believe that, yes female employees working in organizations are actually having good career development opportunities now a days compared to their male colleagues. 50% women believe that the career opportunity actually depends on the potential of that individual employee. This means that, if male/female any employee has the proper potential then they had career development options which were not dependent on their sexes. So, by this answer their satisfactory level regarding their career development within their own organization can be traced out, which is very good news for the working women of our country.
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0% a.Yes b. No c. Depends on potential d. Happy with existing position
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3) Is there any sex discrimination or is all male and female employees treated equally?
When the interviewed women were asked if they encountered any kind of discrimination within their organizations or not, 75% women answered, they did not faced any discrimination and all the procedures were same for both male and female. Though one out of these four women who was from public sector, chose option C, which said, Yes, in certain circumstances. This means, she thinks there are some discrimination among men and women in some cases in her organization. None of the women chose, option A or option D. This simply means that in private sector women get more equal opportunities while in public sector some women find that they are being discriminated sexually and male and female employees are not treated equally in those organizations though this is not the case for all public organization. One reason might be for thinking this way is that the old mentality of our male dominated society where women are still being dominated by the males. Though women are working out of the house and being independent, still they are not being treated equally in the organizations. Many women stay behind their male colleagues even after being more qualified than them because, the society had made this stereotyping that male members should always be ahead of those women members within an organization.
a. Yes. b.No, all procedures are fair c.Yes, in certain circumstances d.No idea
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4.How do you think your friends and relatives view your work?
This question was asked to those working women to know the view of their friends and family about their jobs. Surprisingly, four out of four women chose the option A, which says Appreciates. It simply means that these women get full appreciation from their friends and family members for the works they do. They do not have to face any kinds of problem given the ideology of our culture that women should stay back home and should do go out in order to earn money. In our culture, in past hardly women were encouraged to get out of the house and work for their living, but through this question, we clearly see that both in private and public sectors women are being very much appreciated for the work they do. Their friends and family support them and even some of them said that, their in-laws and other family members not even appreciates it, they also help them whenever they face problems regarding the work-life balance and their children. This understanding mentality really helped a lot in their career path and it also helped them to concentrate on work and flourish their career. Not a single women chose option B, C, or D that means, they never got any discouragement, or any kinds of complains from those family and friends, rather they have always encouraged them in every level of their career path.
120%
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0% a.Appreciates b.Discourages c.Neutral d.Some have complains
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5) Do you get enough encouragement and support from the society you belong to?
By this particular question, we tried to find out if enough encouragement is given to these working women from the society they belong to. Just like the previous question, even here all the four out of four, both from public and private sector went with option A, which said, Yes, they get enough and foremost support from the society they belong to and they do not have to face any kinds of complains from these people. Which means that, all these women get supported from their family members at home and also from the people who lives around them in the society. In Bangladesh culture this was not the case even a few years back. Back then, women were expected to stay back home and not go out to work and earn money for the family. That was supposed to be done by the male members of the family. But in this 2012, the picture has turned over and now women are being independent and going out of home to work and earn for living to support their family. By the answer of this question, we can see that not single women went for option B, C or D that means they have full support from the society they belong to along with their family and friends.
120%
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0% a.Yes
b.No
c.Only from close ones
d.People misunderstand
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6) How supportive is your husband about your work?

This question to the respondents was, to see how much support to they get from their husbands regarding their works. And by the answers of this particular question we can come to the conclusion that women get 100% support from their husbands and they do not have any complaints regarding their wives jobs. We can say this because; all the women chose the highest degree of supportiveness from their husbands. In addition to this answer, some of these women respondents said that their husbands are the main motivation for which they came into their career. They got full support from their husband from the very first stage and without them it was close to impossible to go out and work for their living. From the perspective of our society, husbands are the main decision maker of a family. If a husband does not support his wifes work, then it is very hard to have a peaceful family life for a wife with working outside. But we can see that, the mentality of Bangladeshi husbands is changing. They are supporting their wives with full encouragement which is a very positive sign for women who wants to be independent on their own and want to build up a career given their qualifications. Both in private and public organizations, women are getting supported from their better-halves and it is making them to be more confident and enthusiastic regarding their work which is completely needed to use the women empowerment in our male dominated society.
e.5
d.4
c.3
b.2
a.1 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120%
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7. Do you face any restriction from your social arrangement?

The question was asked keeping the context in mind that the working women of Bangladesh in private and public organizations, that is do they face any restriction from their family regarding their work, do they have to compromise with their career. And we came across some expected and unexpected findings. We saw that women working in public organization have mixed reaction towards this question. One respondent answered that she did not face any kind of restriction towards her work through her social arrangement. Another respondent mentioned that she faces a lot of restriction in many cases. For example a common case can be, when she has two social gatherings on the same day, one from her organization and one from her family, she has to choose one she prefers to choose her family gatherings. Therefore we can see that in public organizations the women working there prefer to choose their family rather than their work. Whereas in private organizations both the respondents answered that they have no restrictions form their social arrangement whatsoever. This also shows that the masculinity culture in private organization is much less as compared to the public ones.
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8. Who is mainly responsible for the bringing up of your children?
0 ME(MOTHER)
0 FATHER BOTH EQUALLY GRANDPARENTS OR OTHERS
The answer to this question was same for both the private and public organizations that the responsibility of bringing up the child is shared by both husband and wife .And in one case where the respondent belonged to a joint family where she lived with her in laws, her answer was that along with her husband the responsibility of bringing up her child was equally shared by the grandparents of the children. In fact she agreed that if a family where both the parents are working living in a joint family had more advantages rather than disadvantages she shared her experience how her both mother in law and father in law helps in taking care of her children when both she and her husband are out of country for conferences. Therefore we can see that all these situations depend on the family structure itself not entirely on the organizations where they are working. Even though Bangladesh is a masculine culture the views of educated people are somewhat changing from the womens side. But still the men in public organizations tend to think in accordance with the masculinity culture.
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9. Does your family esp. your husband share your household work?
The result of this question was quite surprising and unexpected because from the public organization as we can see from the pie chart given here; both the respondents agreed that their husbands and family both help them with their household jobs. But in private organization one respondent answered that her husband did not help her with household chores. And one respondent agreed that her husband helped her at times. Thus it can deduced form the facts that more or less people in public organizations where their spouse is also working is understanding towards the workload of the mother and the family more or less at least try to help her with the household chores and responsibilities. Even though the woman prefers to do their responsibilities themselves and doesnt consider it as a burden given upon them.
Does your family members esp husband share your household work
YES NO HE CANT AT TIMES
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10. Are you willing to compromise work and career for your social life?
For this question both the respondents from the public organizations prefer to compromise their work and career for their social life. This shows where their commitment lies to both of them their family gets their first priority then comes their career. So it is unquestionable that where their priorities are. One of the female respondents shared her experience that how important her family is for her and to what extent she is ready to compromise. She won the commonwealth scholarship for the 3rd time in a row for her PhD but she did not go at the 11th hour because her daughter became emotional about her being away for such a long period of time. And finally she cancelled her trip for the third time due to her commitment towards her family. This was her viewpoint and she didnt seem to regret her decision. So we can deduce it is not always the male or societal pressure which pressurizes working women to divert away from their work. Rather its the other way around in many cases women prefer to compromise for their family and social life. These types of cases are mostly seen for the women who are working in public organizations. Whereas in private organization there is a mixed reaction, one respondent was compromising that her family comes first and she is willing to compromise her work and career for her social life and family. But another respondent was more career-minded and her reply was that she cannot compromise her work and career for her social life. Here we can see the difference between the mindset of both public and private organization.
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11. Do your family members support you while you are needed to attend organizational crisis?
Here we found out that in both public and private organization the respondents more or less gets the support from their family at times of organizational crisis. For example one of the respondents shared her experience when she faced an organizational crisis how her family supported her and this was the respondent from a public organization. She shared that living in a joint family with her in laws helps her a lot for them and her husband to understand her problems very well. There was this case when she needed to be at a very important meeting and at the same day she had an invitation at a very important relatives house. She couldnt decide which one to forfeit but her family was understanding about this and supported her to go to the meeting. Thus we can see that the mindsets of families are changing gradually in the urban areas of Bangladesh towards supporting the female working population. But this is not very widespread throughout our country. Especially the rural areas where women are barely allowed to do any work outside for incoming in the household she is only considered to take care of the children and do house hold chores.
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12. Which one do you prioritize most?
SOCIAL LIFE WORK PARENTS HUSBAND CHILD 0 1 2 3 4 5
From the above chart we can see that majority of the respondents voted their child as the most important part of their life, and then comes their husband, parents, work and finally social life. For a woman being a mother and taking care of her child is the most important thing in the world she can do anything for her child and all the other priorities are seconded to that. Its not only the Bangladeshi context but it is common all over the world. The respondents for public and private universities also fall under this category.
pg. 23
POL104
Male Findings 1) Do you find any sex discrimination in your organization?
This question was asked to the respondents to know that, is there any discrimination in the organization, which is related with sex discrimination. By the word sex discrimination, we like to know is in the organization involves in treating their male and female employees because of that persons sex. Sex discrimination can be happen during the time of recruitment, employment terms and conditions, pay and benefits, training, promotion and transfer opportunities, redundancy and dismissal.
Male
2 1.5 1 0.5 0 Yes No Male
Sex Discrimination in your organization
Now, from the answer, we have found that both the male respondents gave the answer that, there is no sex, discrimination in their organization. It is a very positive sign. As, we have seen that in both public and private organization there is no sex discrimination as the respondent claim, thats mean in both types of these organization, both female and male get the equal chance to work. Sector Public Private Yes 0 0 No 1 1
pg. 24
POL104
Now, the picture we have got from this survey about the sex discrimination, that gives a picture to us that in Bangladesh currently, the female and male both are treating equally. This is a balance condition and it creates a friendly condition in the organization environment.
2) Do you agree women are compatible to any situation or crisis arising in
the organization?
In the second question of the survey we tried to get the individual idea about the capability of woman to deal in crisis situation. We also tried to find out that what the male employees are thinking about their female colleague in critical situation. In corporate world, dealing in a critical situation is very important.
0% Strongly Agree 50% 50% Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree 0%
Women are compatible in crisis situation Now, based on this question we have found that 50% of our male respondent strongly agreed, that women are highly compatible in the crisis situation. On the other hand 50% of our respondent is giving neutral view on this topic. We also have found some dissimilarity here between the private and public organization. From our respondent of public organization gives a neutral view on this case while our respondent from the private organization says that they are strongly agreed those women are compatible in crisis situation. Now, this type of different view from private and public organization may come, as the organizational culture of public and private organization is different than each other.
pg. 25
POL104
Strongly Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 Private Public
View about womans response in crisis situation
3) Would you like to work under a female supervisor?
We have asked this question to find out the mind frame of male employees to work under a female supervisor. The situation is, Bangladesh is a male dominant culture and in most of the cases male has got all the superlative power. So, it can be an issue of ego for some male personnel to follow the instruction of female superintendent. In some cases, male workforces are showing less loyalty to woman leaders.
0% 0%
Yes I don't mind 100% No
Males perception to work under female supervisor Now, the research we have conducted, we have found that 100% of our male respondents are saying that they will not mind to work under a female supervisor. Here, an interesting point is, we have found same respond from public and private sector in this issue.
Yes 0 0 I don't mind 1 1 No 0 0
Public Private
pg. 26
POL104
Now, from the feedback of our male respondents about Would you like to work under a female
supervisor? we have found all of our male respondents were answered that I dont mind, but none of them said, Yes. From, this answer, we can assume that male employees may feel uncomfortable to work under female, and it does not cause for their personal wish but for the psychological mind set which based on culture.
4) Are your job responsibilities the same in comparison to a female colleague working in the same position?
We asked this question, to our male respondents to know that, whether male whether male and female are getting same responsibilities in the same position. In the context of Bangladesh, women have lots of limitations. Most of the cases women left their job place before evening as the culture demands. So, in many cases women are not given all the responsibilities. Again, this condition is changing rapidly. Many of Bangladeshi organizations are giving some special treat to the women (e.g.: transport facility) which increase the efficiency level of woman.
0% Yes, It is the same No, males are given more responsibility Depends on the position 0%
50%
50%
Male comparison about females responsibility Now, from the research we have conducted we have found that 50% of our male respondent believes that female and male are sharing same responsibility in same position while 50% of our other respondent says it depends.
No, females are given more responsibility 0 0
Public Private
Yes, It is the same 0 1
No, males are given more responsibility 0 0
Depends on the position 1 0
pg. 27
POL104
Now, we have found an interesting point from here as our male respondent of public has said that the responsibility level of woman depends on the position. On the other hand our male respondent from private says yes as there the male and female are sharing same level of responsibility. It shows that the private sector of Bangladesh it practicing more efficient level of organizational culture as woman are have equal responsibility as man, but in public sector, the level of responsibility of woman depends on certain issues.
4) Do you have any restriction regarding the work of your wife?

Its another type of social culture based question for our respondents. As we mentioned earlier, Bangladeshi culture is not a total favorable place for woman, and it happens in most of the male dominant countries. Now, from this question we tried to find out that whether men are creating restriction to their wife to wok.
0% Yes No No, if she can maintain work and home
50%
50%
Males restriction to working wife Again from here we have found that 50% of our respondents saying no, he does not create any restriction to his wife to build their career, in contrast other 50% respondent says, no; only if they can manage the work and home in a good manner.
pg. 28
POL104
No, if she can maintain work and home No Yes 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 Private Public
Also, we have found that our respondents of public organization is saying that he will not create restriction to his working wife only if they can manage the home and working life in equal basis, again our respondent from private organization say no he does not create problem or restriction to their wife. From, here we have found the clear distinction between the employees of private and public organizations.
6) Do you help your wife in household work when you go back home?
In next question we have asked to our respondent about the sharing of their personal work at home with their wife. It is very important for the working couple. As our culture goes on, still now it supports that woman will do all the household works and in most of the cases both male and female are agreed with in Bangladesh. But, now days for a working woman it is very hard to do the entire households work without the help of her partner.
pg. 29
POL104
I do 50% 50% I don't I can't At times
0%
0%
Husbands sharing household work of their work wife
Now we have found that, from our male respondents who working wife, 50% of them has stated they are always share their households stuffs with his wife, then again our other male respondent says at times they share his wifes household works.
At times I can't I don't I do 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 Private Public
Again we have seen that our respondent from private organization has claimed that he shared her wifes household work whether our male respondent from public organization has mentioned he helps her wife at times in household works.
pg. 30
POL104
7) How much do you expect your wife to contribute to household maintenance?

The question was asked with the purpose of understanding how important the Bangladeshi male population thinks it is for women to work at home, even when they are working outside. The answer we got from the male working in the private organization was very interesting indeed and it gave a new dimension to our thinking. The respondent answered that his wife should contribute to the household work as much as he contributes. It is very fair of him to think that too much should not be expected from his wife and she should contribute only as much as he does. Both of them work, so if the husband cant give full contribution to his home, then he should not expect his wife to be able to do it either. However, the second male, who works in a public organization, expects his wife to contribute 100% to the household work and balance both work and home. It implies there are still many male who expect that women have to and should contribute completely to their household chores, without any miss. At times, it might not be possible for a woman who works outside to maintain both her household and office work. However, there are many male who expect that their wives, regardless of what other engagements she has, should look after the house with full dedication.
pg. 31
POL104
8) How important do you think it is for BOTH the parents to contribute equally in the bringing up of a child? (1=least important, 5=very important)

As a response to this question, the male working in the private organization ticked 5, which shows that he considers it to be very important for both the parents to contribute equally in the bringing up of their child. The roles of parents in the bringing up of a child are unique and unmatched in their own senses. This is what is believed by our first respondent. During the interview session, he said he finds the work his wife does for their son to be very difficult and he himself could not have managed to do all that single-handedly. However, he also believes that a child needs equal support from a father in several areas and the child should not be deprived of it under any circumstances. So, he believes a father should also be equally responsible and should always be willing to support his wife in taking care of their child. However, the male working in the public organization marked 4, which shows that it is just important for both the parents to contribute equally. He believes it is more important for a mother to look after a child and a child needs his/her mother more than he/she needs a father. Though he believes a father should take care of his child with utmost responsibility, but he still believes a mother has and should have more contribution towards the bringing up of the child.
pg. 32
POL104
9) How do your parents see the fact that your wife has to go out to work?
Supportive
Discourages
Neutral
Complains at times
As the above chart shows, one respondent out of two said that his parents are supportive about his wife working outside. The respondent is from a private organization. For a woman to work outside, it is very important that her family supports her in her work. The response shows that there are families who give full support to their daughter-in-law. The gender role of women to be at home and taking care of the in-laws is changing with time. However, the respondent from public organization said that his parents are neutral about their daughter-in-law going out to work. They are neither positive nor negative in attitude about the work of their daughter in law. This shows that some in-laws are very indifferent about the fact that their daughter-in-law works outside.
pg. 33
POL104
10) In which areas do you help your child/children?
School work
At home
In both
Can't give time
Out of the two respondents, the male working in the public organization said he helps his son in completing his homework, preparing for the exams and other school related work. However, he cannot manage to help him finish his daily, usual activities. It was very honest of him to share that as he is a professor himself he can only help his son in his academic work. The response shows that mothers are still considered to be mainly responsible for the completion of a childs daily activities, like feeding him and making him go to bed. During the interview, the professor said when he goes back home, he makes sure his son has completed his school work. However, the respondent from the private university said he helps his son in both school and day to day work. He helps him do his homework and at the same time helps him do other necessary work. With time fathers are trying to share the usual roles of a mother.
pg. 34
POL104
11) How do your friends and relatives see the fact that you both work?
Some have complaints
Neutral
1
Discourages
Appreciates
1
The male respondent from private organization said that his friends and relatives support the fact that his wife works out in an organization. For any women to feel encouraged about work, it is important that the society she belongs to supports her work. The gender role of women perceived by our society is gradually changing. However, it is restricted to few social classes. In the rural areas according to our secondary resources the society still holds back women interested to work outside home. Relatives encouraging both the spouse to work is indeed a positive trend. The male respondent from the public organization, however, said that his friends and relatives are neutral about the fact that both of them are working in a public organization. His parents are neutral about his wifes work and his relatives are neutral about both of them working outside. This shows that there are many families who are not much bothered if both husband and wife work and earn for the family.
pg. 35
POL104
12) Do you believe women should be encouraged to balance work and life simultaneously?
From the two respondents we have, the male respondent from the public organization said that women should definitely be encouraged to balance both their work and life. It shows that lots of husbands expect their working wives to be successfully able to balance their house work with office work. It is a good sign that they believe women should be encouraged so that they can achieve it. The gender role of women in our society is more or less still the same, so women are expected to look after their family and house work even if they are working somewhere. The male respondent from the private organization, however, understands that it is very difficult for a working woman to be able to manage both house and office work. However, at the same time he believes it is not impossible on their part to achieve a balance between the two. Thus, he thinks women should be encouraged to balance both the important areas of their lives. The gender roles, thus in those families can be shared.
pg. 36
POL104
Recommendations
The whole research is based on working women and we have found that in many steps of their working life women are facing lots of problems. These problems have great impact on the career of woman and on their personal lives too. Now, problems of working woman are a whole societal problem and if they are not solved then the society cant develop. So, we have given some recommendations to improve this condition. 1. Understanding the environment: Women have to understand the complaints rose by her or by her first, and then she needs to react in the particular situation.
2. Communicate with husband: Communication with husband is very important from the point of view of a woman. This is develops understanding and reduces misunderstanding. 3. Taking external help: In current time, its a very common practice in western countries to take external help to solve the problems of working women. Like baby sitters etc.
4. Changing the organizational culture: Organizations need to be more encouraging and more supportive towards female employees. 5. Men are now not with conservative opinion that the household should be taken care by a woman. Working couple should share the responsibility equally at the home 6. Kids suffer a lot when parents are working. Giving financial security is not enough; He needs care, concern love and support. Thus make sure we must not neglect our child. 7. A working couple has to perform dual responsibility which includes professional as well as home front. A little understanding and selfless attitude will help a couple maintain fine balance between home and workplace. The best thing of help is to think with WE perspective and not with I. Then we will see ourselves flourishing at our work place as well as in our loving home.
pg. 37
POL104
Conclusion
Some reasons why women in South Asia, such as in Bangladesh, opt out of professional careers are to raise their children or take care of house. Because of continued stigma attached to women and raising children at home, a woman's continuation of work after birth remains a cultural obstacle. Women in South Asia also continue to have an uneven share of responsibilities when it comes to taking care of their elderly parents and/or parents-in-law. Combined with having to take care of children, many South Asian women find it exceptionally difficult to resume their careers at the level they left since they are unable to remain connected or develop professionally in a linear fashion. The movements of female workers at the workplace are more scrutinized with a magnifying glass than their male counterparts. "As women, we already face advances from our male colleagues. I have even been advised to flirt with them in order to be heard. The definition of what is appropriate and inappropriate behavior is definitely much more difficult to navigate for us than it is for our male colleagues. There is just too much cultural pressure," said one female communications manager for a multinational corporation in Dhaka who asked for anonymity. At the work place, it is more difficult for women to break into a male-dominated industry, since a woman in leadership or seeking a leadership position must showcase that she is as capable as any other man at work. She must work hard, if not harder, to gain staff respect and understanding. Thus, women often have to choose between their career and their family life as both components require much attention and physical presence. However, if the recommendations are well followed then, we believe many of the barriers can be overcome.
pg. 38

Gender Equality in Bangladesh

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Gender Equality in Bangladesh

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Impact of Gender Role on Societal and Organizational Culture

Impact of Gender Role on Societal and Organizational Culture