Family affairs hamper career prospects of women

Women's unsatisfaction in professional career due to lack of family support - study New Delhi: A study conducted by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) has claimed that women in their academic career perform well but when it comes to profession they lose out to their male counterparts. The study found that only a meagre 3.3 per cent women get elevated to the topmost positions in their entire professional career while 17.7 per cent women end up to the middle levels. The study titled as "Women Top in Education Why Miss Top Positions" - said over 78.9 per cent which is the largest segment of working women remained at the lowest working level without getting promotions and other facilities. Due to lack of family support, the women get less recognition from their male bosses, the study said. The main challenges, the women face in their professional career, come from their family. The study claimed that about 73 per cent women felt that their husbands were not supportive enough and family responsibilities stopped them from giving their best to the work field. While releasing the study country's first women IPS officer Kiran Bedi said, "The fear of displacement among men makes them feel threatened towards a qualified woman. Men are good in dinner diplomacy while the women face a weakening support of family." Awareness should be increased at school, colleges and university level to increase the economic growth of women, Bdei added. The study claimed that women face an increasing bias at the workplace as the male bosses do not give them the approval compared to the male professionals. Japan has made efforts in various institutional aspects, such as passing the Equal Employment Opportunity Law in 1985, to achieve gender equality. However, we still have problems to tackle to achieve real gender equality in social life. The following are the measures Japan has taken in the fields of daily life, education, the workplace, etc., with a view to promoting women's participation in society. Today, we can see many women participating as actively as men in various fields. However, due to the traditional gender role stereotypes, household chores such as child-rearing, care for the aged and so on have hindered many women in taking full advantage of their abilities. Japan has taken measures to overcome these problems for women and enable them to accomplish work and family responsibilities at the same time. In this context, Japan has ratified the International Labour Organisation Convention Number 156 in June 1995. Japan will continue to promote these measures systematically. Strategies for Child-Rearing It is very important, inter alia, to establish an environment which enables women to take full advantage of their experience and ability, managing to do their jobs, care for children, and care for their families consistently. As for caring for children, the Child Care Leave Law went into effect in 1992 to ensure that the necessity of time spent caring for children would not discourage women from participating in society. This Law recognizes the right of female and male employees to apply for and receive child care leave for a desired period of time up until the child reaches one year of age. Moreover, a Child Care Leave Benefit System was established to support employees who take child care leave, providing 25% of their wages during the leave. Furthermore, Japan has initiated the "Angel Plan." This plan recognizes child care support as an issue to be grappled with by the whole society, and prescribes measures to take in the next ten years in general, including the establishment of diverse child care support strategies. Japanese society is aging faster than ever before. Nevertheless, while it is estimated that 17.0% of the total population will be over 65 years old by the year 2000 (compared to 14.1% in 1994), the capacity of nursing in the household is declining. Nursing care for the aged has become a pivotal issue in Japan. For women, particularly, care for the aged is a critical issue in two senses. First, it is a decisive issue for women, who have a longer average life expectancy than men, affecting how comfortably they will be able to live out their old age. Second, like caring for children, many households have regarded care for the aged as a role women should take. As a result, women have had the burden to take care of the elderly, and thus have been at a disadvantage to participate in society compared to men. To prepare for the onset of the aged society, Japan adopted the "Ten-Year Strategy to Promote Health Care and Welfare for the Aged (the Gold Plan)" in 1989, which included approximate targets for urgent development of in-home services and facility services to be achieved up through FY1999. This plan, having been subjected to a complete review in December 1994, became the New Gold Plan, which raised the approximate targets and has been in implementation since FY1995. Meanwhile, those who work sometimes have to leave their jobs to take care of their families. In June 1995, the Child Care Leave Law was amended to introduce Family Care Leave Schemes which enabled workers to keep their jobs after taking leave to take care of their families. With this amendment, from April 1999, workers will be able to take a leave of up to three months when they have a family member who needs care. Japan has made efforts to overcome the gender role stereotypes in the family, community and society by changing the perception of gender equality through the promotion of school, social and family education. In school education, Japan has emphasized and strengthened teaching students the dignity of individuals and the essential equality of both genders. For example, in upper secondary schools, home education has become compulsory for all students in 1994, whereas it had been compulsory only for female students. This is based on the need for all students to master the knowledge an

20 June, 2013 Thursday

Family affairs hamper career prospects of women