Talk:Ipyet/Gender Considerations in Youth Enterprise training
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Contents
| Thread title | Replies | Last modified |
|---|---|---|
| Gender Vs Sex | 54 | 05:12, 25 April 2011 |
| Gender Considerations in Youth Enterprise training | 23 | 15:10, 23 April 2011 |
| Gender equality, gender norms/values/stereotypes ... | 14 | 17:51, 19 April 2011 |
| Wrap up session on Gender Consideration in Youth Enterprise training | 1 | 03:18, 6 April 2011 |
I am Elizabeth Mbeza Simonda your facilitator in Gender Considerations in Youth Enterprise. You are all welcome to this session. I hope you have all enjoyed yourselves so far during the discussions in the previous sessions facilitated by my fellow facilitators. I also hope that you will find our discussions on Gender Considerations in Youth Enterprise useful and interesting.
From the notes on Gender Considerations for Youth in Enterprise that you have read so far, what do you think the differences between Sex and gender are? What do we mean by gender roles?
Sometimes it is hard to understand exactly what is meant by the term "gender", and how it differs from the closely related term "sex".
"Sex" refers to the biological and physiological characteristics that define men and women.
"Gender" refers to the socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women.
To put it another way:
"Male" and "female" are sex categories, while "masculine" and "feminine" are gender categories.
Aspects of sex will not vary substantially between different human societies, while aspects of gender may vary greatly.
Some examples of sex characteristics :
- Women menstruate while men do not
- Men have testicles while women do not
- Women have developed breasts that are usually capable of lactating, while men have not
- Men generally have more massive bones than women, etc
Some examples of gender characteristics :
- In the United States (and most other countries), women earn significantly less money than men for similar work
- In Saudi Arabia men are allowed to drive cars while women are not
- In most of the world, women do more housework than men
Simon, I really like your comparisons especially the examples given for both sex and gender.--Kafuiaheto 21:30, 9 March 2011 (UTC)
Gender refers to the social differences and relations between girls and boys, between women and men while sex refers to the biological differences between women and men that are universal and do not change. Gender roles, this simply means the roles for women and men or what they are supposed to do in the society.
Trainers should consider gender issues when conducting their trainings eg time table should go along with the expectations towards participants such as that women still have to look after their families and attend trainings.. This is important because it affects the quality of any training.
Hi,
Sex is the biological differences between women and men. That is say the only differentiation of women and men is the sexual reproductive organs which cannot be changed. In simple terms it being either female or male where as gender is the social relations and differences that differ from society to society, culture to culture or country to country that are learned or acquire by being in a particular set up. These are not static but can be changed.
Gender roles are those roles work that are carried out by a certain grouping for example cleaning the house, caring for children, being an accounts or being an electrician. These roles can be carried out by either males or females.
Greg,
I think you have a very valid point in terms of planning the time allocation for trainings. While we expect that women should participate fully in the trainings, it would be (gender) insensitive to allocate training time in hours that are not friendly for the ladies. Remember that women are more concerned about their personal safety than men since they are more vulnerable to attacks.
I hope that point has been taken by the facilitators
Hello, I think the gender issues still go a long way. One may try to accommodate women needs when designing their trainings it is almost impossible to cater for all of them. I believe it is better to conduct separate trainings where possible. In that way it becomes easy to design a training that will be effective and benefiting to them.
Hello I have a strong feeling that much has been done to deal with gender issues especially in favour of women. I also think they should be doing something to use the available opportunities instead of feeling sorry for themselves that they do not have what, they have much to do. Men have been sensitized and they are willing to cooperate with women and sometimes share chores only if everything is done with resect.
Hi Greg and Simon,
Thank you for your interesting discussion on the differences between Sex, Gender and gender roles. You are both right on the definitions that you gave for Sex and gender. Thank you Simon for the examples that you gave on the sex characteristics and gender characteristics.
In addition to what both of you said about gender, kindly remember that the social differences and relations between women and men including young women and young men are learned and can change over time if people want to. For example, the gender characteristics that Simon gave in the united States, Saudi Arabia and in the whole world, will change over time especially when these countries and their societies have gender equality because they are not biological/sex differences.
As for the gender roles Greg, is not what women and man are supposed to do but rather what women and men actually already do
Greg, you are right that trainers should consider gender issues and constraints when conducting training so that women and girls can also participate equally while at the same time are given an opportunity to continue with household chores. You should however remember that household chores such as looking after their families are gender roles which can be carried out by their husbands and other male relatives when the women are participating in some training programmes.
What do are the other participants saying about this discussion? Participants ...
Simonda, You are right by saying that household chores can also be done by males. I think that's the gender socialization we need to appreciate. For us young people, it starts with how we relate to our girlfriends, and later on wives, we can change our attitudes about who does the chores and break the cycle today. So that even when we have families of our own, we shall show by example to our children that men can also do what has for a long time been believed to be a woman's role.
In terms of training, I feel that trainers need to aim at questioning gender norms and attitudes in their participants, both males and females. Especially challenging negative masculinity which lead to a lot of gender injustices.
Allow me to contribute by asking a question. Have we notice at least in Zambia that house maids are normally women and garden boys are men. In the colonial days that is pre-1964 and even a few years after Independence, men used to work as 'house maids'. What could have caused the shift?
GabKon What a great question. To answer you, I think the fact that women are now maids is a step in the right direction on its own. Then we had men as house boys because women could not be employed in Zambia and they were not even allowed to travel, for instance go to the Copperbelt or major towns. So they stayed in the villages, farming and keeping their children. that is why men were employed as both garden boys and house boys...
SO now, after Independence and travel restrictions on women were lifted, women needed to find work. At that point, they could either pick on gardening or house keeping, and due to gender norms, the house jobs were left to the women and men took up exterior jobs like gardening until this day. But we know that the best professional renowned cooks are male, so there is no excuse for men refusing to cook in the home.
Do I make sense?
Well, so many things could have caused this change. May be the jobs of house maids were lass masculine as compared to a garden boy so it could have been perceived that men could in addition do less masculine jobs such as "house maids". It may also suggest that this was borrowed from the western culture. It may also be that, the employers fell more comfortable working with men as they could double as both house maids and garden boys at certain times. That is my little contribution.--Kafuiaheto 21:27, 9 March 2011 (UTC)
Hi all-Ubandoma, Rabrod, Remmy, GabKan, Chichi, Remmy, Gabriel and Shining Star,
You all have very interesting discussions and contributions. Your discussions also shows how much interest you have in the session and also that you have knowledge on the subject matter.
However, I want to make the following comments to all of you.
- You have all understood the difference between sex and gender and gender roles. Ubandoma and others, it is however important to remember that gender roles are roles that both women and men already do and not society expects them to do. What society expects men and women to do is something else.
- Rabrod, I was going to give you the same explanation as the one that Remmy has given you on why talk about gender and your reasons why you think that women should get low salaries than men because they work less hours than men due to some reproductive roles. The reproductive roles of getting pregnant, going on maternity leave etc are additional roles for a professional woman and do not stop her from doing her job in a professional manner like a male-folk. Therefore, it is not right for that woman to get the same salary as the man if they have same qualifications. Roles like looking after a child are gender roles and hence the current advocate for maternity leave foe men so that they can share the role of looking after the baby until the baby is big enough to be left in the hands of a helper or to be taken to a baby class/nursery. Besides, working class women help their husbands in providing for the family from the salary that they get and this used to be a man's role by tradition.
- The discussion by GabKan on women to be allowed to participate in training programmes with their babies and maids is very encouraging. I know of a number of organizations in Zambia that provide such kind of support to women. I agree with you GabKan and this kind of practice will give an opportunity for many women to participate in developmental programmes such as training, women can travel out on duty without any problems if supported to resolve such kind of gender constraints.
- Chichi, gender and sex are not the same. Gender characteristics are not characteristics that makes a difference between a man and a woman. It is sex which makes a woman different from a man. As said by your colleagues before, a man is different from a woman because he has a penis and testicles while a woman has a vagina, a man can impregnate a woman and a woman gets impregnated etc.. Gender characteristics can be changed while the sex characteristics can not be changed-Refer to Simon's examples.
Chichi, you talked of women who want to change themselves into men through an operation and vise versa. I want to believe that there is a sex desire and even whether they got the operation, biologically they can not change their sex which God gave them. They may manage to change the outer organs but they can not pregnant women and the men who change to women can not get pregnant in the normal way. - GabKan, Women can also own properties like houses just like men in Nigeria or any other country. I am sure that in Nollywood, you have also seen women who own houses and keep men. All what matters is for a woman or man to have money to buy a house. Those men that tell women to leave their homes if divorced, means that the men acquired the houses before marrying the woman. In many countries, there are laws that protects women. Such roles state that what ever property that a couple acquires while married belongs to both of them. So if they were staying in a house which they acquired while married, a man can not tell a woman to leave his home. If they get divorced, the house may be sold so that they share the money.
Remmy has given very good explanation to your question on why women can only work as housemaids and men as garden boys these days. What is important for you to remember is that to be a house maid or garden person is a gender role which can be done by both men and women. There is nothing biological/sex about it. Thank you Remmy again for your discussion over this. - Remmy, we are discussing about gender so that the young people that you work with can get the correct information and knowledge on gender as they prepare themselves to be adults who will have their own families. This will enable them to be able to work together with their spouses for the benefit of their families, communities and the country as a whole.
- Thank you also for your contributions Gabriel and shining Star. You were also very correct with what you said.
Lastly but not the least, thank you all for your interesting contributions on the differences between sex and gender and what gender roles are.
What do you understand by gender equality and gender norms/values/stereotypes?
Thanks Remmy, GabKon, Simonda,
after learning from you all I have gotten something especialy that the issue of gender I didnt whant to hear it becourse I thought it has come to make a man and a woman the same. but I have few findings bellow:
- Gender equality is ensuring the fair and equitable treatment of all girls and boys, women and men in the education system.
Source: UNESCO (2003). Gender and Education for All: The Leap to Equality. Paris: UNESCO
- The ways that girls and boys experience teaching and learning in the classroom can be markedly different, influencing their class participation, educational achievement and learning outcomes:
- Social and cultural values and stereotypes about gender can be inadvertently reinforced in the classroom and at school through teacher-pupil and pupil-pupil interaction (see text box below for specific examples).
- Teaching approaches and methods used to reach engage and assess students, may also favour boys, particularly in societies where girls are discouraged from speaking in public, expressing their opinions or questioning male authority.
- Finally, sexual harassment and sexual abuse by teachers or peers can be widespread and its sanction is often ignored by authorities; the teacher’s behaviour may be treated as either unexceptional or the victim’s fault, despite how frequently it may result in early pregnancy and school drop-out.
- Gender equality is not about the cancellation of differences between man and woman, nor is it about making woman and woman the same. Gender equality is about providing equal opportunities and chances to both woman and man
Source: Canadian International Development Agency TIP SHEETS – JUNE 2010 --RABROD 12:52, 10 March 2011 (UTC)
Hi Simonda, I like the way you have gone about your comprehensive summary. Thanks.--Kafuiaheto 16:14, 10 March 2011 (UTC)
Hi All,
Sex is determined by the differences in the physiological make up of men and women, and gender by the social differences betwen each sex, based on societal expectations.
While gender roles are those unwritten duties and responsibilities that tradition and the society has assigned to each of both sexes to carry out in family and communal life.
Hi Simonda.
The differences between sex and gender, Sex is determined biologically and refers to an individuals physical anatomy, like genitalia, facial hair, body structure and compostition. Sex is also refers to biological characteristics that seperate male from female and sex is not cuturally influenced in a direct way although certain cultures believe in certain practices or influences impact the sex of a child during pregnancy and is normally considered to be comletely biological in nature, uninfluenced by culture norms and valus.
Gender is determined by social interaction exchange and absorption of peer and large cultural values that determine gender identity and affiliation, Gender can also be consider fluid in the sense that one challenge their own gender identity in some instances holding it completely opposed to the sex. Gender is usually refers as a charcteristics that are considered to distinguish between male and female, it also reflect to one's biological sex and gender identity.
For example, a woman who considers herself to be male possessing the same sexual desire as a male and she contemplating undergoing surgery in order to become male is an example of sex and gender.
Gender role is the set of social and behavioural norms that are to be considered to be socially appropriate for individual of a specific sex in the context of a specific culture.
Thanks for your contribution. I have noticed from Nollywood (Nigerian movies) that when a man is divorcing or chasing a wife from home he says "Pack your bags and leave my home". Can we take it from such examples that generally men are expected to own property in Nigeria (and maybe West Africa?) and not women?
Hi Gabkon,
Intresting question on Nollywod movies. There are no laws against women owning properties in Nigeria and a lot of women own properties and there are also cases where Men have sole ownership of their houses/properties, with no financial input from their wives, and there are cases where both man and woman contribute to buying a property.
What it means in context of the movie you saw, is that that the Man owns the property, and so may have decided to divorce the woman without any rights to his property. But again, there is this general idea or belief in Africa, that a man owns the house, and even if it is a rented property,and they have both contributed to the rent, once he wants to divorce the woman, he goes : LEAVE MY HOUSE . I thinlk the belief that it is always the Man's house in Africa, is a gender sensitive issue.
Dear Shinging Star,
I hope that movies can help show us where we still have gender discrimination and then find workable solutions.
Hi
While I agree that this is a gender (in)sensitive issue, this is the African way of life. I may be considered a gender stereotype but a man being housed by a woman is a sign of severe weakness on the part of the man. And fortunately, or unfortunately, the women have bought that as well!
That is why Shining Star will confirm that there are no restrictive laws on property ownership but is comfortable with "leave my house"
Hi Gabkon Thank God you said in movies,I dont think is a bad idea for a man to own a property cos they use to say that men are the head of the family but since a man fall to take up his responsibilities a woman can help. In recent times some women do get married to a man that dosen't have anything even a degree certificate, she will take up the challenges of bringing him into her house,take care of him and the kids and will also put him school or fix up some where even business.
Thanks Chichi for your response. Sometimes movies reflect the prevailing thoughts and actions in society. Like you have said women can and should assist in owning property especially in the context of marriage. However, some societies may have challenges where relatives to the man grab property from a woman when the husband dies. For such a woman, to start an enterprise, they will have a lot of challenges.
Yes Chichi you are right. Times have changed. I should point out that, men need to be reached and assisted so that they can change the way they perceive women. For instance, some men are threatened by a woman who is more academically qualified or gets a higher salary than him. Such men tend to feel bad about the situation, they feel defeated and often times resort to physical strength like beating up their wives so that they can prove their manhood.
So as much as we empower women and encourage them to rely on themselves, we need to work with men and boys too.
Dear Colleagues,
The differences between gender and sex: Sex refers to the biological differences between women and men that are universal and do not change. For example, men can impregnate a women and only a women can carry and give birth a baby and breast feed a baby while gender refers to the social differences and relations between girls and boys, between women and men that are learned and change over time within a society and between societies.Gender is socially created ideas and practices of what it is considered to be female or male while sex is universal, biological differences between men and women.Gender is imposed by human society, which generates some deep and far-reaching sense of inequality between the sexes and sex is the basic fact of the nature and does not unfair assign its biological
Gender roles is what men and women can do without any discrimination of sex.Gender roles are socially-defined roles for women and men.For example, most cultures define child rearing as a female role, although there is no biological reason why men cannot do it.
Dear Simonda, Thanks for moderating this interesting topics. I am totally in agreement with the above positing by Janet. In addition there are two main groups of gender theories: non-feminist and feminist, importantly , gender is one of the most important approach to understand issues and problems related to women, as well as women’s entrepreneurship issues. On the other hand, there are no significant difference in the source of assistance used by men and women but yet women enterprises face a higher failure rate than men’s because men are significantly more likely to have access to several outside resources of required business development services and women’s roles and responsibilities become imbued with the ideal of the domestic. Therefore the proper understanding the role of Gender on youth entrepreneurship is most critical
Dear Ekanath, Another reason why some entrepreneurial ventures for women fail is because they face opposition from men. In Kisumu, Kenya for instance, I learned that some women who were given seed funds to set up their own businesses suffered losses when their husbands would want to control the moneys and use them for their own activities like alcohol abuse. In such cases a woman is faced with a dilemma, to divorce and grow in business, or to lose the business and keep her marriage. A choice no woman should be made to make, EVER!
Dear Remmy, Thanks for your response on my posting above. There are many barriers for women entrepreneurs when facing the prospects of starting a new business as well as to sustain their enterprises. The issues you raised is one of the critical barriers for women to be successful entrepreneurs. when I was in south Sudan I saw the situation even worse. What I realised that to promote women led entrepreneurship, we need to develop some gender awareness to the men to find their supportive role as well - what I used to advocate for holistic gender awareness.
Ekanath, Sensitizing the men can go a long way to promote and support women led entrepreneurship but I also think we are now in an era where women must be very assertive to fight for the course.--Kafuiaheto 22:34, 9 March 2011 (UTC)
Sex is smething that is unchangeable i.e. being male or female.
Gender refers to the various perceptions and roles that society assigns to males and females. For example certain societies may have a perception that a good education is meant for boys or males while not much money should be spent on educating girls.
Gender roles refer to the various roles that men and women do in society. These roles are normally determined by and traditions and perceptions of society. Gender roles my change due to various factors e.g. government policies and regulations, education interaction with different communities.
Gabriel Konayuma, Zambia
Hi all,
I am just learning from all of you about the issues of gender, in most cases am much behind in this topic it is not really new to me but I had no interest in it in the past days.
My reasons for this are (may not sound so well to others but I fill its a reality):
- A man is a man and nothing will change that
- why gender, according to our creation we are given roles to play. such as
a man shall be the head of the house
- while a woman is a helper,
e.g. at work places a man and a woman have same qualifications and the are employed at the same level lets say Director of Department, now see that gender hear look not to be balanced. the salary scale for the female director will be low as compared to the Male 's. one of the reasons could be that a woman will have alot of days of due to nature, again a woman with child will be given maybe three months until she delivers a baby. so you will understand that it is worth to employ a male than a female because all male's time will be used to perform in their organisation. maybe it is because men can work longer hours as compared to women.
I need guidance were dores the gender issue comes in
Thanks Rabrod for your contribution. I find it unfortunate that female directors are paid less than their male counterparts for the reasons you have given. To me these are policy matters that need re-visiting. Just because a female employee takes time out to attend to family responsibilities doesn't make her less valuable than the male counterpart. There is need to realise that the role she plays in child bearing and child raising means thatsocieity can expect better citizens in future. Work places need to adopt gender friendly environments e.g. why not have a space where females that have babies can be allowed to breast-feed when a baby is brought from home? Why not allow a female with a baby travel with a maid to a workshop outside town? with costs for the maid met by the employer? In addition, I think employers should not look at the quantity of time employees spend at work...but should consider more the quality that they bring to work.
Thanks Gabkon,
I think it is an excellent suggestion that Women should be allowed to travel with their maids or nanny for official trips/workshops with all expenses paid by the office. Humm, i like that, i think Ministries that deal with gender issues should take that idea up and start working on it. If such a policy is in place it will ensure that women contribute effectively during the nursing/child rearing stages
Rabrod, Do not worry, that's why we are here to help one another.
Firstly gender in itself is just a term and no one can advocate for gender. What we do advocate for is gender equality and equity. Without confusing you, I should state that what we are saying in plain language is this: Men and women should exist as equal people and be availed with equal opportunities"
Therefore, women and men ought to respect each other not because they are male or female but because they are humans. If a women is qualified and applies for a top job, you should give her the job and not discriminate against her because she is a woman. The reason why women spend more time at home, getting pregnant and raising children and missing work or going on maternity leave, is because most men do not care to also participate in this important task. Other organisations now have paternity leave which is given to the man when his wife is on maternity leave so that they can both take care of raising the child. As a child development psychologist, I can tell you that the first few weeks of a newly born baby are very vital for bonding with the parent who is around and men should be allowed to be there too..
As to who heads the house? That is an issue that a couple needs to communicate effectively on, have mutual understanding and respect so that they find ways of complimenting one another. It is not the job of the NGOs to tell a couple how they ought to head the households, but what we can do is that we ensure that they both respect each other and treat each other with love, diginity and respect. In such a home, gender based violence will not be around. And so we will be bringing about gender equality.
Thanks Remmy for the point raised on men also playing a part in raising kids. I remember taking a paternity leave of 5 days in 2007 when my 3rd girl was born. I was one of the first in my organisation to take this kind of leave and it sounded so strange but it was worthwhile for me and something I could encourage for other men to do.
Hi Remmy
You're right. Young men these days are really playing serious roles in supporting their wives in raising children. I have been getting my son ready for school everyday and I pick him from school as well. if for a reason I'm unable to pick my son from school, the first question he would ask whoever picked him is: why is papa? My wife travelled to Manchester, UK for a PhD when our son was three years. I cared for him without the help of the so-called house-helps. Our philosophy has always been that whatever each of us do is for the benefit of the family and so we support each other in everything.
I don't believe that the argument of women going for maternity leaves justifies that they be paid lower than their male counterparts. what about that sickly male employee who is in and out of office on sick leaves, what about that alcoholic male who will not waste any opportunity to sneak out of the office to get a tot, what about that male employee who spends most of the work time doing unrelated work? Of course we should not be unfair to our women folk since when they go for maternity leaves, there is always a man involved and remember the product of that leave is another worker who will maybe be more efficient.
In lay language:
Gender is socially determined Sex is Biologically determined
Gender roles refer to those roles society prescribes for men and women while sex roles are those an individual performs as a result of being either male or female anatomically.
Gender roles entail roles, responsibilities that society expects of women and of men, how they dress, talk walk, what jobs and professions they pursue. It is imperative to state that gender roles since are brought about by society, they therefore can change and vary from one culture to another.
Hi Elizabeth and my Colleaques,
My understanding of sex is that it refers to the anatomical make-up which distinguishes an individual as either a male or a female, man or woman, boy or girl.
Gender on the other hand, is a generic term that classifies both sexes into groups based on societal consideraions e.g, relationships and responsibilities..
Hi every one, Gender roles are responsibilities or obligations hitherto assigned to or performed by people based on their sexes but can change with time or space.
Hi everyone. Allow me to quote from Ann-Maree Nobelious from Monash University School of Nursing. "Sex refers to biological differences; chromosomes, hormonal profiles, internal and external sex organs.Gender describes the characteristics that a society or culture delineates as masculine or feminine.So while your sex as male or female is a biological fact that is the same in any culture, what that sex means in terms of your gender role as a 'man' or a 'woman' in society can be quite different cross culturally. These 'gender roles' have an impact on the health of the individual.In sociological terms 'gender role' refers to the characteristics and behaviours that different cultures attribute to the sexes. What it means to be a 'real man' in any culture requires male sex plus what our various cultures define as masculine characteristics and behaviours, likewise a 'real woman' needs female sex and feminine characteristics." from http://www.med.monash.edu.au/gendermed/sexandgender.html. Farai Chansa- Zambia
Hi colleagues I have found the discussion very interesting. As many have explained, sex refers to the biological make up of an indivudual. Sex roles are the reproductive fuctions which an individual performs at some point in the life cycle. Sex roles are universal and do not change over time.
Gender roles are socially constructed, cultural specific and may change over time.
I want to end with a question: I have observed that on some application forms (e.g course enrolment) the question asking whether one is male or female is written as Sex: ..... or Gender: ...... Is it right to use these 2 terms interchangeably for this purpose?
Dear Simonda, Dear colleagues, Sex is the physical and behavioural difference that distinguishes individual according to their functions in the reproductive process. (Encarta, 2009). For example, only men can determine the sex of a baby whiles only a woman can get pregnant. These characteristics are nominal and there possess natural dichotomies. Gender is a collective term for systems of social theories and belief that distinguishes between girls and boys, between women and men that are: 1. Learned 2. Change over time within a society and between societies. (Gender Considerations in Youth Enterprise Training, discussion paper by Elizabeth Simonda)
Oh oh.... here comes a new one; only men can determine the sex of babies??? Fill me in
Mbeza,
I think simply put, gender is the roles while sex is the biological component. Gender roles are variable while sex is static.
Gender roles include house chores, children upbringing, (for women), manual work eg construction (for men)
Sex has to do with biological make up of individuals. That is to say whether you are are born male or female. Gender on the other hand has to do with social relationships between the two sexes.
From your notes and also from your experiences in your own countries, what are the gender constraints that the youth in enterprises face and what are the gender considerations that we should put in place for the youth in enterprise training?
Some of the gender constraints are that it is not easy for girls or young women to be allowed by their parents or guardians to travel long distances to get enterprise training. Also it is more difficult for youths to access financing for their enterprises. In order to address these challenges there is need to bring youth enterprise training closer to communities where girls are found.
Gender myths , stereotypes and bad norms have continued to down play women progression in discipline as it relates to self actualization. However, enterprises has nt been spared because of a number of reasons a. Women culturally are not believed to do well in any science and maths related course b. Women are not keen to take up challenges of entrepreneurship unless there are married and supported by their husbands otherwise many rural places will perceive them to be prostitutes c. Women are not expected to be more entrepreneurial minded than men or boys at any households such as preference will be given to boys d. Many men still thinks empowering their wives or a girl child is promoting promiscuity
What should b do?
A Lot of advocacy works should be done so as to make the rural communities aware about the many beautify and lovely things that comes with integrating gender perspective in any developmental activity at every level of society be it family or society level.
For a start give incentives to women so as to jump start the women participation atitude thereby making it more skewed to appreciating and accepting gender perspective as a cardinal vehicle to sustainable development Develop programs and policies that will target both women and men to work together and not the two to work as separate entity.
I will contribute more late
Regards
Hi All,
In Zambia, some of the gender constraints that youth face
1. The unavailability of income or start up capital from micro financing companies or banks this especially felt by the female folk as these financing organizations ask for collateral or security which they do not have. 2. The lack of control to own finances especially for young women who are married as their husbands grab their money. 3. The triple role responsibility experienced by the women is also a hindrance to women as they are faced with more responsibilities than their male peers. 4. Lack of information and guidance from those in leadership positions. 5. Lack of freedom especially for the married women they are always being suspected of being promiscuous or unfaithfully. 6. Others are gender norms, values and stereotypes that are held by societies which disadvantage youth especially the young women. 7. Lack of confidence in the young people by their communities. 8. Lack of or inadequate trainings opportunities for the young people. 9. Early marriages and pregnancies. 10. Negative mind set or lack of confidence by the young people.
From experience, I think it would be to the advantage of the youth
• If we had more trainings in their communities because that way we would capture more youths and also help them understand that they could actually start viable business with what they have in their communities.
• Provide leadership and mentorship programmes which would also encompass behaviour change • Promote the working of men and women together so as to overcome gender stereotypes. • Encourage more young women to take up more responsibility roles in the management of finances in the family. • Encourage banks and micro financing organizations to have reduced interest rates for young people in businesses. • Government should put in place deliberate policies that boost and protect young entrepreneurs. • Have shows and markets in local communities where youths could exhibit and sell their merchandises
GabKon, I totally agree with you. The most girls in Ghana are still under the absolute control of their parents, who in some cases determine where they are suppose to go, what to do etc. In such cases, the parents would have to know the value of entrepreneurship or they would not allow they to travel for such training.
The gender constraints faced by youth in enterprise training are numerous and obviously vary from from one society to another. A few examples: - female youth may not have as much access to information on training opportunities as their male counterparts - female youth may have information about training opportunities but unable to pay - female youth may have information about training and able to pay but may not be allowed by their spouses or parents to leave home, if training is residential - Trainers usually do not provide facilities for youth who are breastfeeding
Among the gender considerations in enterprise training, therefore, are to ensure information reaches everyone (male and female) by targeting relevant channels and exercise flexibility to suit the unique requirements of both sexes.
Hi All,
On gender constraints in my country, one aspect that female youth face is actually not in starting a business, but in sustainability. Most female youth, (18-35yrs), when they get married are unable to sustain the business they started as singles, because of the demands of raising children in the early childhood stages, they either have to abandon the business or the business may not be run successfully as it was before. This is further compounded by the slow pace of growth of online business in my country. Therefore one of the gender considerations in youth enterprise will be to inform and enlighten the youth, particularly the female youth to take advantage of the internet to promote their business.
Another issue on gender constraints is the issue of networking, for business to be successful, it is important that the entrepreneur be engaged in a number of social and business networks. Female youth may be constrained in this area, because of the perceived notion that women should not be as ‘outgoing’ as the men and also for safety reasons, as a result, they tend to limit the number of activities that they engage in. A way out will be to encourage the female youth to take the lead in establishing these networks, that way, they will have greater control of the activities, location and time , which may limit some of the safety and image perception issues associated with these networks.
Gender considerations should also focus on building the confidence of the female youth through provision of information and services that will limit the constraints they face in business, the male youth should also be enlightened on the need to incorporate gender considerations into their business networks and activities.
Shining Star, to add to your point on constraints faced by young women, in my country (Zambia) my Ministry arranged some Skills and Entrepreneurship training for women among whom was a young woman. She was very promising in this women's group. But as you have put it, she got married and had to relocate and abandon the small scale mining business that she was engaged in.
Hello Simonda,
The following are the gender constraints that youth in enterprises face:
- Lack of acceptance of female youth in some businesses
- Lack of family support
- Lack of opportunities to access and control resources such as funds for starting and growing a business
- Dominant stereotypes about female activities
- Lack of funds for female youth to join mixed networks
- Lack of confidence among the youth and especially the female youth to decide to start and grow a business and many more
- People's and family attitudes towards a young female entrepreneurs
- Lack of funds to pay for transport to go for training programmes and also pay for participation fees for training programmes
The following are the gender considerations to put in place:
- Information on enterprise training programmes should be provided to both female and male youth so that they can all be aware about the training available
- Information on training programmes should be made available for both male and female youth
- Deliberate efforts to reach out for more female youth with information on youth enterprise training should be made by support institutions so that the female youth have equal chances and opportunities to participate in the training
- Venue of the training programmes to be nearer to the communities so that the female youth can also participate
- Use role models for training programmes
- Monitoring and counseling services should be considered seriously
- Training materials to be made available in local languages to carter for the youth especially the female youth
Hello Everyone,
The Gender constraints faced by youth include inequality and unbalanced opportunities between both sex, These include lack of opportunities to start and manage business, lack of skills, family support, information, funds. etc
Gender cosideration in youth enterprise include addressing the above stated constraints, providing guidance and counselling.
Hi Simonda,
The Gender constraints faced by youth is lack of fund for starting up the business, family support towards a young female entrepreneur, lack of confidence and opportunity for information on market for the product and services.
Gender consideration in youth enterprise is to ensure that information on programme reaches out on both sex, to support the youth by encouraging them to always participate on networking.
Chichi, an idea well noted is the funds for any start-up business enterprise that are very difficult for the youth to raise. Most often, they will even be required to access loans with collateral which the do not have.
Chichi, I think encouraging women to form or belong to co-operatives commonly called "Stokvels" in South Africa also helps.
What is surprising is that financial institutions find it easier to give men loans and yet it is possible that maybe women use the loans better and re-pay on time than men.
Some of the gender constraints are lack of confidence on the part of the youth to dare and explore other avenues apart from what is widely known. Another one is the lack of encouragement from government, civil societies, churches, families and friends. Inadequate financial institutions that are willing to support youth enterprises.
Gender considerations that we should put in place for the youth in enterprise training should include: The celebration of successful youth in enterprise. The use of youth for some key roles in the training to serve as role models for training programmes, Mentoring and counselling services.Information on youth enterprises should be readily available to trainees. --Kafuiaheto 16:07, 10 March 2011 (UTC)
Kaf interesting point you make on lack of confidence by the youth to explore new ventures. I think the role of mentors and role models cannot be over-emphasized. These can be from the same community, other regions or even countries. Youths need to see that viable enterprises can be done by youths like them and with those ofthe same gender!
Gender consideration in Youth Enterprise trainning is not only critical but also key to fostering youth participation in the country's economic activities. If not dealt with therefore can hamper progress.. i will continue sorry ,,later
The Gender constraints faced by most Youths in relation to Business or entrepreneurship is as attributed by many that youths lack confidence especially the female youths,this is so because of the cultural values imposed by the family or society that a woman is best suited to do the house chores. What is needed to be put in place for the youth enterprise training is that,the female youths should be given some form of support in skills and business training,encouraging them to network with their male counterparts. There should also be some form of support coming from their families,instead of viewing them as performers of exclusive reproductive roles such as taking care of homes,families and communities.Samuel 18:32,11 March 2011.
Hi all,
Late but still engaged. Gender constraints affect youths in the type of business for example females are not encouraged to be involved in male dominated businesses eg engineering works, the same as males, they are not encouraged to open hair saloons. Girls face prejudice in the market place and are usually viewed from their sexual perspective not serious business people. These issues should be discussed openly and participants contribute to changes in perspective. They should also avoid self discrimination. --Smauye 14:00, 14 April 2011 (UTC)
Gender Constraints: In short there is a perception that males are better than females in doing business.
Gender considerations: There is need to change mindsets by encouraging women to step up to the plate when it comes to enterprenuership. Women have the same brain and levels of intelligence as men.
As my opening remark, I suggest that issue of gender is not tackled when they become problems. Gender discussions should be discussed from social orientations. Of course due to childhood orientation in most African certain, girls and to a large extent women are afraid to take risk. Even during training sessions, they are afraid to answer questions. In view of this trainers should emphasize of the potential of women to take calculated risks and succeed in business.
Gender is very important in our countries entrepreneurship development and also for our economic growth the more young women and youg men are equally empowered the greater the economic growth in our countries
The issue of equality is quite complicated and debating. I have advocated to equity, fairness and empathy. Gender within the social structure is complex and it will take some time for people to appreciate and change their attitude towards women. I am saying this because books e.g. management books would use manager and not manageress. But as we have now appreciate and use chairperson and not chairman, things would definitely change.
Dear Elizabeth and all colleagues,
This course is very interesting in that I see a lot of diverse experiences and view points ans am learning from them. Regarding gender equality, I think its treatment of male and female as having equal rights eg in equal pay for same jobs, equal access to opportunities and including education.
Gender norms and values are underlying beliefs and practices that cause people to behave and treat male and females differently. e.g the belief that cooking is a responsibility of women causes males to shun cooking in the home, while they 'cook' as chefs in the hotel. The same values causes women to discourage male children from doing courses they feel are female eg being a personal assistant to a female boss. --Smauye 08:39, 9 March 2011 (UTC)
Dear Colleagues,
Gender equality is the equality between women and men in relation to rights, opportunities, responsibilities, valuation and treatment both in workplaces and in business and in work and general life. There should be a balance in every area regardless of the sex. Gender norms/values/stereotypes are ideas or perceptions of what women and men are capable of doing or achieving and what men and women should actually do.
Hi All,
Gender equality means a fair and equal distribution of opportunities, responsibilities, income/wages, treatment, as well as decision making opportunities between both sexes in work, community or family life. The criteria for distribution should be based on capacities/abilities, intellect, and qualifications and not on societal expectations, tradition or stereotypes e.g. from the examples stated yesterday, of a man and woman having the same workload in the office, and the man earns higher because of the belief that he is the Head of the Home and ‘Provider’, when this happens, it raises issues of gender equality.
On the issue of gender equality, I would also like to highlight another issue on equal treatment, because it is often very subtle and may go unnoticed; Sometimes women in decision making positions may not be given equal respect by male subordinates, in comparison with their male counterpart, because of the perceived notion that a woman should be under the authority of a man. This also plays out in business, where men may prefer doing business with other each other rather than with a woman, because of the belief that men make better business partners, this also affects women in enterprise.
Gender norms/values and stereotype are those beliefs, ideas and ideals that guides societal expectations of the roles and responsibilities, of each sex. In my own understanding, gender norms/values and stereotypes are sometimes the underlying reasons why gender equality issues are common in the work place and in the community.
Hi Everyone,
In my own little understanding gender equality means the human right in fairness and justice in the distribution of benefits, responsibilities, opportunities and to enjoy the complete range of cultural right, economic, political and social in both sex.
Gender values are peoples belief, like the ethnic group, gender group, age group and social classess
Hi! evryone ,I will send my comments and understanding on gender issues tomorrow , was still going through the document and getting to understand it.
Thank you.
Hi every one. Gender issues can never come at better time than this one after A Buzz women's day celebration and more that one of the Politicians in Southern province gave a clear cut definition of Gender.
It is what every one has communicated through on this chat. From advocacy point of view, Gender is a tool used to advocate for sustainable development. Involve both Women and Men in National Development be it a man or a woman. Broaden a tax base for the national reserve because of targeting both women and Men.
For sex it is simply a way of differentiating man from a woman
I will contribute more later, regards elizabeth
Hello everyone
My understanding of gender equality is that it is about acknowledging that men and women are not the same but they have equal value and should be treated equally. Equal treatment could be by giving equal pay for equal work. It could also be by allowing both men and women to vote.
Gender stereotypes are generalisations about male and female attributes. For instance it is believed that women are more caring and men are financial providers. These generalisations are usually not correct. As a result of stereotyping, individuals may be regarded to be superior or inferior based on their sex
Hello Mulakam, Kaziba, Isaac, Chichi,Shining Star, Smauyed and the rest of participants,
I feel so proud to relise how much information and interest that all of you have in issues of gender. All of you have provided very correct and interesting contributions on gender, sex, gender roles from the previous discussion and now on gender equality and gender values/norms/stereotypes.
Mulakam, you are right that gender equality espexts both a woman and a man to get equal pay if they have the same qualifications and also do the same job. A man and a woman should only get different salaries if they are not doing the same job and they do not have the same qualifications if there is gender equality. It is only in a country or society where there is no gender equality where a man will get a higher salary than a woman just because he is a man and society says that a man has to get a higher salary than a woman even when they have same qualifications and are doing same job just because he is a man, he is a bread winner and head of a household as indicated by Shining Star. Shining Star, you are right that in such a case, definitely there is gender enaqualities. i also agree with you Shining Star that there are still a number of cases in many countries where some male subordinates look down upon their female supervisors or do not take decisions made by their female supervisors becuase societ expects a woman to always be led by a man. Actually, Shining Star and colleagues, ther also some female subordinates who also look down upon female supervisors because society tells them that a woman can not be a leader and therefeor, they believe that they can not be let by a fellow woman. Chichi and Smauyed, thank your contibutions on gender equality and norms/values/steotypes. I also want to welc ome Kaziba to the discussion.
After having said what I said above, allow me to remind you what is in your notes about gender equality, values/norms/stereotypes.
Gender equality - equal rights, responsibilities, opportunities,treatment and valuation of women and men at work places and in business and in the relation between work and life. Gender equality also includes the same human and workers' rights and equal value and fair distribution of responsibilities, opportunities, workload, decision making and income.
It is alos important to note that gender equality will benefit both women and men and therefore both women and men should work together to attain gender equality.
Gender norms/values/sterewotypes - is the ideas/perceptions of society on what they want women and men to be like e.g a man should not cry in public, a woman should not talk in the presence of men etc.
They are also ideas and perceptions of society on what they want women and men to do.
Norms/values/stereotypes are just ideas and perceptions but are not yet happenning and this is what makes them different from gender roles. Gender roles is what women and men already do. This is why in our discussion on gender roles, I continued making a correction that gender roles is what women and men are already doing and not what socierty want them to do.
I hope and trust that we are all getting clear about some of these gender tems because it is important that we are clear about them as trainers in order for us to provide the correct information.
There are more gender terms in your notes wwhich we may not be able to discuss due to lack of time. I want to ask and encourage all of you to take time to read and understand them. You can ask me any questions during the week and any time you feel like.
We now want to look at a new discussion on the gender constraints that young people face in business and what we can do about them.
Gender equality simply describes a 50-50 win affair for both males and females, men and women. This can come through equal rights, responsibilities, opportunities, treatment and valuation of women and men at work in jobs or enterprises and in the relation between work and life. I currently hold the view that most people only talk about gender equality when males dominate than females in a particular instance. On the other hand, the terminology, gender equality is silent where there are more females dominating in another setting. There are clear examples to support this argument. One of them is that, the MDG 3 which states that "Promote gender equality and empower women" links gender equality to women. In Ghana and most countries, no one talks about gender equality in the nursing profession where females are mostly dominated and men cannot rise to the top. Really, should that be the case? But gender equality suggests equal rights, responsibilities, opportunities, treatment and valuation of women and men at work in jobs/enterprises and in the relation between work and life so it my opinion, it should not only be assumed on the other side.
Gender norms/values/stereotypes are the various assumptions, theories people hold on what women and men should possess, be like, what they are capable of doing and what uniquely identifies them. Gender norms in most cases are clearly defined by culture or society right from childhood. In Ghana, most of the academic institutions have females as Assistant School prefects or Vice SRC Presidents. Such positions are just the highest a female can rise to. Gender norms vary from place to place. On the other hand, some individuals may defy such norms and try to move to the other side of the accepted norm or value. In such cases, names are clearly assigned to these individuals. Example in Akan language is ↄbaa-barima (Man-woman) or masculine woman. --Kafuiaheto 21:59, 9 March 2011 (UTC)
Hi,
Gender Equality refers to equal opportunities, equal rights, equal treatment and valuation of women and men at work and in the relation between work ad life. Example fair distribution of worklaod, decision making and sharing of income as while as equal rights and opportunities i business and government position.It is all about peolpe (Men and Women) are treated with dignity. Gender Equality is the state or condition that affords women and men equal enjoyment of human rights, socially valued goods, opportunities, and resources. women having the same opportunities in life as men, including the ability to participate in the public sphere an equal visibility, empowerment and participation of both sexes in all spheres of public and private life. accepting and valuing equally the differences between women and men and the diverse roles they play in society.
Gender Norms and Values are ideas of the people on what women and men should be like and what they are capable of doing.
Gender Stereotype occurs when men or women are persistently attributed certain characteristics or roles, thereby creating the belief that these are invariably linked to gender. For instance, the perceptions that all women are weak and caring and that all men are strong and able to make important decisions -Gender stereotyping reinforces gender inequality -Gender stereotypes account for women having much less access than men to key productive resources such as education, land, income, credit, and employment, which significantly reduces the leverage they have in negotiating protection with their partners and greatly affects their ability to cope with the impact of infection
This is what I understand from these terms:
Gender equality: This is an (ideal) situation where women and men have equal opportunities. I say ideal since this is how it should be...... but can't be.
Gender norms:These are the socially correct expectations of members of each gender eg it is against the norms of men to wear earrings and cutex. It is also not the norms of women to lean against a wall and urinate... while you will find a whole grown-up man doing that without much ado!
Gender values:These are those habits that are taken to be fitting for members of either gender. eg it is a gender value that a woman should line her dress as she is sitting and a man should assist a woman (from danger) as a gender value
Gender stereotypes:These are the myths and propagandas attached to the fact of being in the respective gender. Of course they affect women more. eg it is a gender stereotype to believe that women are gossipers and possessive jealous beings (though there may be some truth in that)
Hi all,
Like already said by others gender equality is what development workers and activists strive for, the equal treatment, access to resources for males and females without prejudice.
Gender norms and values are deeply held beliefs that drive the actions of people and institutions. These normally work against the achievement of gender equality for example the belief that women are made for domestic work, while men are for the public domain.--Smauye 13:52, 14 April 2011 (UTC)
This is our wrap up session and I want to thank you for all your good and interesting discussions and contributions on Sex, gender, Gender roles, Gender equality, Gender norms/values/stereotypes, gender constraints and considerations to Youth Enterprise training.
I however want to remind you that there are many more gender concepts provided in your notes that we did not discuss due to lack of time. Please find time to read all your notes and also look at the references that I provided in the notes so that you can get more information and knowledge on gender issues. You can also look for other readings that I did not mention which can also give you more information and knowledge on gender.
Even if this is a wrap up session, allow me to make the following few comments on your discussions about gender constraints and gender considerations:
- You all discussed the gender constraints and considerations very well. and Ubandoma put together all the points that all of you discussed. All of you said that the youth lack funds for transport and to participate in training p[programmes and also funds for starting a business and one of the key reasons that young people especially the female youth lack support from the parents/family, friends, government, churches etc. You all said that another reason for this is lack of trust and confidence in female youth to succeed in business.
This is telling us that we have to upscale our lobbying for support among communities where our families and friends live, the government and other support organizations so that they start realizing that the female youth can be as good and even better that the male youth. I totally agree with all of you that use of role models to make presentations to forums including training programmes can assist the female youth build confidence and start emulating the successful fellow female youth - Issues of guardians refusing the female youth to go to far places for training programmes, perpetuated imbalances in supporting the male youth at the expense of the female youth and lack of support services to breastfeeding female youth during training programmes can also be resolved with continued he sensitisation and lobbying programmes for communities, the government and other support.
- Kafuiaheto and others, do remember that these days, a number of financial institutions use group collateral in order to enable vulnerable groups such as the youth, women, persons living with HIV and AIDS and Women with disabilities to borrow funds for starting and growing their businesses. You can guide and encourage the young people that you work with to request for such kind of collateral when approaching banks, Micro Finance Institutions or other institutions where they want to borrow from.
- Luckyluka brought in the importance of providing guidance, counselling and mentoring to the youth especially the female youth in order to support them in the absence of support from their families, friends and amidst the gender imbalances. Good point Luckluka and everybody.
- Continued advocacy and sensitisation both in rural and urban areas, among communities and among women and men so that men do not start/continue being suspicious of their wives when they go for training programmes, so that parents/g5. Continued advocacy and sensitisation both in rural and urban areas, among communities and among women and men so that men do not start/continue being suspicious of their wives when they go for training programmes, so that parents/guardians can start allowing their daughters to go for training programmes and also support them to start businesses.
- I hope and trust that Gabkan and Mulakom you were able to catch up. Thanks Kafuiaheto for sharing your experiences from Ghana. Kaziba, your comments that we are discussing Gender considerations for Youth Enterprise training during the week of the International Women's day celebrations was good and I agree with you that the discussions came at the right time. Kindly thank that Politician in Southern province for us for defining gender well. However, give him the right information so that he can support us well in sensitizing the communities and fellow m en on gender and gender constraints.
Once more, thank you all for your active participation, I hope and trust that you will equally enjoy the remaining sessions that will be facilitated by my other fellow trainers. God's many blessings in your training. Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!
