Creative Ideas for Gender Streaming

By Faizan Usmani

This post presents many workable ideas and suggestions to promote gender streaming which, at the moment, requires some creative thoughts as well besides massive funding and widespread awareness made through mass media.

Gender-based employees’ referral programmes: Gender-based referral programmes should be started in both government and private sectors whereas all female and male employees will be paid incentives to bring other women through their own references into the organisation.
This programme will be effective especially for men who always negatively consider female employees depriving them of employment opportunities. But, under this programme, men will do their level best to bring women staff into their organisation as bringing women folk will give them extra incentives other than monthly salary.

This will also help reduce incidents of sexual harassment at workplace as no man will feel confidence in doing the offense with people who already know them very well. An organisational culture enriched with mutual care and fraternity will take place as a result of initiating gender-based employees’ referral programmes.

Customised working shift for women: In manufacturing units, there are usually three shifts – A, B and C. In our environment and existing law and order situation, B and C shifts – usually held in evenings and nights – are not suitable for women thus in all working units, we can reserve A shift – morning shift – for women only. We can also design a customised shift for women according to the prevalent social and cultural settings.

Adjusting the salary issue: Salaries of the women should be kept a bit low as compared to male working in the same positions. By this way, employers will go to recruit more women than men for the same positions as industrialists never leave any opportunity which brings to them any sort of cost-cutting and monetary relief. The slight low salary given to women folk can be effortlessly compensated by reducing their total working hours according to the salary difference. This will satisfy men’s pampered ego and help women reach well earlier to their homes before rush hours. This idea doesn’t look sound but considering the general psyche of Asian men, we can achieve the desired gender mainstreaming effortlessly in a short span of time.

Equal opportunity employers should be supported:
Companies which are true equal opportunity employers and recruit the same number of women as that of men should be given incentives and relief in terms of flexible taxations etc.

Women workers cum business women: Female staff working in a manufacturing unit should be given special discount on purchasing items manufactured in the unit so that they can also start their own part-time business or help their husbands and brothers start their own business by selling these items in the market. This practice will multiply organisational loyalty and especially those men who are rather concerned about social legitimacy of working women will become attached with this system, resulting in encouragement and backup to working women by and large. The employment opportunities available to men but systematically paved by women will be all beneficial for women and will boost their social standings in employment and workplace affairs.

Putting women at the centre of employment cycle: Social reforms are always necessary in a society full of discrimination and injustice against vulnerable groups. Men being employed at any post should be required to bring employment references from women only. This will again stress the significance of women in the professional world. Directly or indirectly, women should be included in the mid of the employment cycle as their inevitable presence will greatly uplift their social status in the long run.
All credentials and documents should be attested by both man and woman working in the government departments on 17 and above grades. This will also signify the presence of women on higher levels.
Furthermore, married male staff should be encouraged to bring up their wives into their companies. When leaving their jobs, women workers should always be asked to bring other woman to fill up their post.

Solving the plight of women commuters: Men travelling in the ladies’ section must be stopped. This step will leave enough space for women commuters to travel easily without any intervention. If providing pick and drop services are not possible for every employer, then these employers must be provided auto loans on easy terms and conditions so that their female staff gets this facility very soon.

Employment opportunities in their own living areas: Women should be always provided employment opportunities in their own living areas. This step will solve most of their travelling problems and enhance security level as well. A sense of being closer to their homes will be productive for them and this option would attract many of those skilled women labours who are quite hesitant to leaving their homes regularly to far flung areas for employment. In a nutshell, when making any reforms and social or workplace amendments, men should never be given an impression that they are being ignored or sidelined. In actual fact, men’s fullest participation is must in desired task of gender promotion. Hence, a society with equal opportunities for both men and women should be the ultimate task. Overall, there is a dire need to create an environment which encourages participation of women in workplace activities and professional life as without creating the same, likelihoods for gender promotion in our society will be always low.

Many initiatives, in this decade, have been taken in order to leverage and support gender promotion in our society on both government and private levels. Despite these efforts accompanied by sizeable funds and donations by international institutions, lack of new creative ideas is noticeable whereas most of the activities devoted to research and awareness activities by and large.

When talking about ideas, one should never forget that ideas may be wrong or even ridiculous but the efforts made for these ideas must be welcomed by all means. And, most of the time, there is only one idea out of hundred which really comes out to be out of the box. Thus, it is mandatory to devise up new ideas first and then leave it for the next session to analyse practicability and feasibility of presented ideas, suggestions and proposals. The same approach must be applied when reading up present blog till its end and all our judgements and the inborn urge to reject new ideas and suggestions in its initial stages should be suspended for a while.