A Qualitative Analysis Of Teenage Pregnancy In Mauritius

OSSREA-Mauritius Chapter

Journalof

Social Policiesand

Development

Special Issue Vol. 2“Gender in Economic, Social and Political Arenas”

November 2013


ISSN 1694-1977

ABOUT OSSREA

The Organization for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa (OSSREA) is a regional membership-based and donor-supported research and capacity-building organization whose mission is to promote dialogue and interaction between researchers and policy-makers in Eastern and Southern Africa with a view to enhancing the impact of research on policy-making and development planning. Its headquarter is based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

P.O.Box: 31971 Addis Ababa, EthiopiaTelephone: 251-11-1239484

Fax: 251-11-1223921Email: [email protected]

Web: http://www.ossrea.net

Nicolas RagodooFSSH,

University of MauritiusReduit

[email protected]: +230 403 76 84


Journalof

Social Policiesand

Development


November 2013

© No reproduction without permission. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright holder. Liaison Officer for Mauritius Chapter Nicolas Ragodoo FSSH, University of Mauritius Réduit [email protected] Tel: +230 403 76 84 OSSREA Headquarters P.O.Box: 31971 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Telephone: 251-11-1239484 Fax: 251-11-1223921 Email: [email protected] Web: http://www.ossrea.net

ISSN 1694-1977

EDITORS:

OSSREA - Mauritius Chapter N.Ragodoo (Liaison Officer) FSSH, University of Mauritius [email protected] Dr D. Padachi (Chapter Secretary/Finance) SAFE, University of Technology [email protected] R. Suntoo (PR/Membership Drive Officer) FSSH, University of Mauritius [email protected]

MEMBERS OF THE SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE:

Prof S. Sivaraju, Dean of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences

Prof Roger Southall, Department of Sociology, University of the Witwatersrand

Prof Micheal Neocosmos, Department of Sociology, University of South Africa

Prof Sheila Bunwaree, Faculty of Social-Studies and Humanities, University of Mauritius

Prof Sanjeev Sobhee, Faculty of Social-Studies and Humanities, University of Mauritius

Assoc Prof H. Chittoo, School of Business, Management and Law, University of Technology, Mauritius

Assoc Prof R. Durbarry, Head of Department Marketing, Tourism and Hospitality, University of Bedfordshire

Assoc Prof Jay S Matadeen, Faculty of Law and Management, University of Mauritius

Editorial

Nicolas Ragodoo, Dambeegan Padachi & Rajen Suntoo

Background

In 2012, Mauritius ranked 70th out of 186 countries according to the Gender Inequality Index of the UN. In spite of the significant efforts made through amendments in the legislations and educational campaigns, wide disparities still prevail in terms of opportunities available for men and women. Indeed, even if in terms of academic performance girls clearly outperform boys, this is not replicated in the work environment, where women are still very much under-represented in the decision-taking spheres. With regards to the rates of unemployment, it stood at 11.9% for women, compared to 5.4% for men. Also, despite labour laws and remuneration orders, women still suffer from discrimination in terms of salary in some areas. Even if the number of women occupying high positions in government services, the number of seats occupied by women in the national assembly, and the number of women entrepreneurs are all on the rise, there is still a long way to reach gender equality in these spheres. On the other hand, cases of gender-based violence have been high and rising, and the feminization of poverty is gaining ground.

Objectives

The primary aim of this Special Issue is to review the trend followed by Mauritius in terms of gender policies during the recent decades, analytically classifying them, developing typologies of varieties and their prevalence, and evaluating their impact on the development path followed by the country. The effectiveness of measures taken in the gender field, lessons learnt, as well as the gaps and the challenges ahead in the economic, social and political spheres are investigated.

Topics covered

The Journal covers a comprehensive set of topics related to gender in economic, social and political arenas such as gender equality and economic development, education, growth and gender, women entrepreneurship, the feminization of the teaching profession, the emancipation and vulnerability of women, teenage pregnancy, and sexual violence.

The Editorial committee would like to thank OSSREA Headquarters for its continuous support for the achievement of this project. Special thanks to the members of the Scientific Committee, and congratulations all those who have their papers in this present edition.

CONTENTS Education and growth: Does Gender matter? ................................................................................................................. 1-7 Boopen Seetanah Gender equality and economic development in Mauritius: a win-win situation? ................................................... 8-21 Verena Tandrayen-Ragoobur and Harshana Kasseeah Revisiting the role of Women centers in the empowerment of women in Mauritius .............................................. 22-29 Ibrahim Koodoruth Gender equality in education and economic growth: the case of Mauritius ............................................................ 30-39 Sheereen Fauzel

A feminist analysis of sexual violence in Mauritius ..................................................................................................... 40-49 N. Fokeerbux and Horatio Caine The nexus between Sustainable Development Practices and women entrepreneurs: The case of Mauritius ...... 50-56 Meghna Raghoobar

The Feminization of the teaching profession in Mauritius .......................................................................................... 57-62 Vidyaluxmi Mayaram Emancipation and Vulnerability of Women ................................................................................................................. 63-68 Yashinee Bholah

The impact of the 2009 Transitional Unemployment Benefit on the welfare of women in the EPZ sector in Mauritius: a qualitative study ...................................................................................................... 69-74 Asrani Gopaul

A Qualitative Analysis of Teenage Pregnancy in the Mauritian Society .................................................................. 75-84 Anishta Bhoodoo Is there really a place for Gender Equality in the Economic, Social and Political Arenas? .................................... 85-89 Mahendrenath Motah

OSSREA Journal of Social Policies and Development

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EDUCATION AND GROWTH: DOES GENDER MATTER? Boopen Seetanah, Department of Finance and Accounting, University of Mauritius, Republic of Mauritius

ABSTRACT This research analyses the relationship between gender separate education and economic growth for the case of Mauritius, one of the fasting nation in Africa. Using a multivariate dynamic estimation technique to account for dynamic and feedback effects in the education-growth link for the period 1960-2010, it is established that that both female and male education are important ingredients in explaining growth. They are interestingly shown to have nearly the same productivity level. Further analysis suggests that bi-causality exist between female/male education and economic growth. Indirect effects via capital stock accumulation, a proxy for investment, are also reported. Key words: Human Capital, Education, Economic Growth.

1.0 INTRODUCTION A sizeable important amount of empirical work on the economic importance of gender-neutral education exists. Overall there is a consensus that education attainment has a positive and significant effect on economic growth thus confirming the theoretical predictions. However studies on the gender separate education effects on economic progress have largely ignored until recently even, then there exists a great deal of contradictory evidences. For instance Barro and Lee (1994) find that growth is positively related to male education and negatively related to female education. Caselli, Esquivel and Lefort (1996), however, find the opposite, while Birdsall, Ross and Sabot (1997) report no significant difference between the genders. Moreover, most of the scarce evidences have been based on cross country and panel data analysis and focused on developed countries cases. Studies on country specific cases using rigorous time series analysis, especially for developing countries, have been particularly lacking. More importantly, to our knowledge, no study has been performed for the case of small island developing states and we should take into account the fact that empirical findings from developed countries’ cases are not directly applicable and relevant to island states given their

vulnerability and special characteristics. Furthermore previous studies have largely ignored Moreover, it is only lately that scholars have been implicitly dealing with the issue of reverse causality and dynamics in the education and economic growth link The aim of this paper is to thus to address the above issues in the investigation the empirical link between gender separate education and economic progress for the case of the small island developing state of Mauritius. It allows for dynamic and feedback effects in the education-growth link by using a multivariate dynamic estimation technique, namely a difference vector autoregressive framework for the period 1960-2010 The structure of this paper is as follows Section II discusses very briefly the theoretical underpinnings of the link between education and economic growth and the relevant empirical literature. Section III describes the preferred modeling function used and elaborates on the data collection. It also investigates the empirical link between gender separate education and economic growth for the case of Mauritius. Section IV concludes. 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW

Before focusing on the gender-separate theoretical literature, it is first necessary to briefly review the role of aggregate human capital in economic growth. In fact more and better education is a prerequisite for rapid economic development around the world. Education stimulates economic growth and improves people’s lives through many channels i) by increasing the efficiency and thus increasing an individual’s earning potential of the labor force, ii) by fostering democracy (Barro, 1998) and thus creating better conditions for good governance, iii) by improving health and reducing fertility and iv) by enhancing equality (Aghion, Caroli and García-Peñalosa, 1999), and so on. In fact education produces a “ripple effect” throughout the economy by way of a series of positive externalities. Michaelowa (2000) provides a comprehensive overview of theoretical underpinnings about the link between education and economic growth and this is shown in adapted figure 1 below. It summarises the education-growth theoretical arguments namely that i) educated persons as well as of

EDUCATION AND GROWTH: DOES GENDER MATTER?

2

those who indirectly learn from them benefit from increased earnings and this can be interpreted as a reflection of productivity gains. If the population reaches a higher educational attainment, economic productivity should be fostered and thus leading to higher growth. Moreover, the wage differential reflects the higher value of human capital which, being an input factor in the national production Figure 1 : The economic return to education

Source : Michaelowa, K., (2000)

function, contributes to an increased national output. ii) Education positively influences another dimension of human capital with similar consequences for increased productivity and growth through its impact on health. iii) Education also leads to reduced birth rates through its impact on reduced population growth. From a statistical point of view this increases national income and growth are considered on a per capita basis. In addition it is clear that the number of childbirths affects women’s physical ability to work and their productivity and finally iv) education has often been argued to induce more persons to participate in the labor force. This might in turn lead to a reallocation of the population towards economically more productive activities and ultimately having an impact on growth. 2.1 Empirical Evidences Classical work from Jorgenson, Gallop and Fraumeni (1987) has reported a positive contribution of education and human capital to economic growth. Maddison (1991) while estimating similar impact also positive reported output elasticity with respect to quality of labour force with elasticities between 0.1 and 0.5. Mankiw, Romer, and Weil (1992) provide one of the best known and most influential contributions to the empirical growth literature, particularly on the growth effects of human capital. They reported an output

elasticity of education of 0.3. The results are in line with those by Barro (1991, 1993) and Levine and Renelt (1992). Young (1995) also confirmed (elasticity of 0.1) the above for the case of East Asia economies. A survey review by Englander and Gurney (1994) based mostly on studies from G7 suggests that the growth of human capital typically accounts for a tenth to a fifth of growth in total output. Similar surveys from Griliches (1997) reported that this could have accounted for perhaps a third of the productivity residual in the US over the post-war period. More recently Gemmell (1996), Klenow and Rodriquez (1997), Temple (1998) and Hall and Jones (1999) reported output elasticities from education of between 0.1 to 0.3. Accounting for feedback issues, Teixeira and Fortuna (2003) studied the human capital effects on economic growth of Portugal using (Vector Autiregressive)VAR and cointegration analysis and obtained a long-run estimate for human capital elasticity of 0.42. Pina and St. Aubyn (2004) subsequently confirmed the results using similar techniques. The scarce evidences from developing economies also yield positive returns of education in general (see Psacharopoulos, 1994; Glewwe, 1996; Andreosso-O’Callaghan, 2002 and Baldacci, Clements, Gupta and Cui, 2004) However, several well-known studies have also found the correlation between human capital and growth to be surprisingly weak (for instance Benhabib and Spiegel, 1994; Islam, 1995; Barro and Sala-i-Martin, 1995; Caselli, Esquivel and Lefort, 1996; Pritchett 1997; Durham, 1999; Bils and Klenow, 2000; Temple, 2001). A summary of evidences would concur with Temple (2001) who noted that ‘the empirical evidence that education matters for growth is surprisingly mixed.’ 2.2 Gender separate human capital growth

literature1 The theoretical growth and welfare benefits of female education have mostly generated by microeconomics. Greater female education has often been found to lead to lower fertility rates (see Blau, 1986; Ketkar, 1978; Cain and Weininger, 1973) which in turn result in lower rates of infant mortality and longer life expectancies (e.g., Blau, 1986; Behrman and Deolalikar, 1988 and Benefo and Schultz, 1996). There is also evidence of the inter-generational effects of maternal education on children’s education, health and welfare (e.g., Bach et al., 1985; Blau, 1986; Schultz, 1988; Behrman and Deolalikar, 1988; Feinstein and Symons, 1999; Behrman et al., 1999).

1 Lorgelly (2000) provides the most comprehensive survey review of the literature.


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While there are large amount of evidences on the aggregate human capital-growth hypothesis, the contribution of gender separate education to growth at macroeconomic level has scantly been dealt with. Benavot (1989) was the first to realise this and notes that “models of the impact of education on economic development largely ignore the issue of gender” (Benavot, 1989, p.14). The author investigated the impact of gender differences in education on development for a sample of 96 countries and found that both female and male primary enrolment rates had a positive and significant effect on growth, with secondary enrolments having little effects. Similar results were found with different sub samples, particularly with respect to less developed countries. Interestingly the authors found that the parameter associated with females (.0064) was higher than that associated with the primary education of males (.0056), suggesting that the education of females is more important than that of males. So “educational expansion among school-age girls at the primary level has a considerably stronger effect on long-term economic prosperity than does educational expansion among school-age boys” (Benavot, 1989, p.27). Psacharopoulos (1994) also found that the rate of return to female education is positive and marginally higher than that to male education. The most often cited research remains that of Barro and Lee (1994) who extended the earlier work of Barro (1991) by widening the measure of human capital to include both health and education and further divide education into separate female and male. Using Seemingly Unrelated Regression Equations (SURE) technique applied to cross-country data for two time periods (1965-1975 and 1975-1985), Barro and Lee (1994) found that while growth is positively related to male education, it was negatively related to female education This “puzzling finding” was explained by the fact that “a high spread between male and female secondary attainment is a good measure of backwardness; hence, less female attainment signifies more backwardness and accordingly higher growth potential through the convergence mechanism.” (Barro and Lee, 1994). Barro and Sala-i-Marting (1995), Barro (1996) and Lorgelly and Owen (1999) found similar results. However, Barro (1997, 1998, 1999) using revised data for his panel data concluded that the return of female education to growth is essentially zero in fact. On the other hand, using dynamic GMM panel estimation for 97 countries for the years 1960 to 1985, Caselli, Esquivel and Lefort (1998) surprisingly found the reversal of the signs on the female and male education variable from those reported by Barro and Lee (1994). The authors argued that the changes in their results are due to the impact of using the GMM. Forbes

(1998) subsequently supported these results. As Forbes argued “this pattern of signs may not support traditional human capital theory, these coefficients … are similar to those found in other growth models estimated using the same technique [namely Caselli, Esquivel and Lefort]” (Forbes, 1998, p.13). Empirical Analysis from Birdsall, Ross and Sabot (1997), in their “Barro-style” regression, reported “that increasing primary school enrolments for girls is just as effective in stimulating growth as increasing primary enrolments for boys”. Other studies while investigating the varying importance of male and female education focused on the gender gaps in human capital and whether this gap hindered economic growth and productivity. Among the first studies was that of Hill and King (1993, 1995) who found support for increases in female education and decreases in the gender gap (measured as the ratio of female to male enrolments) resulting in increases in social well-being. The authors found that that failure to improve female education to at least the same average level as that of males may act as a brake on development. Sadeghi (1995) also confirmed the above results. Recent studies from Klasen (1999) found that the initial gender gap and the expansion of the female-male ratio both have a significantly positive impact on economic growth. Klasen also found a significant role for gender gaps in education indirectly hindering economic growth through its impact on investment and population growth. A summary of empirical evidences shows that while a relatively large amount of work exists in the aggregate education- growth debate, although with mixed results, gender separate studies have not however not received due attention. Moreover the existing ones tend to focus on developed country cases and on cross sectional and panel data sets with little or no time series studies found for the case of developing, especially small island developing states, and taking account dynamic feedback issues that may occur. 3.0 METHODOLOGY AND ANALYSIS 3.1 Dynamic Feedback Endogeniety is an important issue, often overlooked by existing works. In fact there may be the presence of bi-causality in the sense that it not only education that drives growth but that educational attainment are also driven by government policy and income level of the country. It seems plausible that as output and tax revenues increase, governments might allocate more resources to education thus increasing its standards, attainment and quality (See Mincer, 1996 and Bils and


4

Klenow, 2000 on the two way causality issue). Moreover better education may also have a signaling effect and attract more inwards and foreign direct investment which in turn increases output level. The issue of causality and feedback effects is thus important to the analysis of education – growth link. To incorporate the above issue, the analysis uses dynamic econometrics techniques, namely a Vector Autoregressive Model (VAR), following recent studies in the field (see Erk and Ate, 1999; Teixeira and Fortuna, 2003; and Pina and St. Aubyn, 2004). 3.2 The Economic and Econometric Model Our economic model is derived from Griliches (1997), who wrote that “the main, and possibly only, approach to testing the productivity of schooling directly is to include it as a separate variable in an estimated production function”. Other authors (Barro, 1991; Mankiw, Romer and Weil, 1992; Levine and Renelt, 1992 and also from more recent works from De la Fuente, 2003 and Pina and St. Aubyn, 2004) also regressed standard measures of economic development on measures of human capital (decoupled between male and female), controlling for the other variables found in an aggregate production function. A Cobb-Douglas production function is thus specified whereby human capital, which is segregated into male and female human capital, enters as additional and separate inputs into the following extended Cobb Douglas production function

4321 )()()()( tttttt HFHMLKAY (1)

where Y is the country’s national output and is measured by GDP at constant prices, K is the country’s capital stock which has been constructed using the Perpetual Inventory Method (PIM) as recommended by the OECD (2001a), L is the amount of people in employment (a proxy of labour), HM and HF are the secondary enrolment ratio of males and females respectively. The latter are measures employed to proxy for the quality of human capital and have been widely used by Barro, 1991; Levine and Renelt, 1992; Englander and Gurney, 1994 and Barro and Sala-i-Martin, 1995 among others. They are the only consistent and available measure available over the period of study (1960-2010). The use of interpolations was kept to a strict minimum. Data for the dependent variable and for the construction of the capital stock was obtained from the Penn World Table (6.1) whereas employment and male and female secondary enrolment ratio figures were available from

the country’s Central Statistical Office’s biannual digest of Statistics for employment and education respectively. Taking logs on both sides in equation 1 and denoting the lowercase variables as the natural log of the respective uppercase variable results in the following:

hfhmlky 43210 (2) where β0 is the constant term, β1 , β2 , β3 and β4 represent the elasticity of output relative to capital, labour, male and female education respectively. We proceed to investigate the univariate time series properties of the data series, particularly with respect to the degree to which they are integrated. The study employes both augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) (1979) and Phillips-Perron (PP) (1988) unit-roots tests and the results revealed that our data series are I(1). Proceeding to a test of co integration using the Johansen Methodology, it is observed that the hypothesis of cointegration is rejected and thus no long term relationship exists. In the absence of cointegration (but I(1)) data) , a Differenced Vector Autoregressive (DVAR) model is used to capture the short-run dynamics and to model and compare the contribution of male and female education attainment on growth of the growth rate of the different variables. This is consistent with the standard procedure in the literature (See Pereira and de Frutos, 1999 and Pereira and Sagales, 2003). 3.3 The Difference VAR Model A VAR model in a generalised form is given by

tptpttt ZZZZ ....2211 t=1….t

where Zt is a vector of endogenous variables (n variables), is a constant, p is the order of the VAR,

is the matrix of coefficients, and t is an error

term. In this study, the VAR consist of four endogeneous variables (n = 5), Zt =[ y, k, l, hm,hf ] and a constant term . So Zt is a 5 x 1 vector and the variables are as previously defined and are in logarithmic terms. The general form of the difference VAR is thus,

tptpttt ZZZZ ....2211

t=1….t Where Δ is the first difference operator and ω are the parameters. The order of the VAR was chosen by minimising the final prediction error due to SBC which suggested a VAR specification 1. A constant was also included. The


5

results of the OLS estimation of the unrestricted VAR are presented in table 1. The above equations all pass the Lagrange multiplier residual serial correlation test. Focusing on the first column, it is observed that both male and female education attainment have been positively affecting output level with respective output elasticity of 0.18 and 0.16. In the first case it would appear that a 10% increase in the male secondary enrolment ratio might have led to a 1.8% increase in the country’s GDP whereas female a 10% increase in female secondary enrolment ratio is expected to contribute to around 1.6%. Interestingly it is observed that there is no much difference in the contribution of each gender type education and indicates that female workers are as productive as compare to male. The results are consistent with the findings of Birdsall, Ross and Sabot (1997) who found similar results for the case of 108 developed and developing countries over the period 1960-1985 using OLS estimations.

The economy’s level of capital stock is reported to have been the most important ingredient of growth (output elasticity of 0.71) and the proxy labour has an elasticity coefficient of 0.13 and is slightly on the lower side of what was expected. Further analysis from the second column of the table suggests that both male and female education (with a slightly higher contribution) helps in enhancing investment level in the country. Thus this indicates the presence of some indirect effects of education on growth as well. There is evidence of important feedback effect from the economy’s output level to both female and male education as witnessed by the positive and significant coefficient of yt-1 in the last two columns of table 1 (where male and female education are the dependent variable respectively). This confirms the bi-causal link between these variables. No reverse causation is observed for the case of education-private investment link though. Moreover one can argue that both genders education mutually drives each other for the betterment of the country’s investment and output as revealed by the positive and significant coefficient of female and male education variables respectively.

3.4 OLS Estimates of the Unrestricted Regression in First Difference Table 4 : OLS results of the unrestricted regression in difference.

Δy Δk Δl Δhm Δhf

Δyt-1 -0.63**

(-3.27)

0.17*

(1.98)

0.24

(0.66)

0.13*

(1.69)

0.05*

(1.87)

Δkt-1 0.71***

(2.92)

0.65***

(4.5)

0.16*

(1.77)

-0.014

(-1.34)

0.13

(1.37)

Δlt-1 0.13***

(2.91)

0.034

(1.12)

1.48***

(3.84)

0.283

(1.48)

0.328

(1.45)

Δhmt-1 0.18**

(2.16)

0.06*

(1.87)

0.08

(-0.68)

0.88***

(3.52)

0.17*

(1.69)

Δhft-1 0.158*

(1.99)

0.19*

(1.88)

-0.0244

(-0.27)

0.166*

(1.89)

11.22***

(5.64)

Constant -1.36

(-0.99)

0.58

(0.37)

1.48

(1.18)

3.55**

(-2.57)

1.67

(1.23)

R2 0.61 0.73 0.86 0.88 0.87

DW 1.98 1.87 2.4 1.93 1.99

*significant at 10%, ** significant at 5%, ***significant at 1%


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Impulse response analysis has also been used to investigate the effect of a one percent point shock in the rate of growth of the secondary enrolment ratio, both female and male independently, on the other variables of the model. The analysis confirms that both types of education have a positive effect on the country’s level of output and that this is effect tends to die out after some 25 years. The female/male education-investment link and reverse causation are also confirmed, thus consolidating the previous results.

4.0 SUMMARY OF RESULTS

Using a difference Vector Autoregressive model, the paper investigated the dynamic relationship between gender separate education and the economic performance for the case of the small island developing state of Mauritius for the period 1960-2010. Results from the analysis suggest that both female and male education, as proxied by their respective secondary enrolment ratio, are important ingredient in explaining growth. Moreover they are reported to have nearly the same productivity level. Further analysis suggests that bi-causality exist between female/male education and economic growth. Indirect effects via capital stock accumulation, a proxy for investment, are also reported. The analysis confirms the positive theoretical and empirical link between education, particularly gender separated education, and output level and further on provides new evidences from a small island developing state (SIDS) using recent a dynamic framework.

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GENDER EQUALITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN MAURITIUS: A WIN-WIN SITUATION?

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Verena Tandrayen-Ragoobur and Harshana Kasseeah Department of Economics and Statistics, University of Mauritius [email protected]; [email protected]

ABSTRACT The paper investigates the causal link between gender equality and economic development. Time series data for the Mauritian economy from 1975 to 2011 is used to analyse the gender equality in education and economic development nexus. Our results reveal that, the promotion of gender equality in education offers a win-win solution for economic development. Short run causality exists between all education levels (primary, secondary and tertiary) and GDP per capita while long run causality prevails only between tertiary education and economic development. The paper concludes with a discussion of economic policies that can promote a win-win outcome with greater gender equality and economic development. Keywords: Gender Equality, Economic Development, Mauritius 1. INTRODUCTION Gender equality is first and foremost a human right. Women empowerment has been recognised as an indispensable tool for advancing development and reducing poverty. In addition, promoting gender equality and empowering women accumulation is one of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set by the United Nations and it is on the public policy agenda of almost every country of the world. Goal 3 of the MDGs involves the elimination of gender disparity in primary and secondary enrolment preferably by 2005 and at all education levels by 2015. Gender equality is a development goal in its own right and has instrumental value for the long-term growth prospects of countries (Klasen, 2002; World Bank, 2001). The success with which developing countries can integrate more skilled female workers into the labour force determines in part their level of competitiveness in the global economy. Hence, linking gender equality and economic development, the axiom “a rising tide lifts all boats” holds some truth (World Bank, 2012). Several decades of rising global income have contributed to an “unprecedented narrowing of gender gaps” in the realms of education, health, and labour opportunities. Economic development is a

necessary component of greater gender equality but gender equality is just as important to achieve economic growth. Since, the links between gender equality and development work out both ways, each direction of this relationship matters for policy making (World Bank, 2012). Though, important improvements towards reaching this goal have so far been achieved, for instance a remarkable rise in girl’s school enrolment world-wide over the last decade, the situation of women remains largely unsatisfactory. Women still face enormous obstacles, particularly in developing countries. Fewer girls attend primary and secondary school than their male counterparts; occupationally, women are still largely denied access to the formal labour market, do not have equal opportunities to qualify for higher employment and are consequently less likely to occupy administrative or managerial positions, and lag significantly behind in terms of career development and earnings increases (UNDP, 2005). Hence, women still turn to characteristically “female” (and, often, lower-paying) sectors such as communications services and retail; women outnumber men as victims of domestic violence; and governing bodies around the world are by-and-large male-dominated. There is considerable evidence showing that an appropriate leverage of the talents of women and men, a better diversification of women and men in occupations and an enhanced balance in decision making processes contribute positively to development (Maseno and Kilonzo, 2011). Closing gender gaps is therefore not only an issue of equality of rights, but also an issue of economic concern (ILO, 2010). Because gender inequality is unlikely to fix itself, there is a broad consensus that a wide range of gender-based policies are needed (Duflo, 2012). Studies based on cross-country differences, while informative, have proved to be of limited use for policy design because they often do not identify the causal link from gender equality to growth (Bandiera and Natraj, 2013). In Mauritius, the role of women has been changing rapidly over the years. In 2012, Mauritius reached 74 percent of the objectives of the Protocol of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).


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For the Gender Inequality Index, Mauritius received a score of 0.353, placing the country at 63 out of 146 countries. Though progress has been made, there are still concerns in governance, women participation in higher decision making processes and domestic violence. Though Mauritius is seen as an outlier in the African region in terms of economic development, gender inequality is well present in the small economy. The objective of the paper is to investigate the causal link between gender equality and economic development for the small island economy. The purpose of this study is to highlight the impact of gender equality in education, at various levels, on economic development in Mauritius. The paper further assesses the role of openness, foreign investment and domestic investment in affecting the process of economic development in the long run. Our methodology rests on time series analysis for the Mauritian economy from 1975 to 2011 where gender equality is measured by the Gender Parity Index (GPI) at primary, secondary and tertiary levels. This paper is organised in five sections. Section 2 reviews the theoretical literature and empirical work on gender equality and economic development. Section 3 discusses gender equality in Mauritius and the country’s global position in terms of three main gender equality indices. Section 4 discusses the methodology used while section 5 presents the findings. We finally conclude in section 6. 2. LITERATURE REVIEW Gender inequality is the unequal treatment or perceptions of individuals based on their gender. It arises from differences in socially constructed gender roles as well as biologically through chromosomes, brain structure, and hormonal differences (Wood, 2005). Gender inequalities may reflect discrimination against women, but they could also be the outcome of society’s preferences towards gender roles (Cuberes and Teignier, 2011). In the latter case the resulting allocation of resources may not be inefficient from a welfare point of view. In the former case, reductions in gender inequality may potentially increase welfare and efficiency. It is thus important to explain the origins or effects of gender inequality. Another conceptual important point that is often missed in the literature is the distinction between inequality of opportunities vs. inequality of outcomes. Gender inequality in wages refers to the latter, while gender gaps in schooling, labor force participation, occupational choice, political and / or economic rights are examples of inequality of opportunities (Cuberes and Teignier, 2011).

There are a wide range of theories on development that have tried to advocate for equal participation of women. Thus, the concept of engendering development implies engaging men and women equally in the production process, geared towards enhancing equality in development. There are three main theories developed to enhance participation of women in the development process namely Women in Development (WID), Women and Development (WAD), and finally Gender and Development (GAD). Each of these approaches is based on different understandings of and assumptions about the development process, the role of women and men in this process, and thus the design of relevant policies in relation to these linkages. From the conventional economic theories, economic growth development is propelled largely by physical capital accumulation (Todaro and Smith, 2006). Development brings the benefits of industrialisation: higher living standards, wages and education levels, among others (Rathgeber, 1989). With the emphasis on capital accumulation in the context of aggregate models of growth, there is little to no consideration to women as a distinctive group. Development theory was an almost exclusively male enterprise (Elson, 1991), until Boserup (1970) argues that women have been marginalised and existing practices of development treat women differently from men (Benería, 2001a). Thus, the “Women into Development” (WID) processes, promote policies that draw women into modernisation, for instance by increasing female labour force participation in industrialising sectors via targeted education and training (Benería, 2001a). The WID approach rationalises equality between women and men on efficiency grounds, where women are an untapped resource whose inclusion in the modern economy will benefit growth and development (Moser, 1993). However, the WID focuses only on the integration of women into ongoing development initiatives and ignores the sources and nature of women's subordination and oppression. In addition, the extent to which women are already overburdened with tasks and responsibilities is disregarded. It also fails to account for women's reproductive roles. Thus, women need development is replaced by development needs women. Social justice and equity arguments are complemented with arguments of economic efficiency. The marginalisation and isolation of women from the mainstream of the development process is seen as economically inefficient and hampering economic growth. “Women and Development” (WAD) thus focuses more on the fact that women are not marginalised from development,


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but rather the unequal terms under which they are incorporated in the development process (Elson, 1991). Like WID, however, the WAD concentrates on the productive sector, at the expense of the reproductive side of women's work and lives. It fails to undertake a full-scale analysis of the relationship between patriarchy, differing modes of production and women's subordination and oppression. Based on these shortcomings, the development process itself needs engendering and a more dynamic “Gender and Development” (GAD) approach was adopted, where the emphasis is widened to include women’s rights, women’s role as active participants and agents in development, and their role as actors with a specific agenda for development. They shift from understanding women’s problems as based on their sex to understanding them as based on gender (Moser, 1993). GAD links the social relations of production with the social relations of reproduction that is exploring why and how women and men are assigned to different roles and responsibilities in society and how these dynamics are reflected in social, economic, and political theories and institutions, and thus these relationships affect development policy effectiveness. Women are cast not as passive recipients of development aid, but rather active agents of change whose empowerment is a central goal of development policy (Moser, 1993; Rathgeber, 1989). The literature investigating the growth-inequality link is very broad (Deininger and Squire, 1996; Chen and Ravaillon 1997; Easterly, 1999 and Dollar and Kraay, 2002). The theoretical literature on the relationship between growth and inequality originates from the Kuznets hypothesis (Kuznets, 1955), which suggests that the distribution of income will deteriorate over the initial stages of development as an economy transforms over the initial stages of development. This reasoning can be applied to gender inequality and development, because as a nation develops, thriving industries may either be male or female dominated, for example heavy industry and textiles, respectively. As these gender-dominated industries grow, wages rise and leading to a rise in inequality. With further development, there will be increased micro-diversity and less gender segregation in the workplace which will then lead to declining inequality. Further, Sen (1980) identifies four types of entitlements in a market-based economy: production-based entitlements; own-labour entitlements; trade-based entitlement; and inheritance and transfer entitlements. He argues that freedom is the principle means and end of development, and the focus should be shifted from those with low-income to those lacking development of human capabilities (Streeten, 2000). With high levels of gender inequality, women’s

freedoms and capabilities are hindered. Tisdell et al. (2003) apply Sen’s entitlement theory to women, and show that women’s status depends on these entitlements, endowments and bargaining power. Gender inequality, is thus explained by a lack of these entitlements (Tisdell et al., 2003). Sen’s capability approach (1990) has been used in various analyses of contemporary development challenges. It offers a capability-based perspective to equity in development (Fukuda-Parr, 2003). The macroeconomics literature on gender inequality and development has grown rapidly since the early 1990’s. Klasen (1999) analyses the direct and indirect mechanisms through which greater gender inequality in the use of human resource in an economy impact growth. The first pathway works directly through labour markets; it relates to the productivity of labour and the extent to which economies are making optimal use of their human resources. If ability and talents are assumed to be evenly distributed by gender, then the failure to educate and make use of women’s abilities and talents as those of men represents a major market distortion. This is called an artificial restriction on the pool of talent available in the country hence, lowering the average productivity of its human capital (the ‘selection-distortion effect’). Galor and Weil (1996) present a model that studies the causes and effects of gender gaps on wages and labour force participation. In their model, economic growth generates a positive feedback loop by reducing fertility, which leads to a demographic transition and faster output growth. Men are endowed with more physical strength than women but both sexes have the same endowment of mental input. The latter is assumed to be more complementary to physical capital than physical strength. As a result, the increase in capital intensity that accompanies economic growth raises the relative wage of women, given that women have a comparative advantage in the mental labour input. Assuming that the income effect associated with this higher wage is lower than the substitution effect, as in Becker (1981), this rise in women's relative wage lowers the fertility rate since it induces women to switch from childrearing and to participate in the labour market. Finally, higher wages and lower population growth lead to higher levels of capital per worker, and hence faster output growth. Therefore, this model offers a rationale for why gender inequality may have a negative impact on economic growth. Lagerlof (2003) argues that gender equality in education has a positive impact on economic growth because of its effects on fertility and on the human capital of children. He proposes a model in which families play a coordination game against each other when deciding the human capital level of their


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offspring. Despite the fact that the two sexes are modeled as being symmetric in terms of talent, gender discrimination arises as a Nash equilibrium. If everybody expects families to behave in a discriminatory manner by educating their sons more than their daughters, it is optimal for a family to do so, since daughters will then marry more educated men who will earn more. As economies re-coordinate towards a more “gender-equal” equilibrium, women’s human capital increases and their time becomes more expensive, which then leads families to substitute quality for quantity in children. This eventually leads to a higher stock of human capital and hence faster economic growth. A second pathway sets out by Klasen (1999) relates to family relations. It examines the positive externalities generated by greater gender equality on household decisions relating to human capital determinants of growth. Women’s access to education and economic opportunities is more likely to lead to greater investments in the human capital of their children. Gender equality allows the mother to have a better participation in household decision making. This leads to an improvement in the child’s well being, educational attainment and health. Thus, an improvement in decision making leads to an improvement in the productivity of the next generation of workers, an intergenerational transmission of earnings capability which will create better future growth prospects. Higher levels of female education and labour force participation have also been found to be a major factor in bringing about fertility decline, which in turn reduces the dependency burden in the economy and increases the supply of savings. Hence, increases in female earnings can stimulate short term growth via higher consumption and promote long term growth through higher savings. Many of these effects operate through the increased bargaining power associated with women’s education and employment and the associated increase in their ability to exercise control over their own fertility as well as influence investments in their children. Figure 1 below presents a framework on the various channels through which gender equality can impact current and future economic growth. For instance, gender inequality in households, markets and society will stimulate current and long-term economic growth.

FIGURE1: A FRAMEWORK FOR UNDERSTANDING THE LINKS BETWEEN GENDER EQUALITY AND GROWTH

Source: Morrison, Dhushyanth and Sinha (2007) Therefore both direct and indirect effect of gender inequality can be expected to have significant impact on growth. Gender inequality deserves to be included in an empirical growth model. Becker and Lewis (1973) and Becker (1981) argue that the income elasticity of the number of children that families choose to have is greater than the income elasticity of the education level received by each child. Therefore, there must be an income threshold above which fertility in a given country declines and this generates an increase in investment in each child. According to this analysis, rising income is the main trigger of the demographic transition. The main implication of this model is that the associated lower fertility facilitates the incorporation of women into the labour market, hence reducing the gender gap in labour force participation. Greenwood et al. (2005) argue that technological progress leads to the introduction of labour-saving consumer durables such as washing machines, vacuum

Women have better access to markets

Increased women’s labour force participation, productivity and earnings.

Improved children’s well-being

Women have better education and health

Mother’s greater control over decision making in household

Current poverty reduction and economic growth

Future poverty reduction and economic

Income / consumption expenditure

Differential savings Better health and

educational attainment and greater productivity

Increased gender equality in households, markets and society (Equality in rights, resources and voice)


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cleaners or refrigerators, which make it possible for women to start working in the market rather than being confined to home production. In their model, households derive positive utility from the consumption of non-market goods, which are produced using household capital and labour. Technological change in capital goods reduces the relative price of these household durables and encourages their adoption. The use of more productive appliances then frees up time formerly devoted to housework and allows women to increase their participation in the labour market. Furthermore, it can be said that under-investment in girls means that society is not allocating its resources efficiently. It is possible that inefficiencies that have been created by this gender inequality are sizeable enough to decrease productivity to a low level that will harm growth rates. Although there are several measures of gender inequality, the most commonly used measure of gender inequality is regarding access to schooling/ education. It has been found that gender inequalities in education tend to be greatest in poor countries and worst among the poor (World Bank, 2001). Another measure of gender inequality is wage inequality (Seguino, 2000). Gender differential wage rates can to a large extent be explained by the fact that women tend to be crowded into lower paying jobs. The Gender inequality index considers five indicators grouped in three dimensions, consisting of: maternal mortality, adolescent fertility, parliamentary representation, educational attainment and labour force participation. Hence, there are different dimensions to gender equality such as access and achievement in education, improvement in health, indexes of legal and economic equality of women in society and marriage and measures of women’s empowerment (Dollar and Gatti, 1999). Dollar and Gatti (1999) find that one of the strongest empirical regularities is that measures of gender equality are positively related to per capita incomes. Inequality seems to be perpetuated by underlying structural, institutional, political, social and economic factors. Barro and Lee (1994) kicked off a heated debate when they identified a positive relationship between gender inequality and economic growth. Bandiera and Natraj (2013) find that the balance of evidence suggests that gender disparities in educational attainment and economic outcomes are negatively related to development and growth. This finding is of limited use to policy unless it can be proved that reduced inequality is likely to be endogenous to growth because it directly affects gender disparities.

Most studies of the 1990s estimate the relationship between gender inequality in education and growth rather than the level of income. A number of researchers have attempted to investigate the relationship between gender inequality in schooling and economic growth (Hill and King, 1993, Knowles et al, 2002). Easterly (1999) shows that a negative cross-country correlation exists between income and gender inequality in education but there is no correlation within countries. Several researchers have examined the impact of inequality in education and growth and development. These include studies by Hill and King (1995), Klassen (1999) and Knowles et al (2002). Hill and King (1993, 1995) explicitly introduce a gender gap into a cross-section output regression. Income per capita is regressed on the gender gap, female secondary school enrolment and a set of control variables. The results obtained suggest that the level of female education has a significant positive effect on the level of GNP and that larger gender disparities are associated with lower levels of GNP. Klasen (1999) finds that there is considerable impact of gender inequality on economic growth; in particular, gender inequality in education lowers the average quality of human capital which then has an impact on investment and population growth. It is pointed out that gender inequality in education also prevents progress in reducing fertility and child mortality rates which compromises progress and well-being in developing countries. Knowles et al (2002) estimate a neoclassical growth model that includes female and male education as separate explanatory variables. The paper stresses on the fact that educating girls has a catalytic effect on every dimension of economic development, including higher productivity and faster economic growth. In many developing countries of Africa and South Asia, males enjoy considerably higher levels of schooling than females. Empirical results suggest that female education has a statistically significant positive effect on labour productivity. Similarly, Psacharopoulos (1994) finds that the rate of return to female education is positive and marginally higher than that of male education. Others, for instance, Lagerlӧf (1999) examine the impact of education on fertility and economic growth. It is found that initial gender inequality in education can lead to a self-perpetuating equilibrium of continued gender inequality in education with the consequences of high fertility and low economic growth. Some researchers have reported both a direct and an indirect effect regarding gender inequality and growth (Baliamoune-Lutz, 2007). The direct effect is that


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lower female education lowers the average level of human capital and thus has a negative impact on growth. The indirect effect is that gender inequality an effect on population growth and investment and thus produces an indirect impact on growth. In many developing countries female education produces social gains by reducing fertility and infant mortality and improving family and child health, increasing life expectancy and increasing the quantity and quality of children’s educational attainment. Baliamoune-Lutz (2007) further suggests that if lower wage is a result of lower educational levels, then the relationship between gender inequality and education and growth may turn out to be positive. Using data on Sub-Saharan African and Arab countries, Baliamoune-Lutz (2007) find that lower female education leads to lower growth. The two measures of inequality used are the ratio of girls to boys in primary and secondary enrolment and the ratio of young (15-24 year old) female to male literacy rates as these 2 indicators are specifically associated with MDG3. Pervaiz et al. (2011) analyse the impact of gender inequality on economic growth of Pakistan. An annual time series data for the period of 1972-2009 was used and their results show that labour force growth, investment and trade openness have statistically significant and positive impact whereas gender inequality has a significant and negative effect on economic growth of Pakistan. Further, Agénor and Canuto (2013) analyse the long-run impact of policies aimed at fostering gender equality on economic growth in Brazil. They used a gender-based, three-period overlapping generation model that accounts for women’s time allocation between market work, child rearing, human capital accumulation, and home production. Their findings show that fostering gender equality, in terms of women’s time allocation and bargaining power may have a substantial positive impact on long-run growth in Brazil. However, both the theoretical and empirical literatures are divided regarding the relationship between growth and inequality. Some studies find that inequality leads to faster growth (Forbes 2000) while other studies find that inequality leads to lower growth (Alesina and Rodrick 1994, Alesina and Perotti 1996). Similarly, some studies are also divided regarding the direction of causality, that is, if causality runs from inequality to growth and vice versa. But, most studies have investigated the relationship between gender inequality in education and growth rather than the level of income. It is important to understand the values, social norms and other mechanisms involved in the relationship between gender equality and development.

3. GENDER EQUALITY IN MAURITIUS

3.1 Gender Policies in Mauritius Gender equality is both a core concern and an essential part of human development. Women are often discriminated against in health, education and the labour market, which restricts their freedoms. In the case of Mauritius, the government has been focusing on rebalancing growth, boosting productivity, consolidating social development and social justice and promoting environmental protection. Real gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 4 per cent in 2011, up from 3.1 per cent in 2009 but lower than the 5.5 per cent in 2008. Despite challenges at home and abroad, the government has maintained a steady growth path. The standard of living in Mauritius is currently among the highest in the African region with a present real Gross National Income per capita of around USD 13,400. The Gini Coefficient stood presently at 0.39 and the poverty rate is a low 8 percent. Our main social indicators have been performing well over the last decade, with increased life expectancy and a fall in infant mortality. Moreover, Mauritius leads Sub-Saharan Africa in economic freedom and is ranked 12th worldwide, according to the 2010 Index of Economic Freedom (Heritage Foundation, 2011). For the third consecutive year, the World Bank's 2011 Doing Business report ranks Mauritius first among African economies (20th worldwide, out of the 183 economies) in terms of overall ease of doing business. As far as gender equality and women’s empowerment are concerned, Mauritius undertook a comprehensive review of laws and adopted important legislative measures to protect and promote women’s rights, namely the approval of the Equal Opportunities Act in 2009. Mauritius has ratified several important international human rights agreements (Tandrayen-Ragoobur and Gokulsing, 2013). It acceded to the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in July 1984 and ratified the Convention in 1985. The Optional Protocol to the CEDAW, the Optional Protocol on the CRC on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflicts and the Optional Protocol on the CRC on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography has been signed in November 2001. It has also signed the SADC Declaration on Gender and Development in 1997 and in September 1998, it signed the Addendum to the Declaration on the Prevention and Eradication of Violence against Women and Children. Mauritius is a party to the Beijing Platform of Action and has also identified gender-based violence as one of the critical priority areas at the Fourth World Conference on Women in


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Beijing. Mauritius has also signed the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa. 3.2 Gender Equality Indicators and Mauritius Global Gender Gap Index The Global Gender Gap Index which is a framework used to capture the magnitude and scope of gender based disparities, examines the gap in four fundamental categories namely economic participation and opportunity; educational attainment; health and survival and lastly political empowerment. The score of the overall gender gap index for Mauritius has increased slightly over the years from 0.63 in 2006 to 0.65 in 2012, implying an improvement towards equality in education, economic participation, health and political attainment (Tandrayen-Ragoobur and Gokulsing, 2013). However the scores for economic participation and political attainment remain very low, being respectively 0.55 and 0.095. In addition, Mauritius slips down three spots relative to its performance last year partially due to a decrease in women in ministerial positions (Global Gender Gap Report, 2012). This is shown in Table 1 below. TABLE 1: GENDER GAP INDEX FOR MAURITIUS, 2006-2011

Gender Gap Index

Overall Economic Participation

Educational Attainment

Health & Survival

Political Attainment

R S R S R S R S R S 2006 88 0.6

3 95 0.4

8 65 0.9

8 1 0.9

8 73 0.09

2007 85 0.65

100 0.55

75 0.98

1 0.98

82 0.09

2008 95 0.65

103 0.53

77 0.99

1 0.98

90 0.09

2009 96 0.65

109 0.55

80 0.99

1 0.98

92 0.09

2010 95 0.65

103 0.55

76 0.99

1 0.98

91 0.09

2011 95 0.65

105 0.55

74 0.99

1 0.98

86 0.09

where R is Rank and S is Score Source: Global Gender Gap Report, 2011

Gender Inequality Index (GII) The extent of discrimination can also be measured through the Gender Inequality Index (GII), which captures the loss of achievement due to gender inequality in three dimensions: reproductive health, empowerment and labour market participation. The higher the GII value; the greater the discrimination. Based on 2012 data for 148 countries, the GII shows large variations across countries, ranging from 0.05 (in Netherlands) to 0.75 (in Yemen), with an average of

0.46. High gender disparities persist in South Asia (0.57), Sub-Saharan Africa (0.58) and the Arab States (0.56). Though many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa show improvement in their GII value between 2000 and 2012, they still perform worse than countries in other regions, mainly because of higher maternal mortality ratios and adolescent fertility rates and huge gaps in educational attainment. One of the most disturbing trends concerns the sex ratio at birth, which is deteriorating in some fast-growing countries. The natural ratio for children ages 0–4 is 1.05 (or 105 boys to 100 girls). In some countries, sex-selective abortion and infanticide are artificially altering the demographic landscape, leading to a shortage of girls and women (Human Development Report, 2013). According to the latest figure published in the 2013 UN Human Development Report, Mauritius ranked 70th out of 146 countries with a GII value of 0.38. Netherlands ranked first with a value of 0.05 and Yemen last with a value of 0.75. This is shown in Table 2 below. TABLE 2: GENDER INEQUALITY INDEX (GII), 2012 Country Rank Value Netherlands 1 0.045 Sweden 2 0.055 France 9 0.083 Singapore 13 0.101 United Kingdom 34 0.205 China 35 0.213 Mauritius 70 0.377 Rwanda 76 0.414 South Africa 90 0.462 Ghana 121 0.565 Kenya 130 0.608India 132 0.610

Source: Human Development Report 2013 Gender Parity Index (GPI) The Gender Parity Index (GPI) is another measure and it is essentially a socioeconomic index assessing the relative access to education of males and females. It is calculated as the quotient of the number of females by the number of males enrolled in a given stage of education (primary, secondary, etc.). It is the ratio of girls to in primary, secondary and tertiary education that is the ratio of the number of female students enrolled at primary, secondary and tertiary levels of education to the number of male students in each level. A GPI of 1 indicates parity between the sexes; a GPI that varies between 0 and 1 typically means a disparity in favour of males; whereas a GPI greater than 1 indicates a disparity in favour of females. It is used to


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capture the efforts of countries to eliminate gender disparities in primary and secondary education and emphasises the plight of girls in unequal access in third world countries.

In Mauritius, there exists no gender disparity in education. There were around 97 girls for every 100 boys at primary level during the period 2000 to 2010, seemingly in favour of boys. However, given that there are fewer girls than boys of primary school age (sex ratio is around 97), there is no gender disparity at primary level. At secondary level, the ratio is in favour of girls in spite of more boys of secondary school age being more numerous than girls in the population (see Table 3 below). TABLE 3 – RATIO OF GIRLS TO BOYS BY EDUCATION LEVEL 1 , REPUBLIC OF MAURITIUS 2000 - 2010 Education Level

2000 2005 2010

Primary 96.8 97.0 96.8 Secondary 101.3 103.2 105.4 Source: Ministry of Education and Human Resources, 2011 The Gender Parity Index in both primary and secondary level enrolment has been increasing over the years for the small island economy. For primary enrolment, the figure has been rather stable at 1 showing parity between the sexes. The GPI even exceeded 1 between 1990 and 1998; with a higher ratio of girls than boys attending secondary schools. With respect to the GPI for tertiary education, the index has been on the rise for the last 3 decades, with a low ratio of 0.6 in 1990 to 1.3 in 2011 (see Figures 2 and 3 below).

1 Number of girls per 100 boys

FIGURE 2: GENDER PARITY INDEX IN PRIMARY AND SECONDARY LEVEL ENROLMENT IN MAURITIUS FROM 1975 -2011

Source: World Development Indicators, 2012 FIGURE 3: GENDER PARITY INDEX IN TERTIARY LEVEL ENROLMENT IN MAURITIUS FROM 1975 -2011

Source: World Development Indicators, 2012

.85

.9.9

51

1.05

1970 1980 1990 2000 2010Year

GPIprim GPIsec

0.5

11.

5G

PIT

ertia

ry

1970 1980 1990 2000 2010Year


16

4. METHODOLOGY Solow’s (1957) neo classical model provides the essential foundations for growth estimation; however, it ignored the role of human capital in the determination of economic growth. Mankiw et al. (1992) thus incorporate human capital in growth models. Similarly, various models have been used to incorporate the impact of gender biasedness in economic growth (Kalsen, 1999). His model is based on simultaneous equations; and this model can only be applied for time series estimation, if all the variables are stationary at level. To overcome such issues Seguino (2000) developed a single equation model that establishes the foundation for our empirical model. Drawing from above, we use the following specification for estimating the effects of gender equality on economic development of the Mauritian economy from 1975-2011:

tt1

t1

t1t3

t2t10t

yGPItertiarln

ondarysecGPIln

GPIprimarylngdfcfgdpln

fdigdplngdpexplngdppcln

(1) where lngdppc is log of per capita Gross Domestic Product which is the measure of economic development. In addition, lnexpgdp is log of exports as a share of GDP which measures the level of trade openness of the economy and lngdfcfgdp is log of Gross Domestic Fixed Capital Formation as a share of GDP which captures domestic investment in the country. The other control variable is lnfdigdp denoting log of foreign direct investment as a share of GDP to examine the impact of foreign investment on economic development. t is the error term. Exports, FDI and GDFCF are all growth determinants and are expected to be positively related with GDP per capita. Gender equality is depicted by the Gender Parity Index (GPI) at primary, secondary and tertiary levels. GPI in equation (1) is the ratio of the number of females by the number of males enrolled in a given stage of education where GPIprimary is at the primary level, GPIsecondary is at secondary level and lastly GPItertiary is the ratio of female to males enrolled in tertiary education. Gender equality in education is simply that boys and girls experience the same advantages or disadvantages in attending school, receiving teaching methods, curricula, and academic orientation, and producing equal learning achievements and subsequent life opportunities (UNESCO, 2003).

Several studies have documented the positive externalities of educating women and the important inter-generational effects of female education. Educated women contribute to the welfare of the next generation by reducing infant mortality, lowering fertility, and improving the nutritional status of children (Klasen 1994; Smith and Haddad, 1999; World Bank 2007a, 2007b; Lagerlöf, 2003). Applying regression on time series data may generate spurious results (Granger and Newbold, 1974; Philips, 1986) due to the possibility of non-stationarity data. Hence checking the stationarity of data is a prerequisite for applying co-integration test. As a result, the Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test (Dickey and Fuller, 1979, 1981) and the Phillips-Perron test (Phillips and Perron, 1988) were applied. Once the variables are stationary of the same order, the second step is to check for co-integration or long run co-integrating relationship among the variables. The Johansen Co-integration Test (Johansen 1988; Johansen and Juselius, 1990), which uses maximum likelihood testing process is applied, to know the number of co-integration vectors in the Vector Auto- Regressive (VAR) setting. In fact, the static single equation framework often fails to take into account the presence of dynamic feedback among relevant variables. Accordingly, we opted to use a VAR approach to study the relationship between gender equality and economic development. Such an approach does not impose an a priori restriction on the dynamic relations among the different variables. It resembles simultaneous-equation modeling in that several endogenous variables are considered together. The common form of VAR is as given below:

tktk1ttt Z.........ZZ

(2) where Zt is an (nx1) vector of k variables having integrated order of 1 that is I(1), is a (nx1) vector of intercepts, t,..... t-k, are parameters and t is a normally distributed residual term. The common VAR based model in equation (2) may also take the form of the Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) as follows:

t1tit

1k

1iit ZZZ

(3)


17

where Zt is an (nx1) vector of k variables, is a (nx1) vector of intercepts, t is is an (nx1) vector of residuals. Further, is the difference operator and and are coefficient matrices. is also known as the impact matrix as it explains the long term equilibrium relationship of the variables, while explains the short run effect. The VECM linking short term and long term causality between gender equality and economic development is set as follows:

t1t

n

1jjt6

n

1jjt5

n

1jjt4

n

1jjt3

n

1jjt2

n

1jjt10t

ECTyGPItertiarln

ondarysecGPIln

GPIprimaryln

gdfcfgdpln

fdigdplngdpexplngdppcln

(4) The coefficient of the error correction term (ECTt-1) indicates that there exists a short run relationship among the time series variables. The sign and value of that coefficient provides information about the speed of convergence or divergence of the variables from their long-run co-integrating equilibrium. A positive value denotes divergence while a negative value represents convergence from the long run equilibrium point. According to Banerjee et al. (1998), a highly significant error correction term provides evidence of the existence of a long-run stable equilibrium relationship. A negative and significant coefficient of ECTt-1 is favourable for the stability of a long-run equilibrium. 5. FINDINGS

It is clear from Table 4 below that the null hypothesis of no unit roots for all the time series are rejected at their first differences since the ADF test statistic values are less than the critical values at 1 percent levels of significance. These results indicate that all variables are non-stationary at level and become stationary at first difference. Thus, the variables are stationary and integrated of same order that is I (1).

TABLE 4: AUGMENTED DICKEY-FULLER (ADF) TEST FOR UNIT ROOT At Level At First

Difference Variables T-

statistics P-

values T-

statisticsP-

valueslnGDPPCt 0.332 0.9788 -5.150 0.000 lnexpgdpt -1.801 0.3799 -5.869 0.000 lnfdigdpt -1.951 0.3083 -6.428 0.000 lngdfcfgdpt -2.281 0.1781 -7.089 0.000 lnGPIprimaryt -1.344 0.6090 -5.909 0.000 lnGPIsecondaryt -2.455 0.1267 -4.659 0.000lnGDItertiaryt -2.721 0.1705 -7.299 0.000

Source: Authors’ Computation The next step is the determination of the number of lags. The selection of optimal lag length is required before applying the Johansen Co-integration Test. Thus, Schwarz Information Criterion (SIC) suggests that optimal lag length 3 needs to be selected for further VAR based analysis. The Johansen Co-integration Test is then applied to find out the long run relationship among the variables. Table 5 below presents the results of Johansen’s Co-integration Test. Trace test statistic is used to confirm the number of co-integrating vectors. The null hypothesis stating that there is no co-integration is tested against the alternative hypothesis of co-integration by using Trace test. The trace statistic either rejects the null hypothesis of no co-integration among the variables or does not reject the null hypothesis that there is a co-integration relation between the variables. TABLE 5: UNRESTRICTED CO-INTEGRATION RANK TEST (TRACE) Maximum Rank Trace Statistics 5 Per Cent

Critical Value 0 232.52 124.24 1 129.19 94.15 2 78.99 68.52 3 41.79* 47.21 4 24.39 29.68 5 8.76 15.41 6 0.29 3.76

Source: Authors’ Computation In our test, H0: r = 3 is not rejected at the 5 percent level (41.79 < 47.21). The final number of cointegrated vectors with three lags is equal to three, which is rank (.) = 3. We can thus estimate the VECM model as follows.


18

TABLE 6: SHORT-RUN ESTIMATES

Coefficients

T-Statistics P Value

LD.lnrealgdppc -0.135 -0.590 0.553

L2D.lnrealgdppc -0.153 -0.580 0.565

LD.lnGPIprimary -0.366 -0.230 0.816

L2D.lnGPIprimary 4.191 1.740 0.082*

LD.lnGPIsecondary 0.861 1.840 0.066**

L2D.lnGPIsecondary 0.332 0.800 0.421

LD.lnGPITertiary 0.184 3.140 0.002***

L2D.lnGPITertiary 0.128 2.600 0.009***

LD.lnexpgdp 0.007 0.090 0.931

L2D.lnexpgdp -0.077 -0.570 0.571

LD.lngdfcfgdp 0.308 2.030 0.042**

L2D.lngdfcfgdp 0.151 1.380 0.168

LD.lnfdigdp 0.001 0.080 0.940

L2D.lnfdigdp -0.010 -0.780 0.436

ECT(-1) -0.036 -3.330 0.001***

ECT(-2) -0.857 -0.680 0.495

ECT(-3) -1.040 -1.850 0.064**

Constant 0.042 3.360 0.001*** R-Squared: 0.89

Number of Observations: 32 Source: Authors’ Computation

Table 6 above, presents the short run causality between the control variables and the dependent variable log of GDP per capita. It can be observed that GPI at all levels of education impact positively on GDP per capita. We then check whether GPI at primary level education cause economic development and the chi-square test rejects the linear hypothesis that GPI at primary level is zero. Hence, we can conclude that short run causality runs from GPI at primary education to GDP per capita. The same exercise is carried out for GPI at secondary and tertiary education levels and we further confirm short run causality from gender parity in education at higher levels to economic development. From our results, though we observe short run causality from domestic investment to economic development, the same does not hold for both exports and foreign investment to GDP per capita. This can be explained essentially by the fact that openness is a long term strategy where the impacts are observed after some years. Foreign direct investment also brings benefits to the host country in the long run. In addition ECT (-1) is negative and significant confirming the existence of a long run stable relationship and causality running from the variables in the equation to GDP per capita.

The long run coefficients of our analysis are reported in equation (5) below. lngdppc = 5.772* + 0.0711lnGDPprimary+ 0.056lnGPIsecondary + 0.247*lnGPItertiary + 0.541**lnexpgdp + 0.101**lngdfcfgdp + 0.456**lnfdigdp ** indicates the significance at 0.10 and ** significance at 0.05 level. There is thus evidence that gross fixed capital formation as a proxy for domestic investment has a positive and significant impact on economic development. This is in accordance with theory that investment enhances economic growth; as it is supported by numerous studies namely Mankiw et al. (1992) and Lucas (1988). consistent with expectations, openness measured by exports as a share of GDP is significant with positive sign. It supports the findings of Naqvi (2010), Coe and Helpman (1995) and Lucas (1988). The reason is that greater openness of an economy to the outside world represents improved competitiveness and productivity of the economy that leads towards better economic performance (Akram et al., 2011). As for gender equality, our findings support the conventional wisdom that gender equality has positive impact on economic development. Gender Parity Index at primary, secondary and tertiary levels has a positive relationship with GDP per capita. It can be inferred that the gender inequality undermines economic growth of a country. The results further assert that although gender equality at the primary and secondary level has a positive relationship with economic development in the long run, its impact is not statistically significant. In Mauritius, schooling is free and compulsory till the age of 16; hence both girls and boys attend primary and secondary schools. The reason behind the insignificance of GPI at primary and secondary levels in the long run may be that primary and secondary education have limited role in contributing to economic development. Similar results have been noted by Akram et al. (2011) for Pakistan. Primary and secondary schooling does not increase the skills or productivity of individuals and often is not a passport for a job in the Mauritian labour market. Mauritius has reached a stage of development where there is a significant need for skilled workers. Gender equality at primary and secondary education, however, lays the foundation for equality at higher levels, so efforts to curtail gender inequality at schooling are extremely important. In addition, this is not an argument against gender equality at primary and


19

secondary level, which has an intrinsic value regardless of its economic consequences (Akram et al., 2011). In fact, in Mauritius many unemployed people have only primary and secondary education and there is increasingly a greater need for technical and professional education. CONCLUSION

Access to education is crucial in order to enable the youth to acquire the knowledge, skills and competencies that are required for employment, social inclusion and active citizenship. In this respect, the Mauritian Government has had a long-term vision by providing free education since 1976. Education in public institutions is free at pre-primary, primary and secondary levels. At the tertiary level, full-time undergraduate programmes are free at the University of Mauritius.

Students at all levels also benefit from free transport. Furthermore, as way of encouraging continuous education and delaying exit from the formal education system, schooling is compulsory till the age of 16. Public expenditure on education is thus the second highest item of Government’s recurrent budget after social security. It is estimated at almost Rs10 billion, that is more than 16 percent of the national budget, for the year 2012. The paper reveals that short run causality runs from gender equality at primary, secondary and tertiary education levels to economic development in Mauritius. For long run causality, the coefficient is significant only for GPI in tertiary education. So, we can infer that if the gender differentials in education at all levels are reduced then the small island economy can achieve a higher standard of living. Reduction in gender inequality is the only right and speedy way to attain sustainable economic development. It is noteworthy that education reforms are currently on-going. This is necessary to render the education system more responsive to the changing needs of the country and keep pace with its economic and social development. Emphasis is also given to vocational education and training. Vocational programmes and apprenticeships, offered mainly by the Mauritius Institute of Training and Development (MITD), are meant to train young people in a variety of trades and impart relevant practical skills that can readily be applied in the labour market. In addition, “second chance” programmes enable students who have not successfully completed primary education to join the pre-vocational stream for three years giving them the opportunity to later enroll on vocational or academic courses.

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REVISITING THE ROLE OF WOMEN CENTERS IN THE EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN IN MAURITIUS

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REVISITING THE ROLE OF WOMEN CENTERS IN THE EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN IN MAURITIUS Ibrahim Koodoruth FSSH, University of Mauritius [email protected] ABSTRACT The objective of the Gender Unit of the Ministry of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family welfare (MGECDFW) is to empower women on the social, political and economic front and act as a policy making and monitoring body to mainstream gender into all programmes of the Government. At the MGECDFW, the Gender Unit serves as a focal point for women empowerment issues. It functions through a network of 16 women centers and two councils: the National Women Entrepreneurship Council (NWEC) and the National Women’s Council (NWC). As women empowerment is a cross cutting issue, the services offered in women centers range from training, informative, educational and communication on issues such as economic empowerment, environment, legal education, to home economics, weight management, leisure, sports and stress management. An analysis of most of the training held for women in the women centers, the Home Economics Unit and the Dressmaking Unit indicate that the traditional role of women is reinforced. While these training courses might have served the practical gender needs of women in the 1980’s, in the third millennium, new practical needs have emerged and less attention has been paid to the strategic needs of women. With the existence of several providers of training the following can be observed: (a) there is a cannibalization of the pool of women available for training thereby leading to a duplication of training courses and a fierce competition among providers of training, (b) there is a lack of clear strategy of which stakeholder provides training in a particular field, what is the curriculum of a particular training course, what are the qualifications of the trainers, what are the entry requirements for eligibility in a training course, are courses offered subsidised, free of charge or partially funded, is there a follow-up on the employability of those who are trained? (c) There is no strategy to channel women looking for training towards providers of training, the criteria to provide a training to a woman is on a first come first serve basis and the needs of those women looking for

training are not assessed. The gap between the rhetoric of commitment to women empowerment and the policies implemented in terms of training for women at national level raises the issue of the extent to which policy makers have a road map for women empowerment How can the activities of women centers be revisited to respond to the role attributed to these structures by the National Gender Policy Framework (NGPF): ‘the specific role of women’s centers is to support the empowerment of women along the lines proposed: developing the power to, the power with and the power within. Building self-confidence and self-esteem is important to overcome disempowerment, for being able to engage in mainstream social as well as economic and political activity. This paper provides an overview of providers of training for women empowerment in the country. Secondly, a critical analysis of the environment in which it is operating is proposed. Recommendations are made to revisit the role and functioning of women centers to fulfill the role women centers is attributed in the NGPF.

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background Since the "UN Declaration of the Decade of Women" in 1975, action on women’s concerns has steadily increased. International donor agencies, governments and women's organisations share the underlying assumption that if women understand their conditions, know their rights and acquire the skills traditionally denied to them, empowerment will follow. On the African continent women’s empowerment poses a major challenge and several initiatives have been taken to address the issue: the African Information Society Initiatives (1996), the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (2001) the Maputo Protocol (2005), the SADC Protocol(2008) on Gender and Development aims to harmonise the various international and regional gender equality such as the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women(1979), the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (1986-Banjul Charter) , the Beijing


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Declaration and its Platform of Action (1995), and the Millennium Development Goals (2000) amongst others. The African Union declared a Decade of Women (2010 -2020) and identified ten themes around which member States are to take action to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment from the grassroots to national, regional and continental levels by speeding up the implementation of commitments made by States through the various international treaties. The report (2011) entitled ‘Resilient People, Resilient Planet: A Future Worth Choosing’ released by the UN Secretary-General's High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability states that empowering women and ensuring a greater role for them in the economy is critical for sustainable development. Mauritius has ratified all the international human rights and instruments mentioned above and with the setting up of the Ministry of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare (MGECDFW) in 1982, the country aims to implement policies and programmes geared towards upgrading the status of women, children and the family unit, safeguarding their rights, protecting them against all kinds of abuse and discrimination and ensuring their economic development and welfare within the civil society. Section 3 of the Mauritian Constitution, stipulates the "fundamental rights and freedom of the individual", and provides that "... in Mauritius, there have existed and shall continue to exist without discrimination by reason of race, place of origin, political opinions, colour, creed or sex...”. Four pieces of legislation enacted in favour of women are worth pointing out (1) the Protection from Domestic Violence Act (1997) which has been amended in 2004 and 2007 respectively to enlarge its scope of operation. (2) The Equal Opportunity Act, (3) the Employment Rights Act and the Industrial Rights Act are other legislations enacted in 2008 and various provisions are in line with gender equality.(4) The Local Government Act (2011) which that ensures that at least one third of councilors elected at local level are women. At policy level a National Gender Policy Framework (NGPF) has been formulated in 2008 as a generic policy document and calls upon various entities to take ownership of the process of designing their own respective gender policies using a participatory approach. It further provides the broad operational strategies and institutional arrangements for achieving gender equality. 1.2 The relationship between gender equality and economic development The Human Development Report 2013 highlights the relationship between gender equality and economic development: “Equality between men and women is more than a matter of social justice; it’s a fundamental

human right. But gender equality also makes good economic sense.” Throughout the literature on development, social scientists have examined this bidirectional relationship: some consider that gender equality improves when poverty declines. The policy recommendation would be to create the conditions for economic growth and prosperity, while maintaining a level playing field for both genders. No specific strategies targeted at improving the condition of women is here envisaged. On the other hand those promoting a gender development approach emphasize that empowerment of women is a prerequisite to achieve development. The Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan (2005), argued that achieving gender equality is a “prerequisite” to achieving the other Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), including eliminating poverty, reducing infant mortality, achieving universal education, and eliminating the gender gap in education. The gender gap in the various spheres such as education, political participation, and the labour market should therefore be reduced not only because it is equitable to do so, but it will have positive impact on many other outcomes in society. Gender equality is a concept having diverse dimensions and many layers of meaning. Indeed it is considered “that achieving greater equality between women and men entails changes at many levels, including changes in attitudes and relationships, changes in institutions and legal frameworks, changes in economic institutions, and changes in political decision-making structures” (United nations 2002 p1). Measures to address gender inequality can either be rooted in a gender mainstreaming approach or in the form of “targeted interventions” that have as objective to reduce the gender gaps that disadvantage women. Interventions would include for example support for a network of women’s NGOs, voicing out women views in the media, training to empower women ranging from self-empowerment to empowerment in different spheres of life, sensitize the judiciary on gender based violence, or training for women to encourage them to participate in decision making in the economy and at political level. These targeted initiatives do not in any way contradict the mainstreaming strategy. 1.3 The institutional mechanism for women empowerment The setting up of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs in 1982, signaled a new era for women as this ministry has been instrumental in spearheading policy, legislative measures and programmes aimed at improving the well-being of women. A two-pronged approach has been guiding the activities of the ministry. On the one


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hand, a gender mainstreaming approach is currently implemented by the Ministry through the implementation of the National Gender Policy Framework (NGPF) in collaboration with other ministries. This framework has been formulated in 2008 as a generic policy document, in line with programme-based budgeting and performance management initiatives of the Government and aims to reduce gender inequalities. It stands guided by principles of human rights, human-centred development, partnership and accountability. The NGPF calls upon various entities to take ownership of the process of designing their own respective gender policies using a participatory approach. It further provides the broad operational strategies and institutional arrangements for achieving gender equality. To date not less than 8 ministries have developed their own gender policy. On the other hand, the Ministry initiates a number of activities which are meant to empower women through the four administrative divisions: the Gender unit ((known as the women unit before 2008), the Family unit, the Child unit and the Planning and Research unit. With the shift in approach from Women in Development (WID) to Gender and Development (GAD), in June 2008, the Women’s Unit of the (MGECDFW) has been restyled into the Gender Unit. The objectives of the Gender Unit is to empower women on the social, political and economic front and act as a policy making and monitoring body to mainstream gender into all programmes of the Government. The Gender Unit serves as a focal point for women empowerment issues. It functions through a network of 16 women centres and two councils: the National Women Entrepreneurship Council (NWEC) and the National Women’s Council (NWC) which are regulated by particular Acts voted at the National Assembly in 1999 and 1985 respectively. Under the aegis of the Gender Unit the two councils links about 1200 women associations throughout the island and organise several activities for women empowerment in the women centres. Set up in1999, the NWEC aims to empower a larger number of women to engage in entrepreneurship development and offers various facilities to women namely, training to become an entrepreneur, a Market Centre for women entrepreneurs to sell their products; ten business incubators providing the latter with space, technical support and marketing facilities. The focus of the NWC’s intervention is to inform women of the services and facilities which they can avail of. The field officers of NWC act as motivators’ vis-à-vis the women associations to ensure that women are kept abreast of updated information. The National Women’s Council, has through its Adult Literacy Programme, equipped women with basic literacy and numeracy skills and works in close

collaboration with several NGOs. As women empowerment is a cross cutting issue, the services offered in women centres range from training, informative, educational and communication on issues such as economic empowerment, environment, legal education, to home economics, weight management, leisure, sports and stress management. Training on dressmaking, home economics, hair dressing, floral arrangements, handicrafts, tailoring etc. are also provided at the Women Centres found in different parts of the island. The Home Economics Division is a sub section of the Gender Unit. It is responsible for the planning, organisation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the Home Economics Programme. The latter was initiated soon after the political independence (1968) with the collaboration of the FAO, WHO and UNICEF. The programme was initially started in four social welfare centers as a pilot project. Given the great success of the pilot programme, Home Economics courses have been extended over the whole island. The training strategy of the home economics Division has been recently redefined and various types of training modules have now been devised with the assistance of various institutions (the Mauritius Institute of Education, the IVTB, the Ministry of Health and Quality of Life) in order to meet the evolving needs of the trainees.

2.0 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS 2.1 The feminisation of poverty

In the face of the global crisis whereby several factories have been closed down, women have been laid-off and such situations have lead to a feminization of poverty and/or pushing women back to their traditional roles. In the 2006/2007 Budget Speech, the Government launched the Empowerment Programme (EP) with the aim of securing viable employment, encouraging entrepreneurship, improving competitiveness, providing transitional support to low-income households for housing, and enhancing education for vulnerable children. The Empowerment Programme intends to help Mauritius compete in an increasingly globalised market environment, to democratise the economy by broadening the circle of opportunities to each citizen, create employment for women and men, and, enhance social justice. The EP is now known as the National Empowerment Foundation and is under the aegis of the Ministry of Social Integration of Vulnerable groups. To mitigate the effects of the economic downturn the country is experiencing, several initiatives have been taken: the SMEDA, NICE, Enterprise Mauritius, the


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Human Resource Development Council (HRDC) provide a series of training for capacity building for employability and other facilities to promote entrepreneurship and employment.

2.2 Challenges to be addressed 1. Respond to the new practical needs of women in the third millennium: the 1995 Commonwealth Plan of Action on Gender and Development recognises, "Because men and women have different roles and responsibilities, they also have different gender needs. Moser (1989) outlines a framework known as the Triple Roles Framework for understanding the different roles women (and men) have to fulfil in society (Reproductive, productive and community role). Women have to balance these three roles, while men generally only have the productive role to fulfill. It is in the fulfillment of these "gender roles" that the “gender needs" can be identified. Such needs can be further broken down into "practical gender needs" and "strategic gender needs". Practical needs and practical policies are concerned with the effective fulfilment of these socially defined roles; that is, they do not seek to change the status quo. In contrast, strategic needs and strategic policies are concerned with changing the status quo: challenging socially defined roles and tackling gender subordination in society. Indeed, as the Commonwealth Secretariat notes (1995), "Most governments now endorse the need to improve the status of women. However, an analysis of the most of the training held for women in the women centres, the Home Economics Unit and the Dressmaking Unit indicate that the traditional role of women is reinforced. While these training courses might have served the practical gender needs of women in the 1980’s, in the third millennium, new practical needs have emerged and less attention has been paid to the strategic needs of women. 2. The need for a road map for women empowerment in terms of training. Furthermore, given the changes taking place in terms of the jobs available on the labour market, the range of training courses offered by stakeholders such as the Mauritius Institute of Training and Development (MITD), the National Women Entrepreneur Council (NWEC), the National Women’s Council (NWC), the Sugar industry Labour Welfare Fund (SILWF), the National Empowerment Foundation (NEF), the National Institute for Cooperative Entrepreneurship (NICE), the Agricultural Research and Extension Unit (AREU), the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority (SMEDA), and the Social Welfare Division currently attached to the Ministry of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare, the following can be observed; (a) there is a cannibalisation of the pool of women available for training thereby leading to a

duplication of training courses and a fierce competition among providers of training, providers of service are not working in collaboration and each stakeholder is more concerned with attracting trainees rather than how will those trained be empowered by the training as they are more concerned with the need to survive to keep their jobs (b) there is a lack of clear strategy of which stakeholder provides training in a particular field, what is the curriculum of a particular training course, what are the qualifications of the trainers, what are the entry requirements for eligibilty in a training course, are courses offered subsidised, free of charge or partially funded, is there a follow-up on the employability of those who are trained.(c) there is no strategy to channel women looking for training towards providers of training, the criteria to provide a training to a woman is on a first come first serve basis and the needs of those women looking for training are not assessed, very often the same person enrolls for several courses offered in the training centres. The gap between the rhetoric of commitment to women empowerment and the policies implemented in terms of training for women at national level raises the issue of the extent to which policy makers have a road map for women empowerment.

3. A review of the institutional environment for women empowerment.

According to Paiva (in Payne, 1997) social development means the development of peoples' capacity to work continuously for the welfare of their own and for their society as well. The promotion of social development would imply adopting a holistic approach consisting of four major aspects (a) structural change, (b) socio-economic integration, (c) institutional development and (d) institutional renewal. Without structural change (status of women in the society, womens' access to services and opportunities etc.) all the efforts of social development will fail. Socioeconomic integration ensures that harmonious development social components combine with the economic ones. Institutional development provides the space to implement and maintain socioeconomic integration and structural change as new values or any innovation brought to the existing institutional environment can only be sustained through a supportive network of social structures and processes. Finally, institutional renewal ensures the sustainability of the efforts of socioeconomic integration, structural social change, and institutional development. A social development effort is a constant process of evaluating social institutions through feedback or other mechanisms. However, an assessment of the environment in which women centres operate shows that the progress achieved in the social structures of the Mauritian society is rather limited. No linkage mechanism has been set up to provide the opportunity


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for socio-economic integration and neither institutional development nor institutional renewal has taken place. The institutional environment of women centres has remained the same since its inception.

3.0 REVISITING THE ROLE AND FUNCTIONING OF WOMEN CENTERS 3.1 Restructuring of the enabling environment

In view of promoting social development Midgley (1995) considers that there is an absolute necessity to promote institutionalism. The institutional approach he proposes intends to mobilize social institutions and the organizations of the community to promote peoples' wellbeing. This requires a blend of individualistic, communitarian and statist strategies. By helping people to become self-reliant and independent though training, personal, financial and advisory support this would lead to greater personal independence and emotional security. Existing women NGOs can organize themselves to meet their needs and gain control over resources and issues that face them. This is the basis of community work and community development. The State through managed pluralism can develop large-scale social planning and mobilize considerable resources. In this perspective, the State creates an environment which supports individual and market initiatives side-by-side community activity. This would entail that the State adopts a proactive managerial role and developmental efforts should promote a participative approach at local level. In this respect, the Participatory Advisory Committees (PACs) set up in the 16 Women Centres since November 2007, by the MGECDFW could provide a platform to forge partnership with all key stakeholders to identify priority areas of interventions that need to be addressed to enhance the status of women. PACs should act as an interface between the MGECDFW, other stakeholders and the Community by adopting a bottom-up approach to development, addressing the practical and strategic needs of women.

3.2 Networking among stakeholders

In the Mauritian society both the Ministry of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare and other stakeholders aiming to promote women empowerment have a silos approach in their activities. Networking activities is quasi-inexistent and stakeholders are not aware of training courses and other facilities organised to empower women. For instance, although some stakeholders such as the Human Resource Development Council, Enterprise Mauritius and the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority (SMEDA) have facilities and training which women entrepreneurs could benefit to improve their products, their marketing strategies and enable them to

participate in international trade fairs yet very few women entrepreneurs are aware of their existence. Besides, women centres tend to overlook the potential of adopting a communitarian approach in women empowerment activities and focus mainly on an individualistic approach. For example, instead of holding training sessions in one field and making the assumption that once trained women would set up their own income generating activity, women centres could also accompany the women as a group to start their income generating activities. The network established could reflect the types of training offered, the stakeholders offering the training, the venue and shedule for holding os sessions, the level of the training (level1, 2 or 3 as per the Mauritius Qualifications Authority), the prerequisites to be fulfilled to be eligible for the training,etc. These details can be put on a website accessible in all women centres so that officers in these ministries are aware of training offered and can channel and counsel women on training available. Furthermore, a data bank on those receiving training can be set up in the women centres both to allow a follow-up on the outcome of the training/ the level of employability of women trained in various capacity building areas and as data bank put at the disposal of employers.

3.3 Establishing a road map

"Empowerment" has become one of the most widely used in the literature on development issues. International bodies, governments, women's groups, non-governmental development organisations and social activists, have made empowerment as one of their aims. However, it is one of the most contested concepts in terms of how it is to be measured. At times it is referred to either as a goal to achieve or as a process that people undergo and likely to bring changes. Ann Ferguson (2004) discusses how ‘can development create empowerment and women’s liberation?’ and observes that ‘as a general goal, empowerment has been described as a political and a material process which increases individual and group power, self-reliance and strength’. Sardenberg (2008) distinction between ‘liberal’ and ‘liberating’ empowerment corresponds with the two ways which Ferguson characterises empowerment. The first, defines empowerment as a process that individuals engage in to have access to resources so as to achieve outcomes in their self-interest. In this perspective, the ‘economic, legal and personal changes would be sufficient for individuals to become empowered, and such a process does not require the political organization of collectives in which such individuals are located. ‘The Liberal empowerment approach can be traced out in liberalism, but also in liberal feminism’s claim for equality between men and women. Criticism of this approach


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led to what came to be known as the WID approach, ‘Women in Development’ (Kabeer 1994). With new developments in feminist theorising which emphasised the social construction of gender and the intersectionality of gender, race, and class, an alternative approach, known as the Gender and Development approach emphasised power relations and structural inequalities, rooting analysis and action in conceptualising gender relations as socially constituted relations between women and men.The GAD approach is closer to the second way of conceptualising empowerment, ‘more influenced by empowerment as a goal of radical social movements, emphasizes the increased material and personal power that comes about when groups of people organize themselves to challenge the status quo through some kind of self-organization of the group’ (2004). The transformation of gender relations in this second understanding of empowerment corresponds to what is regarded as ‘liberating empowerment’, In the process of advancing women’s rights and reducing the gap between men and women both the ‘liberal’ and ‘liberating’ empowerment approaches have been used and both conceptualisations can be used in the establishment of a road map for women empowerment in the country. This road map would cater for the role of women centres and other stakeholders and could be built on the 10 Decade themes which are currently financed by the African Trust Fund for Women (ATFW). Article 11 of the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa (SDGEA) for women empowerment calls for the establishment of an African Trust Fund for Women (2004). The African Union Women, Gender and Development Directorate (WGDD), has in year 2010 made the Fund for African Women its number one priority to complement the African Women’s Decade Road Map. The Fund is meant for women and development programmes in African Union Members States, Regional Economic Commissions (RECs) and African Civil Society Organizations. The Nairobi Declaration (2010) on the African women’s decade 2010-2020 under the theme “Grassroots Approach to Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment” has identified ten themes. Each Member state is expected to set up a National Committee composed of all segments of the society and the National Committee will propose one good practice project for each theme per year. Projects to be supported are those already existing but requiring additional support to boost them for a year. AU Ministers of Gender and Women’s Affairs are expected to identify one theme for implementation from the 10 Decade themes and the Fund for African Women would support selected projects. Given this opportunity, the Ministry of Gender Equality, Child Development

and Family Welfare must play a pro-active role to encourage women through the National Women Entrepreneurship Council and other women NGOs to promote a bottom up approach to development and to take advantage of this fund to strengthen the capacities of women in leadership, management and entrepreneurship. For each of the 10 themes, the road map could identify (i) the key issues to be addressed, (ii) the projects and programmes to be implemented, (iii) type of training to be organised to build the capabilities of women and (iv) the lead and other stakeholders likely to be involved in running the activities to meet the economic, social, legal political and self transformation to be undertaken. Charmes and Wieringa (2003) Women’s Empowerment Matrix consisting of six dimensions -- physical, socio-cultural, religious, economic, political, legal could be used. 3.4 Training for Capacity building In terms of education for empowerment, three types of education (UNESCO) can identified: formal education-the hierarchically structured, chronologically graded educational system running from primary through be tertiary and vocational training institutions, informal education-the process whereby every individual acquires attitudes, values, skills and knowledge from daily experience, such as family, friends, peer groups, the media and other influences and factors in the person’s environment and non-formal education- organised educational activity outside the established outside the established educational system that is intended to serve identifiable clientele with learning objectives. In the elaboration of a network among stakeholders engaged in women empowerment and the establishment of a roadmap, these three types of education could be used as criteria to address the diversity of the women’s level of training required: those who have been left out of the formal educational system, those who have studied at primary/secondary/vocational training/tertiary level and those who lost their job and are looking for a training in a particular field. The providers of training for women empowerment can also be classified on the continuum formal-informal and non-formal education thereby avoiding a duplication of training offered and establishing who does what type(s) of training and in which area.

Nowadays, the use of entertainment formats to promote change in attitudes and behaviors has spread quickly. For the last few decades, Entertainment-Education (E-E), or edutainment strategies have been used to address health-related issues and family planning. Tufte (2009)


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defines E-E as the use of entertainment as a communicative practice crafted to strategically communicate about development issues in a manner and with a purpose that can range from the more narrowly defined social marketing of individual behaviours to the liberating and citizen- driven articulation of social change agendas. According to Wallack (1990, referred to in Singhal et al., 2004, page 7) edutainment intends to bring about social change at an individual, community or societal level. Tufte (2005) distinguishes three generations of edutainment. The first generation (1970’s) focused on the marketing of social behaviour and was most often related to public health issues aiming to foster individual behavioural change. The second generation of edutainment (1990’s), however, recognised the complexity in social and health related problems, and viewed society as a unit of change, instead of targeting the individual only. In the third generation of entertainment (2000 onwards) the aim is to strengthen people’s ability to identify the problems in everyday life, and their ability to act upon them, both collectively and individually. The key word of the third generation edutainment is empowerment of the people: ‘The third generation seeks to articulate and to promote the dialectic process of debate and collective action centred on social issues, conflicts,inequalities, and power imbalances in societies. (…) What is characterising the third generation of EE-strategies is a conceptual basis that moves beyond integration of diffusionist and participatory approaches. The epistemological drive is a commitment to social change, based on analysis of the structural violence, the unequal power relations and guided by commitments to human rights and social justice.’(Tufte, 2005, 174). This is in line with the principles of Freire’s liberating pedagogy and the potential of the third generation of edutainment should be used to empower women can address serious social issues. Through edutainment mass audiences can question their existing realities and mobilise for social change. Lessons learnt in some countries have shown the power of popular culture mass media in conjunction with other educational and community mobilization strategies: ‘The massively successful ‘social soap’ TV series Sexto Sentido (Sixth Sense) produced by Puntos de Encuentro in the Western Hemisphere’s second poorest country, Nicaragua, had the audacity to portray lesbian, gay and transgender characters and take on such polemic issues as sexual abuse, emergency contraception, rape and abortion in a country dominated by the traditional Catholic Church – all without getting censored or losing their sense of humor. Showing how domestic violence affects South African women in their primetime TV series of the same name, Soul City has

had massive influence on the perception of people towards violence against women.’ Lacayo, V. Singhal, A p7 Empowerment programmes run in women centres can mobilise and stimulate public discourses about ways in which change can be accomplished. Instead of using traditional pedagogies, third generation edutainment is the new educational pedagogy to be used. The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action on Women in 1995 drew attention to the emerging global communications network and its impact on public policies, as well as the attitudes and behaviour of individuals. It called for the empowerment of women through enhancing their skills, knowledge, access to and use of information technologies. It also included a strategic objective: “Increase the participation and access of women to expression and decision-making in and through the media and new technologies of communication. The Internet, and other information and communication technologies (ICTs) offer indeed enormous potential for transforming the lives of women. The power to connect, to mobilize is unique to ICTs, and it can be used for women’s empowerment. However, ICTs are not a magic bullet for women’s empowerment and the gender dimensions of ICT—in terms of access and use, capacity-building opportunities, employment and potential for empowerment—need to be explicitly identified and addressed. Adressing the barriers which promote the digital divide would pave the way for enhancing women’s sustainable livelihoods through expanded access of women producers and traders to markets, to education, training and employment opportunities. By using ICT facilities and training available on ICT in women centres, women could engage in E-commerce initiatives linking them directly to markets at national and international levels, allowing them to restructure their economic activities and bypass middlemen and male-dominated and exploitative market structures. CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONS In examining the relationship between gender equality and economic development some consider that gender equality improves when poverty declines. The policy recommendation implied here is that creating the conditions for economic growth and prosperity, while maintaining a level playing field for both genders will be sufficient to promote the welfare of women. No specific strategies targeted at improving the condition of women is here envisaged. However, with the GAD approach the empowerment of women is a prerequisite to achieve development and promoting gender equity will ensure that women are not left behind. Moreso, in the face of the global crisis whereby several factories


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have been closed down, and women have been laid-off, specific measures responding to the needs of women is required to avoid a feminization of poverty and/or pushing women back to their traditional roles. The National Gender Policy Framework (NGPF) specifies that the role of women’s centers in Mauritius. To mitigate the effects of the economic downturn the country is experiencing, several initiatives have been taken: the SMEDA, NICE, Enterprise Mauritius, the Human Resource Development Council (HRDC) and Women Centres provide a series of training for capacity building for employability and other facilities to promote entrepreneurship and employment. An analysis of the institutional set up for women empowerment in the country reveals that the needs of women are not adequately addressed in the context of global economic crisis. With the arrival of new stakeholders providing training, the content, the training courses offered, the access and the mode of delivery have to adapt to the conditions and expectations of women in this third millennium. Furthermore, new practical needs have emerged and inadequate attention has been paid to the strategic needs of women. In terms of the organisation of training the need for a road map which will guide providers of training on who offers what and the mode of delivery is increasingly felt. It has been found that the institutional environment of women centres has remained the same since its inception and there is a dire need to engage in institutional renewal. In the light of the above, three main recommendations are formulated to revisit the role of women centers in the empowerment of women in Mauritius: (1) The State through managed pluralism should develop large-scale social planning likely to create an environment which supports individual and market initiatives side-by-side with community activities. This would entail that the State adopts a proactive managerial role and developmental efforts to promote a participative approach at local level. (2) In the Mauritian society both the Ministry of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare and other stakeholders aiming to promote women empowerment should do away with the silos approach they have so far adopted. Networking activities should be initiated and institutionalized to ensure the sustainability of the partnerships established.

(3) The use of entertainment formats to promote change in attitudes and behaviors has spread quickly and the potential of the third generation of edutainment should be tapped to empower women. Through edutainment mass audiences can question their existing realities, the gender stereotypes and mobilise for social change.

REFERENCES Charmes, J. and S. Wieringa. 2003. “Measuring Women’s Empowerment: An Assessment of the Gender Related Development Index and Gender Empowerment Index.” Journal of Human Development. 4(3):419-435.

Ferguson, A. (2004) ‘Can Development Create Empowerment and Women’s Liberation?’, paper presented at the 2004 Center for Global Justice Workshop ‘Alternatives to Globalization’, www.globaljusticecenter.org/papers/ferguson.htm

Gonzales, Rosa M. (2004). Role of media and communication: new possibilities for local content distribution. Information for Development, vol. 2, No. 6. Available from http://www.i4donline.net/june04/roleofmedia.asp

Huyer, Sophia and Tatjana Sikoska (2003). Overcoming the gender digital divide: understanding ICTs and their potential for the empowerment of women. INSTRAW Research Paper Series, No. 1. Available from

http://www. Uninstraw.org/en/docs/gender_and_ict/Synthesis_Paper.pdf

Kabeer, Naila. 2001. ‘Reflections on the Measurement of Empowerment.” In Discussing Women’s Empowerment –Theory and Practice. SIDA Studies No. 3. Novum Grafiska AB:Stockholm.

Kabeer, Naila. 1999. The Conditions and Consequences of Choice: Reflections on the Measurement of Women’s Empowerment. UNRISD Discussion Paper No. 108.

Lacayo, V. Singhal, A. (2008) Pop Culture with a purpose: using edutainment media for Social Change. Oxfam

Midgley, J. 1995. Social Development: the Development Perspective in Social Welfare. London: Sage.

Payne, M. 1997. Modern Social Work Theory. New York: Palgrave.

Sardenberg A Latin American Feminist Perspective on Conceptualising Women’s Empowerment IDS Bulletin Volume 39 Number 6 December 2008

Singhal, A., et al., (2004). Entertainment-Education and Socail Change. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associations, Inc., Publishers.

Tufte, T. (2005). Entertainment Education in Development Communication. Between Marketing Behaviuor and Empowering People. In O. Hemer, & T. Tufte, Media and Glocal Change (pp. 159-174). Gothenburg: Nordicom and CLACSO.

Tufte, T., & Mefalopulos, P. (2009). Participatory communication: a practical guide. Washington D.C.: The World Bank.

United Nations Development Programme. 2008. Innovative Approaches to Promoting Women’s Economic Empowerment. Paper for the Partnership Event on September 25, 2008: MDG3 – Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women – A Prerequiste for Achieving All MDGs by 2015. UNDP, New York.

United Nations (1995). The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action. Report of the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, 4-15 September 1995.

United Nations (2002) Gender Mainstreaming: an overview. Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women.


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GENDER EQUALITY IN EDUCATION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH: THE CASE OF MAURITIUS Sheereen Fauzel University of Mauritius

ABSTRACT

This paper endeavors to innovatively scrutinize the relationship between gender equality in education and economic growth in Mauritius by using data for the period 1990-2010, through a Vector Error Correction Model (VECM). The stationary properties and order of integration of the data are tested using the Augmented Dickey-Fuller test on all the time series data. The variables are stationary at differences, and so Johansen co-integration tests are then employed to determine whether the variables are co-integrated. In order to examine both the long run and short run relationships between gender equality in education and economic growth, a VECM is constructed.

Keywords: gender education, growth, VECM

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Gender equality in education has always been a critical component of social progress. It is a basic right that does not need economic justification. Even the Millennium Development Goals put emphasis on the inclusion of gender-related development objectives. Gender equality also has broad and positive implications for economic and social development. Klasen (1999, 2002) found that gender equality in education had a significant and positive impact on growth and that the positive impact was found to operate in both developed and developing countries. Also, Lawrence Summers (1992) identified investment in girls’ education as the highest return investment available in the developing world. Mauritius, classified as a small island developing state, provides an example of an economy that has undergone dramatic structural transformation within a short period. Educational policies adopted by the Mauritian government have played a crucial role in developing the country and reducing the gender inequality gap. However, it is observed that women are basically employed in not high-skilled sectors and are less economically active than men in Mauritius. They devote more time to parenting. Education of young girls and marginalized women can lift them out of poverty, become full citizens of their countries and play a crucial role in upgrading economic growth. Though there is no more disparity on the level of primary, secondary and tertiary

education, the proportion of women employed in specific sectors still reveals some disparities.

This paper endeavors to innovatively scrutinize the relationship between gender equality in education and economic growth in Mauritius by using data for the period 1990-2010, through a Vector Error Correction Model (VECM). The stationary properties and order of integration of the data are tested using the Augmented Dickey-Fuller test on all the time series data. The variables are stationary at differences, and so Johansen co-integration tests are then employed to determine whether the variables are co-integrated. Both the long run and short run relationships between gender equality in education and economic growth is being investigated.

2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW

Gender and Economic Growth: Theoretical and Empirical Linkages Education is seen as an effective tool to stimulate economic growth and improves people’s lives through many channels. For instance, education has the effect to increase the efficiency and thus increasing an individual’s earning potential of the labour force, by fostering democracy (Barro, 1998) and thus creating better conditions for good governance, by improving health and reducing fertility, by enhancing equality (Aghion, Caroli and García-Peñalosa, 1999), and so on. More importantly education in fact produces a “ripple effect” throughout the economy by way of a series of positive spillovers. Michaelowa, (2000) provides a comprehensive overview of theoretical underpinnings about the link between education and economic growth. Analysing the growth theory, the influential contributions of Lucas (1988) is observed, which is in turn related to previous work done by Uzawa (1965). In these models, the level of output is a function of the stock of human capital. In the long run sustained growth is only possible if human capital can grow without bound. That makes it difficult to interpret the Uzawa-Lucas conception of human capital in terms of the variables traditionally used to measure educational attainment, such as years of schooling. Their use of the term 'human capital' seems more closely related to knowledge, rather than to skills acquired through education.

GENDER EQUALITY IN EDUCATION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH: THE CASE OF MAURITIUS

31

Bils and Klenow (2000) argued that one way to relate the Uzawa-Lucas model is that the quality of education could be increasing over time. In this view, the knowledge imparted to school children in the year 2000 is superior to the knowledge that would have been imparted in 1950 or 1990 and will make a greater difference to their productivity in later employment. Even if average educational attainment is constant over time, the stock of human capital could be increasing in a way that drives rising levels of output. Yet this argument runs into difficulties, even at the level of university education. There may be some degree courses in which the knowledge imparted currently has a greater effect on productivity than before (medicine and computer science) but there is other, less vocational qualifications for which this argument is less convincing. An alternative class of models places more emphasis on modelling the incentives that firms have to generate new ideas. Endogenous growth models based on the analysis of research and development, notably the landmark contribution of Romer (1990), yield the result that the growth rate partly depends on the level of human capital. The underlying assumption is that human capital is a key input in the production of new ideas. In contrast with the Uzawa-Lucas framework, this opens up the possibility that even a one-off increase in the stock of human capital will raise the growth rate indefinitely.

Furthermore, the growth models as argued by Rustichini and Schrnitz (1991) emphasized on the fact that individuals may under-invest in education. They presented a model in which individuals divide their time between production, original research, and the acquisition of knowledge. Each individual knows that acquiring knowledge through education will raise their productivity in subsequent research, but since they do not fully capture the benefits of research, they will tend to spend less time in acquiring knowledge relative to the socially optimal outcome. They found that although policy intervention has only small effects on the allocation of time to education, it can have a substantial effect on the growth rate. Romer (2000) maintained that models of growth driven by Research and Development (R&D) are determined by the quantity of inputs and not simply the expenditure upon it. Incentives like tax credits to encourage R&D may be ineffective unless they encourage a greater number of scientists and engineers to work towards developing new ideas.

Bils and Klenow (2000) found that greater schooling enrolment in 1960 consistent with one more year of attainment is associated with a faster annual growth over 1960-90. According to them, this conclusion is robust in allowing a positive external benefit from

human capital to technology. Their results are consistent with Barro (1995) in which transitional differences in human capital growth rates explain temporary differences in country growth rates. Mankiw et al (1992) and Barro (1991) investigated the link between education and economic growth. They examined variations in school enrolment rates, using a single cross-section of both the industrialised and the less-developed countries. Both studies concluded that schooling has a significantly positive impact on the rate of growth of real GDP. Barro and Sala-i-Martin (1995) also investigated the impact of educational expenditures by governments. Their findings showed a strong positive impact. Using instrumental variable techniques to control for simultaneous causation, their regressions suggest that the annual rate of return on public education is of the order of twenty percent. On an empirical front, Teixeira and Fortuna (2003) studied human capital effects on economic growth of Portugal from 1960 to 2001. By using VAR and co integration analyses, they confirm that human capital and indigenous innovation efforts are enormously important to the process of Portuguese economic growth during the period 1960-2001, though the relevance of the former overpasses that involving the creation of an internal basis of R&D. In addition, the indirect effect of human capital, through innovation, emerges as critical, showing that a reasonably higher stock of human capital is important to enable a country to reap the benefits of its innovation indigenous efforts. Analysing the impact of gender inequality on growth, the work of Klasen (1999), who investigated the impact of gender Inequality on Growth is noted. It is argued that lower gender inequality in education effectively means greater female education at each level of male education. If it is the case that female education has positive external effects on the quality of overall education (and male education does not, or not to the same extent), then reduced gender inequality should promote a higher quality of education and thus promote economic growth. Since, female education is believed to promote the quantity and quality of education of their children, this positive externality is likely to exist. The work by Barro and Lee (1994) who extended the earlier work of Barro (1991) by widening the measure of human capital to include both education and health capital stock and further divide education into separate female and male effects. Using cross section data for two time periods that is 1965-1975 and 1975-1985, it was found that as growth was positively related to male education, it is negatively related to female education. This “puzzling finding” was explained by the fact that “a high spread between male and female secondary attainment is a good measure of backwardness; hence, less female attainment signifies more backwardness and


32

accordingly higher growth potential through the convergence mechanism.” (Barro and Lee, 1994). 3.0 GENDER EQUALITY IN EDUCATION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH: A CASE STUDY OF MAURITIUS Mauritius has been classified as a success story following the economic and social development the economy has undergone throughout the past years. Indeed Mauritius has defied the prediction of James Meade, a Nobel Prize recipient in Economics who famously predicted a dismal future for Mauritius in 1961due to its vulnerabilities to weather and price shocks and lack of job opportunities outside the sugar sector. However, the small island has transformed itself from a poor one crop economy into a country with one of the highest per capita incomes among African countries. This development has been possible mainly through education which is crucial in the Mauritian society. The Mauritian education structure is composed of 4 cycles: the preprimary schooling for children of 3-5 years, the primary schooling of a minimum of 6 years span leading to the final examinations called the Certificate of Primary Education (CPE). The third cycle is the secondary schooling which consists of 2 streams the first one is of 7 years leading to the School certificate (after 5 years) and the Higher School certificate for students having passed the CPE and a prevocational stream followed by vocational training for the others. The fourth step is the Tertiary cycle. Education is free at primary and secondary levels and is compulsory till the age of 16, while at university levels, the 2 public universities namely the University of Mauritius and University of Technology Mauritius offer courses at relatively low subsidized fees.

Headline figures related to Mauritius’ economic performance are impressive. Real GDP growth has averaged more than 5 percent since 1970 and real annual growth in per capita income, likewise, has been strong. GDP per capita increased more than tenfold between 1970 and 2010, from less than $500 to more than $6,000. Imports and exports have boomed; together they have reached more than 100 percent of GDP during the late 1990s and 2000s. At the same time, efforts at economic diversification have been successful, allowing the country to move from sugar to textiles to a broader service economy. Mauritius ‘reliance on trade - Led development has helped the country achieve respectable levels of export performance. Along the way measures of human development have improved substantially. Despite being a small island economy vulnerable to exogenous shocks, Mauritius has been able to craft a strong growth

oriented developmental path. (Zafar, 2011). The table below shows the annual GDP growth rates. Year 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994

% 7.91 4.44 6.51 5.08 4.14

Year 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

% 4.29 5.59 5.69 6.07 2.61

Year 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

% 9.03 2.57 2.11 3.66 5.75

Year 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

% 1.24 3.95 5.88 5.52 3.03

Year 2010 2011 2012

% 7.7 3.8 3.2

Table 1: Annual GDP growth rates Source: Statistics Mauritius

Secondary education consists of 7 years of schooling. At Form 3, a choice of subjects is made for the SC exams and at Form 5 it is repeated again once the SC results are out for the HSC exams. Physical education is highly encouraged at this stage to keep the students fit and healthy. It has been noted that girls work better than boys both at the SC and HSC exams though in the past most girls were excluded from education. There is fierce competition nevertheless in these examinations in the name of the star schools’ prestige especially at HSC level for laureateship. A pilot project for a national examination at Form 3 level is currently being tested at some selected schools. The diagram below shows male and female enrolment ratio.

Table 2: Secondary education enrolment rate

Hence, it is observed that both male and female enrolment ratio has increased throughout the years.

The tertiary education landscape in Mauritius has witnessed significant transformation since the country’s accession to its independence in 1968 when only one institution, namely the University of Mauritius (UoM) was in existence. Today, the Sector is quite diversified and encompasses some 74 institutions, public and private and regional, each with its own specificity.

0

0.5

1

1980

1984

1988

1992

1996

2000

2004

2008

secondary education

enrolment rate

EM

EF


33

Within the public sector, besides the UoM, tertiary education revolves around the University of Technology, Mauritius (UTM), the Mahatma Gandhi Institute (MGI), the Rabindranath Tagore Institute (RTI), the Open University of Mauritius (OUM), previously known as the Mauritius College of the Air, the Fashion and Design Institute (FDI) as well as the newly-created Universite des Mascareignes (a merger of the former 2 polytechnics, namely the Swami Dayanand Institute of Management and the Institut

Superieur de Technologie ). Overseeing these seven tertiary education institutions (TEIs) is the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) which, inter alia, has responsibility for allocating public funds and fostering, planning and coordinating the development of post-secondary education and training. Since 2005, TEC has the mandate to regulate private post-secondary education institutions locally through institutional registration and programme accreditation to assure

quality. The TEC also determines the recognition and equivalence of post-secondary qualifications. Three public institutions, namely the Mauritius Institute of Training and Development (MITD), the Mauritius Institute of Health (MIH) and the Mauritius Institute of Education (MIE) also run programmes at the tertiary level.

In addition to the above, 64 private institutions are registered locally, providing tertiary education in diverse fields, ranging from Certificate to PhD, with the awarding bodies mostly based overseas (72 out of 76). A majority of the private institutions operate on a part-time basis in the evenings and during weekends, with relatively small student cohorts. The courses offered are generally delivered through some franchise agreements using a variety of modes, namely face-to-face, distance learning or a mix of both. Apart from playing an administrative role, the local partners, normally, also provide tutorial support using exclusively their own resources. The tertiary education landscape in Mauritius extends beyond the local boundary as a significant number of Mauritian students go overseas for their higher studies. (TEC, 2010)

Innovation in the Education sector Mauritius aspires to become a knowledge hub, a center for higher education par excellence. With key enablers such as competitive costs, streamlined procedures, student visa scheme and a part-time work scheme for foreigners, an increasing number of students are now choosing Mauritius to pursue higher education studies. More so, there will be the setting up of 3 campuses, namely in Reduit, Pamplemousses and Montagne-Blanche which will contribute towards increasing investment in higher education. This measure will also help to provide more access to higher education and attract more students and renowned institutions to the country. (BOI 2013)

Though the educational system is developed and girls performed better than boys, yet it is observed that they do not achieve appropriate recruitment, promotion and remuneration as compared to men. Looking at the sectorial distribution of female labour in Mauritius, it was noted that that female employment is scattered throughout the three sectors as shown below:

Table 3: Average monthly wage (Rs) by occupational group and sex – 2009

Sectors Female (%) Male (%)

Primary 29.67 70.33

Secondary 25.79 74.21

of which Manufacturing 43.09 56.91

Construction 2.46 97.54

Tertiary 41.15 58.85

of which trade and repairs 42.43 57.57

hotels and restaurant 38.08 61.92

transport and storage 10.45 89.55

public administration 24.58 75.42

education and health 57.49 42.51

All sectors 35.99 64.01


34

In Mauritius, females represented only around a third of the total wage employment in non-agricultural sector. It should also be noted that female population makes up more than half of the total population aged 16 years and over but are less likely to participate in labour force. Working women in Mauritius earn lower income than men, with a monthly average income of 11,000 Mauritius Rupees (US$341) for women compared to 16,400 Mauritian Rupees (US$509) for men. (Statistics Mauritius)

In 2009, female activity rate was 43% against 76% for males. Among the employed population, females represented only 35% and among the unemployed the proportion was 62%. This disparity is even more pronounced when analysing employment by wage. In 2009, irrespective of all occupation grades, females derived lesser wages than males.

The current wage gaps between women and men entail lower pensions for women in latter life and persisting patterns of economic dependence and insecurity in old age for women. The unequal division between paid work and unpaid work between women and men, the unequal sharing of family and household maintenance and caring obligations between them are a manifestation of the power of men to privately impose such obligations on women and of the social and economic arrangements and cultural norms which perpetuate this situation. Women continue to have a marginal presence in economic decision-making instances despite of having higher levels of capability, because of deeply entrenched norms and attitudes which condition their own behaviour and that of men.

4.0 METHODOLOGY AND FINDINGS In this study, the aim is to analyse the relationship between gender education and economic growth in Mauritius. Following past research, a function has been adopted and human capital is segregated into female human capital and male human capital and they enters as two separate inputs in the function. Also, other macroeconomic variables are included and the following functional equation is adopted in the model.

Yt = f (K, L, EM, EF, INF, OPENS) -------------------------------------------------(1)

Where t is time period, Yt is GDP at constant prices, K is the country’s capital stock, L represent the number of people in employment and EM represent the secondary gross enrolment ratio of males and EF represent the secondary gross enrolment ratio of females. This measure of human capital has also been used by Barro, 1991; Levine and Renelt, 1992; Englander and Gurney, 1994 and Barro and Sala-i-Martin, 1995. INF is a proxy for inflation rate and the data is obtained from the International Monetary Fund. OPENS represent the extent to which the economy is open to trade proxied by total of imports plus exports to GDP and the data is extracted from balance of payments statistics yearbook. Data for GDP and capital stock and employment has been obtained from Penn World Table (8.0), and data on human capital is taken from “Statistics Mauritius” digest of statistics.

Taking logs on both sides in equation 1 and denoting the lowercase variables as the natural log of the respective uppercase variable results in the following: y = β0 + β1 k + β2 l + β3 em + β4 ef + β5 inf + β6opns+ε ---------------------------(2)

Occupational group

Average monthly income (Rs)

Male FemaleBoth sexes

Legislators, senior officials and managers; professionals; technicians and associate professionals

34,900 21,600 29,500

Clerks 14,400 11,900 12,900

Service workers and shop and market sales workers

13,100 7,200 11,000

Skilled agricultural and fishery workers; craft and related trade workers; plant and machine operators and assemblers

10,500 5,300 9,600

Elementary occupations 9,500 4,300 7,400

All occupational groups 14,800 9,900 13,100

Table 4: Average monthly wage (Rs) by occupational group and sex – 2009

Source: Continuous Multi-Purpose Household Survey


35

Where β0 is the constant term, β1 , β2 , β3, β4, β5 and β6 represent the elasticity of output relative to capital, labour, male and female education respectively. Unit root test:

In most of time series data, trend is involved due to which it is non-stationary. Applying regression on such data can give spurious results (Granger and Newbold, 1974). Phillips (1986) argued that regression result will be misleading if co-integration does not exist. Thus the results obtained from ordinary least square will be reliable only if variables are stationary and are cointegrated. In fact, stationarity of variables is a prerequisite for cointegration. To check the stationarity of data, different tests have been suggested in literature. For instance, the Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) test as proposed by Dickey and Fuller is one which is widely used to investigate for stationarity of a time series data. ADF is applied to investigate the unit root problem in the time series by using the following regression:

Where, ΔXt = Xt – Xt-1 and q is equal to the number of lags in the dependent variable. The existence of unit root problem or stationarity is checked by the help of the following hypothesis.

H0: δ = 0, Xt is not stationary

H1: δ > 1, Xt is stationary

Table 5: Summary results of Unit Root Tests in level form: Augmented Dickey-Fuller Test

Variables Without trend Prob With trend Prob

Ln Y

‐2.96

0.09

‐0.63

0.96

Ln K

‐1.28 0.62 ‐1.95

0.60

Ln L

‐1.68

0.42

0.71

0.99

Ln EM

‐0.422

0.89

‐2.31

0.41

Ln EF

‐0.922

0.76

‐1.65

0.74

LN INF

‐2.97

0.09

‐3.58

0.51

LN OPNS

‐2.96

0.07

‐3.57

0.27

Table 6: Summary results of Unit Root Tests in difference: Augmented Dickey-Fuller Test

Variables Without trend Prob With trend Prob

ΔLn Y ‐3.43 0.0179 ‐4.33 0.0095

ΔLn K ‐5.63 0.0001 ‐5.56 0.0005

ΔLn L ‐6.96 0.000 ‐7.17 0.000

ΔLn EM ‐6.60 0.000 ‐6.59 0.000

ΔLn EF ‐4.22 0.0026 ‐4.07 0.001

ΔLN INF ‐5.80 0.000 ‐5.68 0.004

ΔLN OPNS ‐4.18 0.002 ‐4.33 0.009


36

The stationarity tests suggest that all our variables are at least integrated of order 1 and stationary in difference. The Johansen Maximum Likelihood approach is then used to test the existence of cointegration. The results are reported in table 7 below

Johansen cointegration test

Johansen Co-Integration Test: Co-Integration is a test to find long run relationship between variables which are integrated at same order. Initially, the concept of co-Integration was put forward by Engle and Granger. It was then elaborated further by, Stock and Watson, Johansen (1988) and Johansen and Juselius (1990). Thus the Johansen co-integration method is used to investigate the long run relationship between the variables of interest. Unlike two steps estimation approach

by Engle and Granger (1987) by which only one co-integrating vector can be found, Johansen (1988) and Johansen and Juselius (1990) suggest maximum likelihood testing procedure to find out the number of co-integrating vectors in the Vector Autoregressive (VAR) representation. The general form of VAR is as follows:

Where Xt is an (n x 1) column vector of ρ variables, that are integrated of order 1, α is a (n x 1) vector of constant terms, βt……βt-k are parameters and ἐt is an independently and identically distributed error term. The general VAR model presented above can also be reformulated in the following alternative form of Vector error correction model (VECM).

Where Χt is an (n x 1) column vector of ρ variables, α is a (n x 1) vector of constant terms, ἐt is (n x 1) vector of usual error term, Δ is difference operator and ᴦ and ᴨ represent coefficient matrices. The coefficient matrix ᴨ is also termed as impact matrix and it tells about whereas coefficient matrix ᴦ captures the short run impact.

Table 7: Johansen Maximum Likelihood procedure of the cointegrating regression y= (k, l, em, ef, inf, opns) : number of cointegrating vectors(s) using the cointegration likelihood ratio

Null Hypothesis Alternative Hypothesis Test Statistic 5 % Critical Values Prob

Trace of the stochastic matrix

r=0 r<=1 r<=2 r<=3 r<=4 r<=5 r<=6

r=1 r=2 r=3 r=4 r=5 r=6 r=7

230.21 152.54 91.02 54.53 28.98 11.58 0.068

125.61 95.75 68.81 47.85 29.79 15.49 3.84

0.0000 0.0000 0.0004 0.0104 0.06190.17810.7929

Maximal eigenvalue of the stochastic matrix

r=0 r<=1 r<=2 r<=3 r<=4 r<=5 r<=6

r=1 r=2 r=3 r=4 r=5 r=6 r=7

77.67 61.51 36.48 25.55 17.39 11.51 0.06

46.23 40.07 33.87 25.58 21.13 14.26 3.84

0.0000 0.0001 0.0239 0.0888 0.1541 0.1303 0.7929


37

The results for Johansen’s co-integration test are reported in the above table. Trace statistics λtrace are used to check the number of co-integrating vectors. Trace statistics test the null hypothesis of no co-integrating equations against the alternative of co-integration. The results show the presence of co-integrating vector and we thus conclude that a long run relationship exists between capital stock, labour, male and female enrolment ratio, inflation, openness and economic growth.

In this study, the VECM is estimated using an optimum lag length of 1.Since, cointegration exists among the variables of our interest, we used a VECM including the error correction term to investigate the dynamic nature of the model. The VECM specification forces the long run behavior of the endogenous variables to converge to their cointegrated relationships, which accommodates short run dynamics.

The long run results are shown below. To remove the problem of auto correlation AR (1) scheme has been applied. The result is reported in the table 8:

From the results, it is observed that female education attainment have been positively affecting output level. Female education has an elasticity of 0.41. It is noted therefore, that a 10% increase in the female secondary enrolment ratio has led to 4.1% increase in the country’s GDP. Therefore, both gender educations have contributed to boost the GDP of the country. Hence, it is noted that the Mauritian community has produced a genderless nation whereby more and more women have integrated the working field. Nowadays, women occupy high positions in the labour force and also jobs which were once perceived as the privilege of men only are now performed by women namely engineers, mechanics, bus conductors and drivers and members of the police force and fire services. Mauritian girls have shaken off the bonds of timidity and participate massively in sports activities. These achievements were made in face of numerous barriers based on gender discrimination but was underpinned by stringent laws passed by the United Nations. Many women in Mauritius are sports journalists, gym coaches and physical educators at colleges and schools which depicts that women have undeniably outgrown the roles to which they were formerly confined. (Maurice ile durable, 2011) Also, the positive and significant variable obtained from our results is aligned with studies like Hill and King (1993, 1995), which investigated the varying importance of male and female education by focusing on the gender gaps in human capital and whether this gap hindered economic growth and productivity . They also found support for increases in female education and decreases in the gender gap (measured as the ratio of female to male enrolments) resulting in increases in social wellbeing. The authors found that that failure to improve female education to at least the same average level as that of males may act as a brake on development. Though the main objective of the paper is to investigate the link between female education and economic growth, we have also tried to see the effect of other macroeconomic variables on economic growth. Analysing the results for capital stock and economic growth, we note that the economy’s level of capital stock is reported to have been the most important ingredient of growth (output elasticity of 0.47). This result is in line with theoretical framework stating the relationship between investment in capital stock and economic growth through the multiplier effect. More so, the variable representing the level of employment also have the expected positive sign. This implies that the higher the employment rate the better will be economic growth. Regarding the Inflation coefficient, a negative relationship between inflation and economic growth is obtained. This result is also in line with theory.

Table 8: Long run Relationships: Dependent variable: yt

Variable Coefficient T-statistics Prob

Constant 3.94 4.32 0.0002k 0.47 4.72 0.0001L

0.94 2.41 0.0238em

0.45 1.76 0.0523ef

0.41

0.77 0.0768inf -0.02 -2.16 0.0419

opns 0.10 0.91 0.0371AR(1)

0.89 9.14 0.0000R2 0.99

Adjusted R2 0.99

F stats 373

Prob F stats 0.000

DW 1.9


38

Trade openness is known as another control variable in growth regression. Openness to trade can give a country better access to technologies developed elsewhere and enhance their catching-up process through adaptation of advanced foreign technologies (Keller, 2004). The coefficient for openness obtained in this study is positive and significant. This implies that trade openness is as well important in explaining economic growth. Since the variables are co integrated, in the short run, deviations from the long run equilibrium will feed back on the changes in the dependent variables so as to force their movements towards the long run equilibrium state. The deviation from the long-run equilibrium is corrected gradually through a series of partial short term adjustments, the co-integration term or the error correction term (ECT). It indicates the speed of adjustment of any disequilibrium towards the long-run equilibrium. Investigation on the short run dynamics as obtained by the Vector error correction model (VECM) is done. The results are shown below:

Referring to the results, the error correction term is statistically significant and has a negative sign. It is further a proof of the long run relationship among the variables of our interest. From the results it was observed, that female and male education both leads to an increase in the country’s output. Hence, both genders contribute towards improving the GDP of the country. It can also be noted through further analysis that there is a simultaneous relationship between education and economic growth1. On one hand side, where education can lead to better growth rates, on the other hand, better growth rates can lead to better education level. This is consistent with theory, indicating that the better the growth rates in a particular country the more will be educational investment. 5.0 CONCLUSION This study has investigated the relationship between gender education and the economic performance in Mauritius for the period 1980-2010. Our results show that a long run relationship exists between the variables. According to the results, economic growth is positively affected by human capital, capital stock, employment and openness. It was further observed that female education, as proxied by the secondary enrolment ratio, is an important element in explaining growth. Further analysis reveals a simultaneous relationship between female and male education and economic growth. It should be noted that the Mauritian government has always put lots of emphasis on providing free education given its enormous level of spillovers effects. Actually, the island aspires to become a knowledge hub, a Centre for higher education par excellence. The government has been massively investing in education throughout the past years and the enrolment ratios have increased tremendously. Mauritius has certain key enablers such as competitive costs, streamlined procedures, student visa scheme and a part-time work scheme for foreigners which are attracting an increasing number of foreign students to Mauritius to pursue higher education studies. (BOI, 2013). Mauritius is heading towards an innovation-driven economy with a focus on quality education. The investigation confirms the positive link between female education, and output level for the case of Mauritius.

1 After applying causality test

Table 9: Short run Dynamics: Dependent variable: ΔLn Yt

Variable Coefficient T‐statistics

Constant 0.09 1.99**

ΔLn Kt 0.50 2.00***

ΔLnKt‐1 0.02 2.19

ΔLn Lt ‐1.71 ‐1.62

ΔLn Lt‐1 ‐1.24 ‐2.00

ΔLn EMt 4.39 2.46*

ΔLn EM t‐1 2.72 2.50**

ΔLn EFt 1.42 1.74*

ΔLn EFt‐1 0.97 1.73*

ECTt‐1 ‐1.81 ‐2.90**

R2 0.80

F stats 6.04

Prob F 0.000


39

LIST OF REFERENCES [1] Aghion, P, Caroli, E. and Garcia-Penalosa, C., 1999. Inequality and Economic Growth: The Perspective of the New Growth Theories. Journal of Economic Literature, 37(4), 1615-1660 [2] Barro, R J. 1998. Human capital and growth in cross-country regressions. Harvard University, mimeo. [3] Bils, M. and P. Klenow, (2000), “Does Schooling Cause Growth?” American Economic Review, Vol. 90, No. 5, pp. 1160-1183. [4]Dickey, D.A and W.A. Fuller., 1979. Distributions of the estimators for autoregressive time series with a unit root . Journal of the American Statistical Association, 75, 427-831 [5] Engle, R, and C, Granger 1987, Co-integration and Error Correction: Representation, Estimation and Testing. Econometrica, 55(2): 251-276 [6] Hill, M. A and King, E M., 1993 Women’s education in developing countries: an overview. In Elizabeth M. King and M. Anne Hill (eds) Women’s Education in Developing Countries: Barriers, Benefits and Policies (pp.1-50). Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. [7] Hill, M. A and King, E M., 1995. Women’s education and economic well-being. Feminist Economics 1, 21-46. [8] Johansen, S, 1988. Statistical Analysis of co-integrating vectors, J Econom. Dynamics and control, 12(2-3): 231-254 [9]Johansen S, and K Juselius, 1990. Maximum likelihood Estimation and Inference on co-integration with applications to the demand for money: Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 52(2): 169-2010 [10] Klasen, S., 1999 Does gender inequality reduces growth and development? Evidence from cross-country regressions. The World Bank, Policy Research Report on Gender and Development Working Paper Series, No. 2. [11] Lucas, Robert E. Jr., (1998), „On the Mechanics of Economic Development.‟ Journal of Monetary Economics, Vol. 22, pp. 3-42. [12] Michaelowa, K., 2000. Returns to education in Low Income Countries: Evidence for Africa. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Committee on Developing Countries of the German Economic Association, 30/6/00 [13] Phillips, P.C.B and Perron, P., 1988. Testing for a Unit Root in Time Series Regression. Biometrica, 75, 335-46 [14] Romer, Paul M, (1990), „Endogenous Technological Change, ‟ Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 98, No. 5, pp. S71-S102. [12] Teixeira, A and Fortuna, N., 2003. Human Capital, innovation capability and economic growth: Portugal, 1961-2001. FEP Working Paper no. 131 [13] Uzawa, H., (1965), “Optimum technical change in an aggregative model of economic growth”, International Economic Review, 6, pp. 18-31. [14] Zafar A (2011), An Economic Success Story.

A FEMINIST ANALYSIS OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN MAURITIUS

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ABSTRACT

Social policies, at the time the Mauritian welfare state was founded, were built on the male-breadwinner model. During the recent decades, this assumption has been increasingly challenged by several achievements of female citizens in various spheres. This paper examines to what extent current social policies in Mauritius are gender-sensitive by addressing the issue of sexual violence against women. Because any social policy has direct implications on the quality of life of a country’s citizens, it is argued that there is a crucial need for state-social policies to be gender-sensitive since those policies that deliberately (or otherwise) ignore the special and/or different needs of women may adversely affect the latter’s socio-economic development. The paper also shows that despite a range of gender-inclusive public policies and institutions, the Mauritian welfare state still remains highly male-centric. We conclude by offering policy recommendations for gender-sensitive policies for women.

Key Words: Sexual violence, Feminist analysis, Social policy, Development, Mauritius

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Since the 1970s, there has been a growing scholarly literature investigating the welfare state (Titmuss, 1976; Esping-Andersen, 1990; Esping-Andersen et al., 2002). To be sure, the welfare state has also attracted widespread criticisms which ranged from conservatives (Hayek, 1960; Rothbard, 1996) to Third Way scholars (Giddens, 2000), going through libertarians (Edwards, 2003; 2007), market liberals (Bartholomew, 2006), social democrats (Pierson, 2006) and Marxists (Offe, 1982; Jessop, 2002).

However, such analyses did not take gender into account which consequently, as Bryson (2002: 122) points out, “can only produce partial understandings and policies which are likely to sustain what they ignore”. It was only towards the end of the last century that women were made visible in welfare state literature, whereby scholars started offering critiques of mainstream (or malestream) analyses of welfare states by combining feminist perspectives to welfare state research (Pateman, 1988; Lister, 2001).

Traditional understandings of social policy as “government intervention to provide social services” (Hall and Midgley, 2004: 4) have constrained social policy as encompassing only the “Five Giant Evils” – Squalor, Ignorance, Want, Idleness, Disease – as listed in William Beveridge’s Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee on Social Insurance and Allied Services. Over time, they have been extended to now include the criminal justice system (Stenson, 2000; Stanko, 2000, Colombo and Poole: 2008), gender and crime (Silvestri and Crowther-Dowey, 2008). Indeed, it has been argued that the level of crime and protection from crime, are indicative of the wellbeing that exists in a country (Diener and Suh, 1997:192; McKay, 2004; Galtung, 1999). Undeniably, one of the roles of the welfare state is to ensure the security of its citizens through the criminalisation of certain undesirable behaviours. Conventional constructions of security however, are based on the clear divide between the public-private spheres (Muthien, 2002:49), subsequently making women’s experience of, and their need for security, invisible (Taylor, 2004:67; McKay, 2004).

This paper sets out to examine social policies dealing with sexual violence in Mauritius through a gender lens. The next section reviews existing literature on sexual violence. Then, an analysis of social policies related to sexual violence in the context of Mauritius is carried out. Finally, we conclude with a list of recommendations.

2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW A perusal of the literature reveals that there are several definitions of violence against women. Pyles (2008:28) succinctly describes it as “physical, sexual and emotional violence […] by intimates, acquaintances or strangers”. A wider definition is offered by the United Nations in its Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women. Article 1 defines ‘violence against women’ as “any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary

A FEMINIST ANALYSIS OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN MAURITIUS B. Nabeela FOKEERBUX and Horatio CAINE Mauritius


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deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life”.

Article 2 of the Declaration recognizes various types of violence against women that occur at three levels, namely within the family, within the general community, and violence perpetrated or condoned by the State wherever it occurs. Examples of violence include battering, marital rape, rape by strangers, female genital mutilation, sexual harassment and forced prostitution amongst others1.

2.1 DEFINING SEXUAL VIOLENCE

This paper focuses on sexual violence. The latter has been variously defined in the literature. Focusing on women as victims of sexual violence, Liz Kelly (1988: 41) defines sexual violence as “any physical, visual, verbal or sexual act that is experienced by the woman or girl at the time or later as a threat, invasion or assault that has the effect of hurting her or degrading her and/or takes away her ability to control intimate contact”. Although she points out that there are no strict boundaries among the different forms of sexual violence, some of the forms that she identifies are threats of violence; sexual harassment; pressure to have sex; sexual assault; obscene phone calls; coercive sex; domestic violence; flashing; rape; and incest.

Others, such as Krug et al. (2002: 149), have extended such definition to include other victims, defining sexual violence as comprising of “any sexual act, attempt to obtain a sexual act, unwanted sexual comments or advances, or acts to traffic, or otherwise directed, against a person’s sexuality using coercion, by any person regardless of their relationship to the victim, in any setting, including but not limited to home and work”. This paper adopts the above definition.

2.2 THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES

This section outlines four theoretical perspectives on sexual violence, namely the legal, sociological, developmental, and feminist approaches.

Writing from a legal perspective, McGregor (2012) shows that the law provides a framework which informs how sexual violence is understood and is responded to. Nonetheless, arguing that the law can be used as a channel to make gender-sensitive changes is wrongly assuming that the law is not inherently gendered. Bottomley (1987: 12) for instance fittingly asks whether “the practice of law silences women’s aspirations and needs, and conversely privileges those of men, ... [and] whether the very construction not only of the legal discourse … is

1 See Nussbaum (2005:167).

the product of patriarchal relations at the root of our society”.

Hence, it is important to remember feminist critiques which contend that the law can fail to include women (Sachs and Wilson, 1978), that the law can have woman-unfriendly content (Atkins and Hoggett, 1984), and that the practices of law in themselves can be woman-unfriendly (Alder, 1987).

Jones (2012) undertakes an examination of sexual violence from a sociological approach and focuses on its functions in society and on who benefits from it. She concludes that the elusive definition of sexual violence blurs the fact that the latter is a fundamental aspect of patriarchal societies where it “functions as a symbolic expression of control” (Ibid.: 183) as it “creates a sense of fear, restricts women’s freedom of movement and economic activity” (Ibid.: 198).

The developmental approach to sexual violence differs from the traditional dimension of development as the latter focuses narrowly on increasing the wealth of individuals. Strategies that are implemented to achieve the latter objective do not consider human rights and wellbeing (Sen, 1999; Nussbaum, 2000). This continual absence is troubling as far as sexual violence is concerned since various studies have found a negative effect of violence on the wellbeing of women (Pyles, 2006; Raphael, 2000; Tolman and Rosen, 2001). According to the capability approach, economic growth is a means to enhance human capabilities, that is, the ability of being or doing. Nussbaum (2005) shows that the various forms of violence against women, including sexual violence, is a threat to women’s capabilities. She (Ibid.: 173) cogently argues that “[v]iolence and the threat of violence, by affecting mobility and independence, […] importantly affects a woman’s ability to enjoy leisure, laughter and play” (emphasis in original). Thus, this perspective sees sexual violence, as depriving women of the ability to be or do.

Writing from a feminist perspective, Momsen (2010:8) explains that sexual violence can be dealt in a gender equitable way only through the recognition that “men and women often have different needs and priorities, face different constraints”. Similarly, McKay (2004:153) asserts that “[g]irls and women experience human insecurity differently from men and are subject to gender hierarchies and power inequities that exacerbate their insecurity”.

The primary concern of policy-makers, therefore, should be that any act of sexual violence against a woman is predominantly a violation of her basic human rights to liberty and to security in several ways. First, sexual violence, whichever form it takes, not


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only traumatises the victim but equally other women, who live with the constant fear of being raped or sexually assaulted (Brownmiller, 1975:15). This “culture of fear” makes women feel vulnerable and it structures their lives by delimiting their freedoms and scope of activity (Friedman and Valenti, 2008:21-5). To protect themselves, women deploy various strategies like avoiding dark alleys or deserted roads, or avoiding late night outings alone (Griffin, 1971).

Secondly, sexual assault is a denial of the right to bodily integrity (Nussbaum, 1999, 2005): in being sexually assaulted, women are robbed of the freedom to say no to an unwanted sexual act. As Peterson (2009) advances, sexual violence is exemplary of the fact that women lack control over their sexuality and body.

Thirdly, sexual violence thwarts the prospects and opportunities for economic and social development. Heise (1994:135) states that by sapping their “energy, undermining their confidence, and compromising their health, gender violence deprives society of women’s full participation”. The latter equally elaborates on the health implications for victims which range from physical to non-physical injuries. Physical injuries include pregnancy, death, gynaecological complications including vaginal bleeding or infection, urinary tract infections, pain, and sexually transmitted diseases while non-physical injuries include psychiatric disorder, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and suicidal behaviour (WHO, 162–165). Globally, it is estimated that 9.5 million years are lost to rape and domestic violence for women aged 15 to 44 years old (Ibid.:136).

3.0 SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN MAURITIUS Having reviewed the theoretical perspectives on sexual violence, this section focuses on sexual violence in Mauritius and examines the extent to which social policies dealing with sexual violence locally, are gender-sensitive.

3.1 STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE

As it was shown in the previous section, most definitions on security have been undertaken from a male-centric point of view which ultimately conceals the structural and cultural violence that occur against women in many societies (Galtung, 1999).

Sexual violence against women - or the threat of it – is believed to occur on a structural level since it is rooted in the social fabrics of the society, by its normalization through laws and institutions that discriminate against women (Rutherford et al., 2007: 678). And because it is indirect, it remains invisible.

The judicial institution is one such example. According to McKay (2004:157), legal procedures are not gender equitable since they privilege men’s concerns over those of women and do not recognise the injustices suffered by the latter. In Mauritius, legal protection against sexual violence is not comprehensive and thus leads to gender injustice. While Section 3 of the Mauritian Constitution makes “security of the person” an explicit fundamental right, specific provisions, such as properly defined laws to protect women against sexual violence are largely missing. Rape is defined as a sexual crime under Section 249 of the Criminal Code, a body of laws that dates since 1838, while Subsection (2) makes provision to protect any person against “attentat à la pudeur”2. The legislators, then did not, and still do not, provide any definition of those two terms, nor have those sections been updated to provide any insights about what those two aspects of sexual violence mean. Their meanings and interpretations are left entirely to the discretion of magistrates and judges. Similarly, marital rape is not recognised as a crime in Mauritius.3 Such an extensive lack of recognition and of adequate provisions to protect women against the different types of sexual violence sanctions and institutionalises the latter. In condoning the status quo and being gender-blind about the insecurities of its female citizens, the Mauritian State becomes a perpetrator of violence. Instead of fulfilling its role of protecting its citizens, the state violates their fundamental rights to freedom and security.

Conversely, assigning a protective role as the defining relationship between women and laws can serve to reinforce the social construction of women as naturally weaker than men, or subordinated to men, beliefs which are rooted in patriarchy (Anthony, 1985; Atray, 1988).

Nevertheless, statistics demonstrate that women are disproportionately over-represented in cases of sexual assaults. Of the 418 cases of sexual assault4 reported in the year 2012 for the Island of Mauritius, 86% were female victims (Statistics Mauritius, 2013:2). Furthermore, the rate of victimisation per 100,000 female population increased to 57 from 55 in 2011 (ibid., 9). Although a decrease of 2% in the overall number of sexual offences has been noted for the year 2012, when analysed over the years, the number of reported cases since 2002 clearly appears to be on an increase (see Figure 1).

2Translated as ‘indecent act’ in the Criminal Code. 3SADC Gender Protocol Barometer Baseline Study, pp. 9‐15 4 Sexual Offence is defined as “sexual intercourse or assault without valid consent” by Statistics Mauritius (2013).


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These figures may only be the tip of the iceberg, masking more cases of sexual assaults. In an empirical study for instance, Allen (2007) speaks of “chronic nonreporting” of rape victims because of the substantial costs5 entailed. It is in fact generally recognised that sexual violence is something that is widespread but often invisible (Krug et al., 2002; Ampofo et al., 2004:691-2; Allen: 2007; McGlynn and Munro, 2010).

3.2 CULTURAL VIOLENCE

Women’s vulnerability to sexual violence is not simply a matter of inadequate provisions under the law. Instead, feminist scholars have attacked the state and institutions for protecting the patriarchal system and of furthering societal acceptance of sexual violence against women. Thus sexual violence also occurs on the cultural level (besides the structural level), defined by Galtung (1990:291) as “those aspects of culture, the symbolic sphere of our existence […] that can be used to justify or legitimise direct or structural violence”.

Sexual violence against women in Mauritius is embedded in the patriarchal society. The over-representation of female victims of sexual violence for instance, demonstrates an unequal power relation between men and women which is largely the result of the social construction of gender roles in the society that support stereotypical beliefs of male dominance and aggressivity, and female subordination and submissiveness (Griffin, 1971). The non-criminalisation of marital rape is another example of how sexual violence against women is acceptable or opaque to the Mauritian society. The underlying assumption behind the non-recognition of marital rape is that the wife in her carer role, is expected to provide sexual satisfaction to her husband (Ciccia and Verloo, 2012), as part of her marital duties. A study conducted by the Mauritius Research Council, the Ministry of Gender Equality and the United Nations Development Programme in 2010, explains that in many cases, women may not even be aware that they have been sexually abused.

Yet another illustration of cultural violence is the rejection by several male Members of Parliament in the National Assembly of the Sexual Offences Bill in 2007. Recognising the gaps which exist in the Criminal Code and its ineffectiveness in protecting women, the Bill introduced a definition of rape under Section 6 as “Any person who, without the consent of another person intentionally penetrates, with his penis, the vagina, anus or mouth of that other person”. However, the Mauritian state decided to adopt the voter-maximiser principle in irrationally thinking that 5 Allen (2007) speaks of loss of privacy, risk of social recrimination, risk of reprisal, stigma.

a Bill to protect and secure the livelihoods of women would cost them political capital. In choosing to remain silent on the legal framing of rape and sexual assault, the social acceptance of masculine aggression was reinforced. Religious-based arguments were put forward that contended that the Bill decriminalised the act of sodomy. Such arguments were prioritised over the need of women for security. As Galtung (1990) states, religion is another agent of legitimising cultural violence.

In November 2007, the Attorney General announced to the National Assembly that his office was finalising a revised version of the Bill6. Six years onwards however, no decision has been reached. In addition, the interest of the public in general and of third society actors in particular, on this deliberate delay has been weak if non-existent. Both cases depict a patriarchal disregard for women’s need for security and a normalcy of sexual violence in the Mauritian society.

3.3 SOME POSITIVE CHANGES

Progress in responding to women’s need for security has nonetheless been achieved. Under the Protocol of Assistance to Victims of Sexual Assaults, sexual assault units have been set up in five regional hospitals in Mauritius since 2006, which ensure that victims of sexual assault can have rapid assistance at the units instead of reporting the case to police stations first. These units are also equipped to provide psychological assistance and legal counselling to victims. Another example would be the criminalising of violence of a sexual nature against women by their spouses under the Protection from Domestic Violence (Amendment) Act 2004. Section 2(d) of the Act states that domestic violence is "compelling the spouse or the other person by force or threat to engage in any conduct or act, sexual or otherwise, from which the spouse or the other person has the right to abstain". According to Walby however (1990: 149),

The de-legitimating of private male violence against women has reduced, but not removed, one of the forms of power that men have over women. Husbands are no longer the sole arbiter of the acceptable level of violence, which is now also regulated by the state. The infrequency of state intervention, and the humiliation meted out to those women who seek it, indicates that this is more a shift in the locus of control and legitimation of violence that its elimination.

3.4 FEMALE NOTION OF SECURITY

Cook (1995:10) affirms that “Protection of human rights through the application of national constitutions and domestic laws is the first line of defence for 6 National Assembly, Hansard No. 26, 2011


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women” and that for this reason, governments need to be held accountable for not effectively protecting the rights of women. Yet, constitutional provisions, albeit necessary, have been insufficient to ensure the security and therefore the well-being of women. Domestic laws, on the other hand, have not been devised in such a way as to recognise women’s specific needs for protection which arise because of their vulnerability to sexual assaults.

Having a precise and comprehensive definition of sexual assault and of rape in Mauritian legislations is necessary to be able to determine what is criminal or not (Colombo and Poole, 2008: 428), and to protect women not only against direct sexual violence but equally from the cultural and structural forms of sexual violence that occur against them. In the current context, the lack of definition leaves the interpretation of what constitute sexual offences to the discretion of judges. The general belief is that because the police department and the judiciary are numerically dominated by men, they reflect masculine norms of sexual behaviour and as a result hide a certain level of bias regarding female victims of sexual assault. In fact, it is widely reported that victims “experience a secondary victimization in the form of relatively poor treatment by the police” (Silvestri and Crowther-Dowey, 2008: 193). Dunphy further adds that in rape and sexual assault cases, women are treated as if they are the ones on trial (2000:194-5; Griffin, 1971). The chances of securing justice for the female victim are therefore decimated because the criminal justice system is far from being representative of the society.

A perusal of the Parliamentary debates7 reveal that of the 1865 cases of sexual offences that had been reported from 2005 to 2010, only 358 were convicted. In 2011, only 266 out of 466 cases of sexual offences were prosecuted (of which 21 were of rape)8. Figures for the year 2012 show the same trend (Statistics Mauritius, 2013:15-18), even though it should be recognised that the percentage of people convicted for sexual offences increased by 23% from 2011 to 2012. Such poor prosecution and conviction levels (see Table 1), and the delay in the legal proceedings thereof are not responsive of the needs of women.

4.0 CONCLUSION

The rationale for this paper is to fill a gap in the sexual violence literature on Mauritius. In particular, the social policies dealing with sexual violence were examined through a feminist lens with specific

7 Hansard No.17, 2010. 8 See Table 1 below

reference to Mauritius. The paper began by noting that there are two notions of violence against women in the literature (a broad and a narrow definition) and that sexual violence is a subset of the various types of violence experienced by women in society. In addition, definitions of sexual violence were seen to either focus on women as victims or on both women and other people as victims too.

Besides, four theoretical perspectives on sexual violence were outlined: legal, sociological, developmental, and feminist. The legal perspective informs policy that the response to sexual violence is through laws. This however ignores the gendered nature of the criminal justice system. The sociological perspective rightly argues that sexual violence serves a purpose in society inasmuch as it enables the control of women. The developmental approach contends that violence against women deprives them of their freedoms. The feminist perspective asserts that sexual violence is not about the opportunity to have sex or to reproduce but rather about power relations. It is essential to note that the arguments from the four perspectives may not apply uniformly to all women but they may be mediated by income class, race, or ethnicity.

Taking the example of sexual violence, this paper has shown the extent to which social policies in Mauritius are gender-blind. It was revealed that despite progress and changes, the Mauritian State, through its various institutions9, has been discriminating against women over decades, by directly and indirectly denying them of their right to security, and their freedom of movement and choice when it comes to policies regarding sexual violence. These rights paradoxically, are enjoyed by men. All in all, the Mauritian State through its failure to recognise the specific needs of women and in perpetuating the implementation of policies that threaten women’s capabilities and their wellbeing, becomes itself a perpetrator of violence.

The linkages between sexual violence, social policies and development constitute a complex and contested terrain. These gender-insensitive policies in fact highlight the various gaps that exist in the Mauritian welfare state and they stress the urgency to bring reforms. While for some, the scope of the welfare state is constricted to Beveridge’s Five Giant Evils, scholars are increasingly beginning to accept that the ultimate goal of social policies is to enhance human well-being, and thus they have deemed the inclusion of issues such as gender, crime and sexual violence to be necessary.

9 The judiciary, the police department, religious institutions, the family, marriage, the parliament, and the civil society at large, as were demonstrated throughout the paper.


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This aim would however remain unfulfilled if women’s different experiences and needs are ignored.

The final point that can be made about future social policy research in Mauritius is that no complete picture of the welfare state can be reached without fully understanding women’s role in it both as individuals and as a group. Furthermore, the feminist analysis of policies relating to sexual violence in Mauritius was carried out based on secondary data. Future research must make use of primary data to explore women’s perspective and experiences of security in Mauritius.

5.0 RECOMMENDATIONS The aim of a feminist analysis of security is to make the gender biases present in the Mauritian legal and criminal justice system visible, since the latter disregard the specific needs of women for security, which consequently affect their well-being. The recognition of how structural and cultural violence affect women can serve as a starting point to inform social policy. According to McKay (2004:155), removing gender-based insecurity is key to the well-being of women.

Some of the recommendations are as follows:

Amending Section 249 of the Criminal Code 1838 to include a precise definition of sexual assault both in the public and the private spheres. Alternatively, the Sexual Offences Bill could be approved by the National Assembly.

Making state institutions more responsive towards victims of violence since eliminating gendered practices implies “equal protection in the broadest sense” (Harvard Law Review, 1993:1573). Police officers - who are often the first people to deal with victims of sexual abuse, lawyers and judges must be effectively trained on how to eliminate discriminatory and stereotypical attitudes towards victims.

The presence of women in the police and legal forces should also be increased in order to bring issues particular to women to the limelight and to dismantle the gendered structure of institutions.

Establishing feminist alliances to de-structuralise sexual violence against women. In their study of the efforts in Latin America to prevent violence against women, Cole and Phillips (2008: 145) contend that “strategic coalitions across difference have been central to the success of the efforts to combat violence against women”. Thus the utility of international treaties like the CEDAW must be considered to bring substantial and long-term changes in the lives of women as regards the protection and promotion of their human rights.

Nelson Mandela (WHO, 2002) however warns that “safety and security don’t just happen: they are the results of collective consensus and public investment.” Reaching a national consensus therefore, might be problematic, specifically in view of the provision for the decriminalisation of sodomy. Moreover, as regards international conventions, Cook (1995:9) questions the commitment of governments to eliminate gender discrimination against women since she maintains that while certain governments have accepted them with reservations, others implement them in specific areas only. Others have criticised the focus on the numerical to bring change (Silvestri and Crowther-Dowey, 2008: 185).They instead propose the dismantling of gendered structures and practices.


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Figure 1 Total sexual offences, Republic of Mauritius, 2002-2012

Source: Statistics Mauritius, 2012, Crime, Justice and Security Statistics, p.8

Table 1: Number of reported and prosecuted cases of sexual offences for the years 2011-2012

Republic of Mauritius 2011 2012

No. of reported cases of sexual offences 466 455 Of which rape 58 51 Of which sodomy 55 58

No. of persons prosecuted for sexual assaults 266 252 Of which rape 21 21

No. of persons convicted for sexual assaults 155 190 No. of convicts admitted to prison for sexual offences

50 50

Of which rape 6 2 Source: Adapted from Statistics Mauritius (2013)

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

500

2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012

Rat

e pe

r 10

0,00

0 po

pula

tion

Figure 1.8 - Total sexual offences, Republic of Mauritius, 2002 - 2012

Sexual offences

Linear (Sexual offences)


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THE NEXUS BETWEEN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT PRACTICES AND WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS: THE CASE OF MAURITIUS

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The nexus between Sustainable Development Practices and women entrepreneurs: The case of Mauritius Meghna Raghoobar

University of Mauritius _________________________________________________________________________________

ABSTRACT

In Mauritius, entrepreneurship is thriving due to the government’s particular emphasis on this sector. Since 1999, female entrepreneurs seems to be having more opportunities with parastatal bodies such as The National Women Entrepreneur Council (NWEC), which is known for its assistance in the setting up of women enterprise and its development and the SMEDA. However, feminization of poverty is still an unaddressed issue in Mauritius (Bunwaree, 2002).

This paper argues that creating more awareness in the area of Sustainable Development , which Bruntland (1987) defines as “economic growth where resources from the environment are used to meet human needs while preserving the environment to sustain development”, will undoubtedly consolidate entrepreneurship by inculcating the right business culture among mauritian women.

The paper first explores women entrepreneurship in an international context. It then analyses the disjuncture between the rhetoric of the SMEDA, AREU and the NWEC as parastatal bodies and the reality of women entrepreneurs’ in Mauritius. It also elaborates on the disparity between the way trainings and workshops are conceptualized and the micro realities. Furthermore, it discusses the implications of the absence of SD entrepreneurship in the Mauritian society in the long run.

For the purpose of this study, 2 research instruments in the form of structured and semi-structured interviews and questionnaires was devised and applied to women entrepreneurs and officers at the SMEDA and the NWEC. Secondary data was also used especially for the international context of women entrepreneurs.

Finally, the paper makes a solid case by proposing alternatives/improvements for woman empowerment and engagement in SD projects so as it becomes the key concern among women entrepreneurs. This will definitely assist in translating woman empowerment into concrete action instead of it remaining a myth.

Keywords: Women; Sustainable Development; Entrepreneurs; Mauritius

1.0 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Women as the labour force

Women constitute half of humankind and 40% of the global workforce (ILO, 2009). They are a growing proportion of the overseas migrant labour force. As workers, entrepreneurs and service providers they contribute actively to social and economic development.

They are more likely to be unemployed than men, dominate the unprotected informal sector, are more likely than men to be in part-time formal employment in most high income regions, spend more time than men in unpaid care-work globally, have lower levels of productivity and earn less than men for work of equal value and are poorly represented in public and corporate economic decision-making (ILO, 2008). Women need to be fully engaged in efforts to shape responses to these interfacing crises, both in terms of influencing the design and assessing the impacts of recovery packages from a gender perspective, and have an equal voice with men at all levels of economic decision-making.

1.2 Entrepreneurship

The term, “entrepreneur,” was originated in French economics in the early 18th century. Literally, it meant someone who undertook a significant project or activity. Later, it more narrowly came to mean someone who stimulated economic progress by finding new and better ways of doing things (Dees, Emerson, and Economy, 2002). Peter Drucker felt that an individual who starts a business similar to existing businesses was not an entrepreneur. Rather the entrepreneur, “… searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity” (Drucker, 2002). Morris (2001) viewed entrepreneurship as being a major force in economic development.


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1.3 Sustainable Development (SD)

Sustainability started to gain importance in the 1970’s and 1980’s after major environmental disasters and general fears over key environmental issues. Brundtland’s UN Commission Report in 1987, one of the most commonly quoted definitions of SD defines it as a pattern of “economic growth where resources of the environments are used to meet human needs while preserving the environment to sustain development” (Bruntland, 1987). Furthermore, the Rio de Janeiro Declaration (1992) on Environment and Development defines SD as “long term continuous development of the society aimed at satisfaction of humanity’s need at present and in the future via rational usage and replenishment of natural resources”. In short, many commentators on SD often refer to what they call the triple bottom line of economic sustainability, social sustainability, and ecological sustainability.

1.4 Women Entrepreneurship and SD Practices

International Labour Organisation (ILO, 2012) Women’s Entrepreneurship Development programme works to unleash the socio-economic potential of women’s enterprises to contribute to employment creation, gender equality, economic growth and poverty reduction within the framework of the Decent Work Agenda. The programme has outreach to over 25 countries. For example, over 110.000 people (80% women) benefited from a recent, 3 year technical cooperation project, in 2010 over 10,000 women entrepreneurs. The programme has also contributed to changing societal attitudes at the household level with an 11 per cent increase in household chores taken up by men in Vietnam. In Cambodia, some 3,000 families were able to withdraw or prevent their child from the worst forms of child labour and enrol their child in school as a result of women establishing or improving their own micro-business with support on capacity building. In Southern Africa, partners made 10 institutional frameworks relevant to WED gender- sensitive with technical support .Globally, 19 national WED country assessments have been developed, identifying clear recommendations to improve the environment for WED. The month of the women entrepreneurs is celebrated in 9 countries. Local supply of services to women entrepreneurs has increased; in South Africa for example the increase was 22%. (ILO, 2012).

2.0 INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT OF WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP

2.1 International Organisations and Women Entrepreneurship

The international research program Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM, 2001) underlines the

importance of women’s entrepreneurship in the development of national economies and national economic growth. Further to that, the European Union (EU) through the European Network to Promote Women's Entrepreneurship (WES) helps in the promotion of women entrepreneur through female entrepreneurs as ambassadors. On the side, the European Commission is working with the member states to find ways to overcome the factors which particularly discourage women from taking up the option of entrepreneurship. Adding to the above, the OECD report on “Women’s entrepreneurship: Issues and policies” (2004) stresses that women entrepreneurship relates both to women’s position in society and entrepreneurship in general.

However, the report also portrays that a weak social position for women, combined with a weak general (political) interest in entrepreneurship have a very negative effect on women’s entrepreneurship. Further to that, though the Beijing Platform for Action spoke of the need to promote women’s economic independence, including employment, and ‘ensuring equal access for all women to productive resources, opportunities and public services and the Millennium Development Goals focusses on gender equality and women’s empowerment, unfortunately none of them focused on the nexus between sustainable development projects and women entrepreneurship. Moreover, though the World Bank has a particular influence concerning economic sustainability for women’s economic empowerment (World Bank 2006: p.4), no emphasis on social and environmental empowerment is being raised to promote social entrepreneurship among women entrepreneurs.

2.2 Women entrepreneurship at a global and regional level

Today, women in advanced market economies are said to own more than 25 % of all businesses, with women-owned businesses in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America growing rapidly. (De Bowman, 2000; Grasmuck and Espinal, 2000; Moghadam, 2005).The following countries below clearly shows how they are similar and differ from each other regarding women entrepreneurship and their implications in SD projects.

2.2.1 USA

Research on women entrepreneurship is massive in developed countries, especially in the US. A recent study indicated that 1 out of every 11 adult women is an entrepreneur in the United States (OECD, 2004). Women business owners contribute to the overall employment of 18 million workers and generate anywhere from $2 to $3 trillion in U.S. economy revenues. There is also a high level of social


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entrepreneurship in USA from which women are entrepreneurs and they cater for SD projects. For instance, we have Susan B. Anthony who fought for Women's Rights in the United States, including the right to control property and helped spearhead adoption of the 19th amendment.

2.2.2 Nordic countries

The Nordic countries are marked by some differences in their efforts to support women’s entrepreneurship. All countries have an action plan with the aim of supporting women’s entrepreneurship. The programmes vary in their underlying paradigms and rationales for supporting in Norway at one end of the spectrum its policy programme is most clearly influenced by a feminist empowerment paradigm seeking to tailor and/or transforming the existing support system through measures aimed at women. At the other end of the spectrum, Denmark focusses most clearly on economic growth in line with a neo-liberal paradigm. In between these extremes we find Sweden with a mix of the neo-liberal and feminist empowerment paradigms with few transforming gender equity measures and efforts that instead seem to act as tailoring the existing system. The geographical perspective is also most prominent in Norway. In addition, Iceland through its’ system of support initiatives has some efforts directed to rural areas and counteracting depopulation. (Kovalainen, 2006).

2.2.3 Afro-Brazilian

The Brazilian economy boasts a high level of entrepreneurial activity when compared to other countries worldwide (Allen et al, 2007). The same report also indicated that overall, business owners have an activity level of 19.06 percent for females, as compared to a 28.8 percent rate for males. A more detailed look at the female statistics indicated that this percentage consisted of 9.61 percent early stage entrepreneurial activity. (Allen et al, 2007).Just as in USA, Brazil is a country where social enterprise is very famous and where citizens do SD projects for their living.

2.2.4 South Asia

In South Asia, women entrepreneurs do not operate in isolation. They work under the same macro, regulatory and institutional framework as their male counterparts. The business environment for women also reflects the complex interplay of different factors that ultimately result in the disadvantaged status of women in society. Women in South Asia remain far behind men in enjoying basic human rights, let alone participating with men on an equal footing in economic activities. In 2003, South Asia had a regional Human Development Index (HDI) of 0.628, which positions it below the HDI

of both the average of developing countries as well as for the world. Within the South Asian region there are notable disparities. India has been ranked as 127th out of 177 countries at the lower end of the medium human development group. Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh are all ranked below India. Sri Lanka and Maldives both have HDI rankings above that of the average for developing countries and the world, and much higher than the rest of the South Asian region.

2.2.5 Arabian/Islamic Countries

A limited number of studies have been undertaken in some of the Arab countries to understand women entrepreneurs. Dechant and Al-Lamky (2003) employed semi-structured interviews to collect information about the background of Arab women, their motivation to become entrepreneurs, their experience as entrepreneurs and what problems confronted them as women entrepreneurs conducting their work in Islamic countries like Bahrain and Oman.

A report edited by Fergany (2002), submitted to the United Nations Development Program, demonstrated that social and economic problems facing the Arab countries can benefit from encouraging small private businesses. In the same fashion, Costanza et al. (2003) indicated that women and men’s entrepreneurial activities help in creating and increasing employment opportunities and stimulating economic growth. However, not much has been said on social and environmental entrepreneurship among Arabian women.

2.2.6 African countries

The International Labour Office (ILO) has focused on the issue of women’s entrepreneurship development (WED) in African countries since the early 2000s. During 2002, the ILO commissioned research studies in Ethiopia, Tanzania and Zambia to examine the status of women entrepreneurs and the challenges they face in starting and growing micro and small enterprises (MSEs). According to the World Bank Enterprise Surveys, women participate in the ownership of registered (formal) enterprises to varying degrees in the five African countries; ranging from 41 per cent of the registered enterprises in Rwanda, 26 per cent in Senegal, 20 per cent in Nigeria, 18 per cent in Mali, to 15 per cent in Cameroon . However, it must be remembered that most of the female enterprise ownership in these countries is in the informal economy, for which data are either very fragmented or non-existent. Generally, it appears that women’s participation in ownership declines in larger size enterprises. In Cameroon, for example, women comprise over 60 per cent of the sole traders, but participate in the ownership of only 3.9 per cent of large enterprises. What would be evident, if more data


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were available, is that a high percentage of economically active women are either self-employed or unpaid family helpers.

2.2.7 Developing countries

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has a special programme on Women’s Entrepreneurship Development which to a large extent focuses on developing countries and supporting women’s entrepreneurship in order to reach the objectives of gender equality and women’s empowerment; the creation of decent work and poverty reduction.

Since the theories on women entrepreneurs have emerged primarily from research in developed countries, it is important to examine the extent to which these apply in the context of developing ones. Turkey is one developing country where women seek self-employment as a means to overcome occupational segregation and participate in economic development. The small size of this country, predominantly strong family orientation, and overall education level of women reflect social structures which differ from many developed countries. Moreover, little is known about performance of women-owned businesses in Turkey or any entrepreneurship in the country, for that matter.

3.0 WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND MAURITIUS

Entrepreneurship is not something new in Mauritius, but it had another dimension some years ago ,with new model and strategic planning. The Ministry of Business, Enterprise and Cooperatives which has as parastatal body the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority SMEDA, and the Ministry of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family welfare which has as parastatal body National Women Entrepreneur council (NWEC) are said to look after women entrepreneurs through trainings and incubation. After having scrutinized the existing literature 2 research instruments in the form of structured and semi-structured interviews and questionnaires were devised and applied to women entrepreneurs and officers at the SMEDA and the NWEC ,to depict whether woman entrepreneur aims to look at the sustainable practices in their enterprise in Mauritius.

3.1 The SMEDA

SMEDA is a parastatal body which has been established under the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority Act 2009. This Act repealed and replaced the Small Enterprises and Handicraft Development Act 2005 under which the Small Enterprises and Handicraft Development Authority (SEHDA). The SMEDA has as objectives to promote conducive business environment and to empower

SME’s so as they become economic sustainable. It is also believed to act as a devise to support programmes and schemes for SMEs for their development. The SMEDA and Co-operative Society claims to help in the marketing of the products of women entrepreneurs in this sector.

However, the reality is not as utopic as it looks to be as some women entrepreneurs who were interviewed stated that the salon de la SMEDA which was expensive did not serve its purpose at all. They found that there is a serious lack of funds. A lot of women also conveyed that many trainings at the SMEDA that are said to be run are not run eventually.

Further to that, in depth interviews with women entrepreneurs convey that there is no such training on SD projects by the SMEDA to encourage social and environmental projects for economic growth and human development of Mauritius. An officer from the SMEDA also conveyed that there are many strategies he wished was implemented for the running of SMEDA, when it comes to SD projects for social and environmental enterprise. However, he also added it’s too technical and the training might be too expensive for women. This mind-set undoubtedly defeats the purpose of a country which market itself as a sustainable one and having MID (Maurice ile Durable) as its initiative. So long the SMEDA and the MID project do not go hand in hand for a start, so long MID will remain a myth.

3.2 The NWEC

NWEC is another parastatal body which operates under the Ministry of Gender Equality, Family Welfare and Child Development. Its Act 1999 promotes entrepreneurial activities for women. The act also defined a woman entrepreneur as: ’a woman engaged, on a full-time or part-time basis, in a self-employed capacity in an income generating activity, relating to production, manufacture, sales, import, export of goods, foodstuffs, materials or the provision or sale of services or other similar activity’. It is deemed to be an opportunity for progress in both economic and social spheres for women suffering in one way or another from the global economic crisis, but also for women touching the glass ceiling in large enterprises and for whom entrepreneurship allows for management and maturity.

However, apart few eyewash workshops and an eye-catching website nothing concrete is being done. The main sectors of activities in which women entrepreneurs are being encouraged in Mauritius are food and beverages, leather and garments, handicraft, pottery, jewellery, fabricated metal products among other artisanal entrepreneurial activities.


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Most of the women interviewed were involved in various types of businesses, namely handicraft, food and beverages, and business support services. They have invested between MUR 3 000 to MUR 25 000 (personal income) annually in their enterprises and investments were often on based on orders received from clients. However, this research conveyed that, they were turned down by banks in most instances due to lack of solid and reliable guarantees. This major issue was also observed in the literature (Carter et al. 2001 and Ngozi 2002) which demonstrates no guarantee in economic sustainability of business carried out by females.

Further to that, women entrepreneurs themselves do not seem to be much favourable with the buyer/seller meeting organized. According to women interviewed, the NWEC has not been particularly helpful and moreover nothing as such is being done to create awareness on the social and environmental enterprise. Among the women interviewed only one was educated up to degree qualification and she was involved in the handicraft sector, where actually she probably could have been a good element for SD project creation and implementation. The others have done up to School Certificate or Higher School Certificate while others have received no formal education. However, all of them have followed the basic training courses made available by organisations such as SMEDA and AREU but they said that the training was few basic marketing management and entrepreneurial skills they should know and which cost a lot of money to be implemented such as packaging and branding. This study shows that the hurdles which women entrepreneurs face with the SMEDA and the NWEC in Mauritius limit them in the development of their businesses in terms of sustainability of their enterprise and sustainable development for their island. It further shows that the women entrepreneurs are facing acute difficulties to secure funds. Unfortunately, among all women who were interviewed none of them practiced social entrepreneurship particularly, emphasizing on the social and environmental aspect.

Above this, the study shows that the current entrepreneurial practice was not feasible enough to promote economic, social and environmental sustainability. For instance, women who practice handicraft face a lot of difficulty to market their products. They used to market in hotels but this is now very difficult as hotels have their own souvenir/gift shops.

Many do not see any prospect of growth after years of hard struggle. There is no possibility to face competition with ‘imported goods’ (for example, silver Dodos made in Malaysia, Indonesia are sold cheaply in Mauritius to our tourists. One of the ladies interviewed

has experienced a loss of one of the design she created to a local supplier and was not able to defend herself against the company. There is no awareness of copyright laws to protect small local entrepreneurs. Many women are now using the internet to look for new design and create their own products.

4.0 CONCLUSION, RECOMMENDATIOS AND CONCLUDING REMARKS

4.1 Conclusion

To conclude, from the above data collected and analysis, one can clearly deduce that though the reports of (ILO,2012) conveys that programmes are being run to contribute in the promotion of women entrepreneurship, nothing is being said yet on trainings SD projects women could undertake.

However, the literature also conveys that woman entrepreneurship differs from country to country and continent to continent. Among the country that have been studied, one can find that in the US and Brazil social entrepreneurship, aiming for SD, is often carried out by women which is not carried out on the same level elsewhere, especially in the Mauritian context.

In Mauritius, parastatal bodies such as the SMEDA, AREU and the NWEC do nothing as such to cater for SD projects among women entrepreneurs so far. When one look at the micro-realities of women entrepreneurs in contrast with trainings and workshops that are conceptualized, there is a lot of disparity. ‘The reality is not at all utopic as it looks’ claimed one of the woman interviewed. Also, the main sectors of activities in which women entrepreneurs are being encouraged in Mauritius are not SD projects which caters for the society and the environment.

Last but not the least, there is a major problem of funding and loan in Mauritius to empower women in entrepreneurship. Many women conveyed that there project was turned down as they lack solid and reliable guarantees. Thus, the problem of funds remained the greatest and most important hurdles for women entrepreneurs across all sectors of activities. In Mauritius there is no nexus at all between MID and entrepreneurial projects.

4.2 Recommendations

Based on the above findings and analysis, in order to have concrete recommendations at a local level, it is important that international organisations should include social entrepreneurship training and funding on their priority list for women entrepreneurs. Mauritius should learn more from USA and Brazil.


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Further to this, accessibility to funding for SD projects must also be made available to women entrepreneurs in Mauritius and they should be encouraged into sustainable social and environmental projects.

The major organisations such as SMEDA or NWEC have to review their strategies to ensure that they are providing the right training to these women and not creating competitors among the women instead. There seems to be a mismatched between expectations and the help and training received. They have to undertake a proper reassessment and training needs analysis of the female entrepreneurs. Women should be trained in basic IT Skills and help to promote their products and service on Social Networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and Linked In for economic sustainability.

The SMEDA and NWEC should focus on a SD training program with relevant authorities to ensure that original designs and creations of women entrepreneurs which could then lead to social entrepreneurship.

4.3 Concluding remarks

The new Millennium has ushered in renewed hopes for the African re-assistance, characterized by the emergence of good governance and positive economic outcomes in several African economies. However, economic growth is non-inclusive in all but a handful of countries in the region, unleashing severe macroeconomic shocks and social instability.

This development has inspired a call to action aimed at reinforcing the region’s development efforts through the MDGs. The challenge before policy makers is to devise novel strategies to harness resources at the local, national, regional and global levels to meet the MDGs by 2015. This remains the best approach to driving development initiatives across the region critical to the transformation of the people’s well-being through women entrepreneurship with sustainable social and environmental projects .

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THE FEMINIZATION OF THE TEACHING PROFESSION IN MAURITIUS Vidyaluxmi Mayaram University of Mauritius

ABSTRACT According to the Millennium Development Goals of the United Nations, education is the most important element to ensure inclusive economic development leading to social equality and political stability. In the recent decades, Mauritius has introduced various international and national policies as well as initiatives to achieve this inclusiveness; especially in terms of gender equality. With education, tremendous progress has been made for girls and women at all levels of education and in the labour force. Yet challenges remain as equality has not been translated in the teaching profession at primary and secondary level of education. For the purpose of this work, investigation will be carried out at two levels. First the study will be exploring the gender gap between the female and male teachers at primary and secondary level of education from a purely statistical point of view. Secondly, a survey will be carried out with a representative sample of teachers at primary and secondary level of education which will attempt to clarify key issues that accompany the statistical trends including causes of inequality, its implications and the role gender policies play. This paper is not only likely to help to increase the awareness of gender bias but will contribute in providing a deep insight to the current gendered reality of the teaching profession – as it is a relatively scarce researched area; given that previous work generally focus on girls and boys performance at academic level. Key words: Education, teaching, gender, equality, Mauritius.

1.0 INTRODUCTION “The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal.”

Aristotle (Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scientist and Physician 384BC-322BC)

Despite the strong commitment from the government to achieve gender equality through the introduction of a series of international and national policies (which includes our constitution’s Human Rights and Freedom of Individuals; Ministry of Women’s Right; Sex

Discrimination Act No 43 (2002); National Gender Policy Framework; Southern African Development Community Declaration on Gender and Development; Convention for the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW); International Union of Local Authorities (IULA) Worldwide Declaration on Women Local Government and the United Nations Millennium Development Goals) as well as initiatives; the debate around the feminization of the teaching profession is still prevailing. This study is carried out in the Mauritian context and attempts to illuminate inequality in the teaching profession in the primary and secondary school sectors. It analyses the gender composition of teachers, the status of teachers, the challenges that may crop up with such trends and the role current legislations have to play in this situation. 1.1 Conceptualisation of Feminization From the literature, while examining the feminization of the teaching profession, it has been deduced that there has been long debates about the significance of the term. The “Feminization of Teaching” is a much contested term. The definition itself can be interpreted at several levels by different authors, often depending on their concerns and reasons for approaching the issue. (Kelleher et al., 2011) This can be elucidated by looking at the definition of feminisation offered by Leathwood and Read (2009, cited in Timmerman n.d, pg2); which leads us to a two level interpretation of the term:

Firstly feminization of teaching is seen as the increasing trend towards the involvement of more women than men in the profession

Secondly, as a consequence of the numerical increase of women entering the teaching profession, there is an impact on the culture. That is there is a cultural transformation to the educational system as a result of increasing numbers of female teachers whereby there is more emphasis on the ‘feminine’ and ‘soft’ values such as cooperation, care, negotiation and communication.

Likewise, Griffiths (2006), notes that feminization of the teaching profession can either be referred to “as the

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number of women - absolute or proportional- within the profession, or a ‘culture’ associated with women”. Feminization of the teaching profession is therefore clearly a highly complex phenomenon, which ought always to be viewed in its specific socio-political context as there have been multiple explorations around the definition of the term itself – such as whether it refers only to numbers and percentages or to deeper gendered assumptions regarding the nature of teaching. (Kelleher et al., 2011) 1.2 Perspectives on the Feminization of the

Teaching Profession The literature on the perspectives relevant to the feminization of the teaching profession is as vast as the wide-ranging definitions of this particular concept. Yet despite this breadth, in reviewing the literature, there are two major inter-related reasons which attempt to better explain such a phenomenon. Cultural Beliefs About the Roles of Men and Women Generally, in society, children are viewed as women’s responsibility (Farquhar, 1998). Similarly, much of the literature reviewed reveals that teaching is often perceived as a feminized job as it is often closely associated with ideals of feminine behaviour and responsibility within gender roles at the cultural and societal level; more particularly when it comes to teaching at the primary education level. This leads to popular beliefs of women being viewed as ‘born educators’ because of their ‘natural’ characteristics – carer and men ‘naturally’ wanting to go in technical careers as science and technology. (Drudy et al., 2005) This echoed in Cortina and San Roman (2006) several Latin American case studies, which demonstrates that women teachers in Costa Rica, Spain or Mexico display maternal qualities which is underpinned by the Catholic Church – foundation upon which social structures and traditional gender roles are rested within those countries. There, wives, mothers and daughters are enlisted to help male teachers, based on the belief that the presence of a woman teacher complements a man in order to contribute to maternal qualities as ‘social mothers’ – outlined as “mother teachers’ by Morgade (2006). Similarly, Drudy (2008) uses the term ‘domestic ideology’ to explain that women are more naturally disposed towards nurture than men are. Especially in societies where the traditional gender roles place women within the domestic domain of care-givers.

The Status and Conditions of Teaching As the adage says: the older the child the higher the pay and the social status (Farquhar, 1998). The status of the teaching profession remains another of the key issues within the debate surrounding feminization of the profession. The literature views this issue as what constitutes a ‘profession’. Teachers are sometimes viewed as semi-professionals. (Etzioni, 1969) Teaching as it has been traditionally associated with women is often referred to as a pink-collar job that is, it is regarded as a women’s work. This has definitely affected gender equality in terms of access to decent wages, stable work and other career opportunities within the profession. (Kelleher &al., 2011) Therefore teaching is seen to suffer from an overall limitation of upward mobility- defined as the ‘essence’ of a career. Additionally, perceptions regarding the relative ease of entry to the career in some countries are also detrimental. Especially when compared with other professions in law, medicines and business. (Drudy et al., 2005) 1.3 The Case of Mauritius Background According to the Millennium Development Goals, education is a major facilitator for human development, thus making access to education is primordial. But more particularly getting girls into school and ensuring that they stay and learn has what the UNICEF calls a “multiplier effect”- reducing poverty and promoting gender equality. In Mauritius, the government has played a major role in promoting education as part of its socio-economic development strategy. The education system of Mauritius is largely based on the British model since Mauritius was a former British Colony (Ministry of Education and Human Resources, 2012). The structure is as follows: 1(Pre-Primary) + 6(Primary) + 3+2 (Lower Secondary) + 2(Upper Secondary). (Rughooputh, n.d.) A nine-year basic compulsory education, a recommendation of the Vision 2020 document. (Education Master Plan, 1991) The government provides the bulk of primary education and secondary education, and a major proportion of higher education. Status of Women in Mauritius Three or four decades ago, the mentality towards women in Mauritius was very traditional. Very few women enjoyed freedom to seek education or any kind


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of training. But since 1976, when free education was granted, numerous Mauritian became literate and this played a major role in boosting up the status of the Mauritian woman. Since then, many more women and girls began to have access to education. Moreover, legislations have been passed to male education compulsory till the age of sixteen. Girls completing tertiary education are thus able to occupy post of responsibility. In almost all sectors, women are present, performing jobs once considered as male-oriented. Status of the Teaching Profession However, if women are not to fall in this vicious circle of gender inequality, it is important that gender mainstreaming and gender lenses are applied in all spheres of development in education; which includes the teaching profession also. While the literature is vast in developed countries about this phenomenon, it is conversely less common to find such analyses in developing nations including Mauritius. Thus, challenges remain as equality has not been translated in the teaching profession because of growing disparity. 2.0 METHODOLOGY 2.1 Research Objectives This paper primarily aims at examining the extent to which there is feminization of the teaching profession at primary and secondary level of education. In order to achieve this primary aim, sub-objectives have been set, and they are as follows:

• Finding out the reasons behind such unequal trends.

• Critically analyzing the role the actual gender

policies have to play in eliminating inequality in this arena.

• Providing recommendations so as to revisit our

gender policies in order to bring more parity in the teaching profession.

2.2 Research Design There exist two main approaches or design to a research problem - quantitative research and qualitative research. By a research design, it simply means a general orientation to the conduct of social research. According to Bryman (2004), the quantitative research can be constructed as a research strategy that emphasizes quantification in the collection and analysis of data. By contrast, qualitative research can be constructed as a

research strategy that usually emphasizes words rather than quantification in the collection and analysis of data. For this purpose, a mixed- methods approach has been applied (Puxty et al., 1987). This method helps to bridge the gap between quantitative and qualitative research (Onwuegbuzie and Leech, 2004a). The combination of methods also provide for complementary strengths and non-overlapping weaknesses (Brewer and Hunter, 1989). Analytically, the research will be two-pronged:

i) Comparative statistical analysis, and

ii) Qualitative analysis of the key trends and issues that present themselves.

Statistically, the research will look at the following areas: national levels of feminization within the teaching workforce and how these vary among teachers at the primary and secondary level. 2.3 Data collection and Sampling design The sources of data may be classified into primary sources and secondary sources. Secondary sources of data are sources containing data which have been collected and compiled for another purpose. It consist of readily available compendia and already compiled statistical statements and reports whose data may be used by researches for their studies. (Dr. Krishnaswami, 1993) For this study, the secondary data collected were in the form of academic journal, online documents and the statistical reports of Education from the period ranging 1992-2012 inclusive. Whilst primary sources of data on the other hand are original sources from which the researcher directly collects data that have not been previously collected. Primary data are first-hand information collected through various methods (Krishnaswami, 1993). For this work, a survey has been carried out with a representative sample of 20 teachers at primary and 20 teachers at secondary level of education which will attempt to clarify key issues that accompany the statistical trends including causes of inequality, its implications and the role gender policies play. 2.4 Data Analysis and Process Data collected during the statistical desk research were processed, analyzed and interpreted by means of Excel 2010 to form the pyramids. Using the trends and issues identified in the statistical analysis as a starting point and bolstered by the results of qualitative survey investigations including questionnaires at the country level, the remaining analysis key findings reached, as


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well as discussion on same, is presented in the next section. 3.0 FNDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS This paper identifies key reasons for the feminization of teaching in the primary and secondary level of education. In order to show that feminization of the teaching profession is prevailing in Mauritius, reports from the Statistics of Education 1992-2012 inclusive have been used. Drawing on this quantitative data analysis, the study has looked at key statistical trends within the teaching profession at primary and secondary level of education to create these teaching population pyramids differentiated by year and sex.

The recent educational statistics reveal a significant increase of females in school teaching. This rise in the number of female teachers has most recently taken place in secondary education. This process has started earlier in primary school. The most striking element that can be noted on the above pyramids are that during earlier decades, the teaching profession was a male-dominated

sphere as the female to male ratio were less or more or less the same, but since the last ten decades, female ratio to male ratio has considerably increased in both primary and secondary level of education and this recent reversal where female reigns is the direct result of an exodus of men to other jobs leading to the feminization of teaching. Following this trend it can be deduced that it will worsen in the years to come and such an imbalanced and heavily female recruitment will have implications for how the society evolves, and while the consequences might not be immediately apparent, invariably they will turn up. In order to use the above pyramid as a benchmark against the findings of the survey, thematic analysis from the survey will be provided to find out whether this growing gender gap is perceived as a problem by our respondents (teaching staff). The major themes which underpin the above statistical trends were identified from the investigation as: Reasons for feminization of teaching, Teaching perceived as a Women’s job, The need for more male teachers, The role gender policies have to play. 3.1 Reasons for Feminization of Teaching Social beliefs about roles of men and women According to the responses received from the survey questionnaires, the teaching profession is feminized as it is too often seen as a babysitting job more particularly in the primary education sector. As seen in the literature by Drudy et al., (2005) women are associated with children and it is seen as their responsibility to cater for their education as it demands more patience, care and attention. Low status and Working conditions Then the low wages due to the low social status do not is another limited career structure which do not motivate men to pursue such a career. However primary teachers have recently achieved pay parity with secondary teachers, further research need to be undertaken to follow if this will motivate men to opt for this job as a career. These findings are consistent with those of Farquhar (1998) and Kelleher et al. (2011) who view this as a pink collar job. According to respondents the working hours, holidays & conditions suit women for domestic responsibilities and family devotion and not men.


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Teaching Perceived as a Women’s job After reading the above reasons which are contributing to the feminization of the profession, it could be further claimed that teaching in our Mauritian society is effectively perceived as a women’s job. Ironically, this is not reflected in the respondents’ feedback. Although the workforce is disproportionately female; in addition to a significant under-representation of men in the primary sector, the number of young men joining the secondary sector has decreased significantly in recent years. The majority do not accept that teaching is a women’s job, they believe that both men and women have the abilities to perform this job. It seems then that it is not so much the feminization of teachers - increasing numbers of women entering the teaching profession - in itself which is considered as the major problem but the feminization of teaching that raises concern. Reality of this ‘feminine pedagogy’ is seen through strategies, perception of education (wholesome or not) and the mentality towards this profession. Undoubtedly, this brings us to the much contested debate and tensions between each society and their cultural affiliation to teaching discussed previously in the literature. Such transformations about the culture of teaching have impacts on students. According to the respondents in primary school the exodus of male teachers leads to view female teachers “mother teachers”, and in turn it leads to an absence of male figure which poses problem at secondary level. As women are considered to have a soft approach and are assumed to be unable of managing classes, this leads to the self-fulfilling prophecy from the part of teachers themselves (both male and female) whereby it leads to serious repercussions for service delivery, when behavioral issues such as bullying, violence and exclusion crop up. The need for more male teachers According to the respondents the incapacity to manage upper classrooms is the major reason for an urgent need for more male teachers. However according to the findings it is mostly for the secondary level. At primary level, male teachers themselves do not want to work there; as they feel they do not fit in the school culture and environment which demands a lot of patience and ‘soft’ characteristics as previously claimed in the literature by Leathwood and Read (2009). Furthermore, the majority of respondents agreed that there is a need for more male teachers, so that the ratio of male to female teachers is balanced for more gender

equality. Some however mentioned that, rationally this situation will not remediate and that male teacher cannot replace female one, and vice versa. For some equality will not be affected by the numbers of more male teachers. The role gender policies have to play Throughout the work, it can be deduced that gender policies do not even deal with this aspect of parity; gender policies within the education arena are restricted to gender parity at the level of students’ participation only. Gender parity for teaching staff is simply passed off by policy makers, perhaps because it is too complex to address. In terms of Social development, we do not match other countries as one it is not even recognized as a problem and second no law is there to help to remediate the situation 4.0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS In recent years, gender issues have had an increasing focus on issues of equality and inequality. Gender debates now have high visibility in relation to teachers and teaching. Concern is expressed about the ‘feminization’ of teaching and the under-recruitment of male teachers.

Unfortunately, far too often in t literature especially policy-based one, the focus on women teachers is purely instrumental. That is, women teachers are viewed simply as a mechanism for achieving Millennium Development Goal (MDG) and Education for All (EFA) targets of numbers of girls in school - ‘educate a girl and you educate a nation’. In this view, women's rights are, ironically, entirely overlooked.

In too many cases, stated policies for widening access/participation have foundered because no resources or commitment have been invested in keeping track of the translation of policy into actuality nor have adequate procedures been established to ensure that cases which cause concern can be reviewed.

The government should review its work in promoting teaching as a profession. It should review its own employment procedures in order to ensure that it is setting an example of good practice and providers, with a view to representativeness.

As yet, for the recruitment of teachers in Mauritius, no mechanism has been suggested for actually increasing sectors of the population among entrants e.g. increasing the number of men entering primary and secondary teaching or increasing the proportion.

However, to market teaching as a caring career carries connotations of low status, low income and poor


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working conditions. A more effective strategy is to present teaching as enjoyable, intellectually challenging and with good working conditions and salaries. It is seen as crucial for the retention of men to construe the childcare worker not in relation to a mothering role, but as a pedagogue, focusing on young children’s learning.

Majority of teachers said that coaching of male teachers about how to deal with kids and female teachers how to deal with classroom management would be an advantage. Policy makers together with administrators and teachers union should be proactive in joining teachers and trainers for training sessions to remediate the problem.

This research has revealed some perspectives and experiences of a small group of teachers concerning their view of the feminization of the teaching profession. Due to the scope of the issue and the limitations of the study, the results are not able to represent the generalized opinions of all teachers in Mauritius at primary and secondary level of education.

Further research could focus on public schools verses private, or extending the current comparison to the tertiary education level for a larger pool of respondents. In terms of more data; especially statistical one, earlier figures could help to complete the pyramids and interviews could be used for more in depth analysis and stronger recommendations in terms of policies.

REFERENCES Aristotle, n.d. Think Exist. [Online] (2013) Available at: HYPERLINK "http://thinkexist.com/quotation/the_worst_form_of_inequality_is_to_try_to_make/154799.html" [Accessed 26 September 2013].

Brewer, J. and Hunter, A. 1989. Multi-method research: A synthesis of styles. Newbury Park, CA: Sage

Bryman, A., 2004. Social Research Methods. 2nd ed. United States, New York: Oxford University Press Inc.

Cortina, R. & San Roman, S., 2006. Women and Teaching: Global Perspectives on the Feminisation of a profession. NewYork, Palgrave and Macmillan.

Dr. Krishnaswami, O.R., 1993. Methodology of Research in Social Sciences. Nagpur: Geetanjali Press PVt Ltd.

Drudy, S., 2008. Gender Balance/Gender Bias: the Teaching Profession and the Impact of Feminsation. Gender and Education, 20(4), pp.309-23.

Drudy, S. & et al., 2005. Men and the Classroom: Gender Imbalances in Teaching. NewYork, Routledge.

Education Master Plan, 1991. Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture, Mauritius.

Etzioni, A., 1969. The Semi Professions and their Organisation: Teachers, Nurses and Social Workers. NewYork: Free Press.

Farquhar, S.E., 1998. Teaching: A Women-only Profession? New Zealand Annual Review of Education, 7, pp.169-80.

Griffiths, M., 2006. The Feminisation of Teaching and the Parctice of Teaching; Threat or Opportunity? Educational Theory, 56(4), pp.387-405.

Kelleher, F. et al., 2011. Women and the Teaching Profession: Exploring the Feminsation Debate. CommonWealth Secretariat ; UNESCO. London, England., Available at: HYPERLINK "http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002122/212200e.pdf" [Accessed 26 September 2013].

Ministry of Education and Human Resources, 2012. [Online] Available at: HYPERLINK "http://www.gov.mu/portal/sites/18ccem/education.htm" [Accessed 30 September 2013].

Morgade, G., 2006. State, Gender and Class in the SocialConstruction of the Argentine Women Teachers.

Onwuegbuzie, A. J., and Leech, N L. 2004a. On becoming a pragmatic researcher: The importance of combining quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. Quality and Quantity. International Journal of methodology.

Puxty, A.G., Willmott, H.C, Cooper, D.J. and Lowe, T. 1987. Modes of Regulation in Advanced capitalism: Locating Accountancy in Four countries. Accounting, Organisations and Society. Oxford. Vol 12 Iss.3: PP 273-292

Rughooputh, S.D., n.d. Small Island Challenges in Educational Reforms: The Case of Mauritius. Faculty of Science, University of Mauritius, Mauritius, Available at: HYPERLINK "http://irfd.org/events/wfsids/virtual/papers/sids_rughooputh4.pdf" [Accessed 30 September 2013].

Timmerman, G., n.d. Feminisation of Teaching as a Cause for Boys' Problems in schools? Available at: HYPERLINK "http://sidsgg.webs.com/2012/proceedings/Timmerman_Feminization%20of%20teaching%20as%20a%20cause%20for%20boys%20problems.pdf" [Accessed 26 September 2013].


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Emancipation and Vulnerability of Women

Yashinee Bholah University of Mauritius . 1. INTRODUCTION

It is now a ubiquitous truth that women are emancipating tremendously and to a large extent in the twenty-first century, with them entering fields which they formerly did not even ponder about. Though not in every country, most women around the world are thriving and adapting to the changing roles of the female gender. Irrespective of the level of education attained or acquired, education is considered as a major imperative essential to the emancipation of women. Emancipation through basically education has opened the door of women to the social, economic and political spheres, while enhancing simultaneously their personal lives’ standards.

Generally speaking, both developing and developed countries provide wider prospects for the female gender as means of emancipation. Nowadays, women have rightful access to education and the job market as they are free to attend academic courses during the day or at night, and they are allowed to opt for outdoor jobs, be it day or night jobs. The emancipation of women has been positively welcomed, but in a modern society, the female gender tends to be at the same time more prone to various social degradations such as harassment, abuse, and rape-be it at home, at work or in the society. Apparently, the more emancipated women become, the more vulnerable they tend to become in terms of their own safeties. The emancipations that engender deliverances of women at different levels leave blueprints on their lives as a whole. Are women emancipations becoming the causes of their own vulnerabilities? This paper will try to analyze women emancipation as a blessing and curse in itself in the modern society.

EVOLUTION OF FEMALE GENDER IN A MODERN SOCIETY

A modern society may be referred to as a space within which people- the male and the female gender inclusively- can or may follow their wishes and styles of living without any social constraint. This definition could be like one dimension of what a modern society could mean. While several definitions are attached to the modern society, the preliminary pillars comprise notably of the democratic credentials. The debate remains, whether or not a democratic country is one which is modern or more liberal compared to other forms of government-this focus is not central to our study. Otherwise, the degree of development is often assessed based on the eases that a democracy provides or one that the democratic environment can allow. At this point in time, in 2013, where countries are well surviving with monarchic and totalitarian regimes, it does no justice to conclude that the countries with separate type of governments other that democracies are but worse or restrictive.

Social modernity may come either by way of perception of people- the common Man and the political actors- or through resulting and responsive behaviours. The perception of people and the way of behaviours of people are two faces of the same coin which is backed by scientific and sociological explanations amongst others. In guise of thoughts and actions- throughout the dissimilar regimes, irrespective of being expressed, transparent or considered, social modernity is thereby reared.

Anthony Giddens has described the modern world as a juggernaut, that is, as an engine of enormous power which can be directed to some extent, but which also threatens to run out of control. In the light of what Giddens shares to us, we picture a world, a modern world specifically, which is becoming perhaps difficult to manage; and apparently the pace at which this modern world is moving is so quick that certain issues are falling out of our hands. A further interpretation can reveal to us issues like the upper hand of the powers of the elite to control issues which affect the mass the most, such as reaching the emancipation with knowing exposure to the vulnerability of women. To pay fairness to our title, we are here considering the social aspect of that direction.

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According to Ulrich Beck, we no longer live in an industrial society and we are moving towards a risk society. He defines a risk society as a reflexive modernity whereby the central issue is how risks can be prevented, minimized, or channeled. We are not set to an analysis of what Beck believes, but the reflexive modernity which he highlights is what people find seemingly difficult to manage. They consider development and emancipation as enriching and empowering in many ways, but they tend not to reflect on its associative risks as results of ignorance or unawareness. Or, should we say that the world is moving so fast that people are having no time to reflect on their own security? Some protagonists may disagree that there are some more important things to consider primarily other than security, but when the lack of security towards especially the female gender is devastating, it seeks a word and an action to be addressed from the government and authorities concerned.

The position of women in this fast running and globalized world is distinctive. Women are, as men, moving hand in hand in personal and several professional issues; they pulse the freedom to lead their private lives as they wish to, they are educated, employed and/or, being socially and politically active. These are inspirational instruments for women emancipation women, but the ostensible impacts of this step forward is most felt on the nimble fingers gender compared to the male gender. If we look for empirical evidence, we would draw that though man may be equally exposed to the vulnerable modern society, it is woman however that are more than often victimized. According to World Health Organisation, 35% of women worldwide have experienced violence and, according to a new report, that figure only falls to 30% when they studied violence against women that was by intimate partners.

NB: The category of Europe takes into account countries from Albania to Ukraine, countries like UK falls into the high income category. The above table summarises data from seven different regions regarding the rate of violence that are made to women; of which we find that the rate in Africa is almost the double compared to the rate in Europe. However, we do still have unreported cases though such national and international attempt to be as reliable as

possible. The defiance seem less to be from the institutions, but rather from the women themselves which refuse to reveal such acts as an effort to keep their dignity. If that could be the only case, even today the male gender controls the actions to be taken by women, while the naked truth is that the increased degree of the patriarchal society. In this modern society- if we can term and mean it as such-, at least in Mauritius, women are exposing themselves -knowingly or not- to the ills of such type of society. Generally speaking, it is not that women, at least the majority, should be deprived of emancipation; the issue is not so much about striving for emancipation as perhaps was the case some twenty years back. The central issue is what is happening to us when we are liberating ourselves to a moderate or extensive limit for our own good. Are we compromising the ‘female gender person’ to meet her own emancipation? Are we further endangering ourselves or has there been any hiatus in terms of our security? Social ills have always been there, people say, and here we are interested with the degree to which these have increased we are endangered in an evolved society. It is not only the external security which counts, that is, what happens to that lady or woman that is not having the support of her family? Does woman always have a price to pay for their own emancipation? Should women continue to follow the wishes of her family at the cost of her own wishes? Highlighting these concerns would remind us of legal frameworks such as human rights and women rights to emancipation, but there are more sensitive issues which are not pronounced by women themselves. We are not standing completely in the field of feminism or feminist perspective even if we may be going parallel to their arguments- or against-, this perspective is rather throwing light on emancipation as being positive but

Table 1: Lifetime prevalence of intimate partner violence/non-partner sexual violence among all women (15 years and older) by WHO region (Source: The Guardian

45.6 36.1 36.427.2

40.2 27.9 32.7

5

Violence Against Women (%)


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unsecured for the female gender. It is vital to reflect on the gender evolutions that the society of today is urging on women. We are hereby going to understand the implications and changes that the modern society bring to the female gender.

2. URGES OF MODERN SOCIETY TO NIMBLE FINGERS

Around the nineteenth century, there has been a more theoretical emancipation of women: many writers and feminists have started to write apropos the several spheres that women are entering- besides their traditional roles. The conventional roles seemed to be those of housewife and mother, that is, to take care of the husband and the family. It is important here to recall upon the different cultures that prevail. The roles of women and girls were essentially the same, but in different milieus. For instance, a woman in an Asian country like India, after marrying at a so early age would very soon conceive, be a housewife by uncontested right or compulsion. On the other hand, a traditional housewife in any European country would go for rearing of animals and bearing of children. The aim is not to compare the different cultures, we are merely emphasizing that the primitive roles of women were more or only prevalent years back irrespective of the social environment. The tendency falls onto mostly developing countries when emancipation of women is sought to watch. This is a question in itself. Instead of the standing point of countries with different backgrounds, the degree of emancipation would be more reliable to consider. The following equation illustrates on this idea:

Table 2: Illustration on two regions regarding of development

Level of Development

African Country

European Country

Starting point X 2X

Reached point until present

2X-3X 3X-5X

Degree of development

≤2 ≤ 3

(NB: X is an invariable used to denote the level of development under this table)

Hence, on a comparative grounds, we may conclude that the European economy is functioning better but the starting point is essential to consider. The more an economy is developed, the more its people have the opportunities to enhance their personal and professional lives. On an inner and deeper consideration, the emancipation of women have to be duly measured in terms of the country backgrounds from the blueprints of its history.

The twenty-first century has brought a number of opportunities to women accompanied by some vital or even risky challenges. We notice the extent of transparent action and behavior emancipations of women in many countries like South Africa, Israel, China, India and Mauritius, to name a few. When women assume different roles at the same time, we can say that they are emancipating in the real sense. Now onwards, we would try to understand some contributions and social changes that brought and are leading to the emancipation of women.

3. CHANGE IN PERCEPTION TOWARDS WOMEN, MATERIALIZED

It is important to regard the change in perception of women and men collectively concerning their perceptions on women. From a socialist perspective, it does fairness to the male gender to point at the changes in perception that helped women to emancipate. The society of today wants and supports the emancipation of women as they realize the imperative contribution that a woman can bring to her inner circle, to the society and the economy as a whole. Emancipation of woman does in no way attempt to challenge the existing traditional roles of women, but to open more opportunities to women by way of development- be it internal or external. When the support of the father, brother, husband and son in the family is guaranteed, then the lady has and gains the internal empowerment to concretize her wishes and enhance her capabilities. Thus, man after realizing the prominence of women emancipation, feels the need for further women emancipation. Such a thought of the male gender can be egoistic or representative of a male chauvinism character in some way, but it brings good in the first stance to the woman. More often, it is discernibly an issue of the perception of the man which has resulted in the action or the step taken by the woman. This may also be regarded also as a ‘delegated behavior’. Girls, for instance, are now allowed to marry at older ages if they wish so, they are allowed to undertake nocturnal courses and jobs, indulged into the social world and activities and, most importantly as a starting point, the access of education to the female gender has amplified; where years back the birth of girls itself was considered as a burden-especially in families who believed in the dowry system.

4. Conventional Role of Housewife Sustained

The evolution in the perception regarding the role of women has not meant that girls and women should stop from performing the traditional roles, instead, they are encouraged to perform these differently. A housewife with a modern mindset for instance, does not enfold herself only in doing house chores, she recognizes her capabilities in doing extracurricular activities that boost up her personality and enhance her knowledge. She


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acquaints to the social networks and is familiar with the information technology. This is the remarkable change that has resulted from the emancipation of women.

5. EDUCATION: TOOL FOR WOMEN EMANCIPATION ENHANCED

You educate a man; you educate a man. You educate a woman; you educate a generation

The above citation gives us here a stand for highlighting the importance of education for women. Women have the boon to maintain this world. When we think of women emancipation, we deliberately think of education because this is often referred to as the tool which can premise such deliverance. Women access to education is necessary though we admit that it is not sufficient. It is not because they are the weaker sex but rather because they are in some regions of the world still perceived as the weaker sex compared to men-. The access to education remains the eternal asset that help women to better recognize their own capabilities and making use of it to safeguard themselves proficiently.

In most parts of the world today, women are not denied access to education- by way of the country’s own will or as part of international obligations- and this to some extent contributes for further women emancipation. In Mauritius, the issue was never really about women striving hard to have access to education though the influence to be educated was relatively low in the past. On the other hand, in some countries the access to education is stagnant or attenuated due to chronic poverty that resides within most sections of the society. The reduced access or no access to education even in a modern society is often the result of the opposing will of the male gender. India has been the country where education has not been the priority for most families even though that would have been the tool for dragging them out of poverty in the short run gradually and in the long run -irrespective of gender, but had the tendency grow, women would not have been uneducated. The case of Malala Yousafzai in Pakistan stands as a recent example of the oppression of the man over the woman. It was even a situation of violence upon the female gender for wanting and hungering to acquire education. If education has been the tool for women to enhance their personality, it has also been an asset to confine the emancipation of women.

When girls attend schools, they begin to socialize themselves by cohabitating other people, they learn about their due rights and other self-related issues such as the enhancement of their own security of which they were previously unaware or ignored. Women are today, thanks to the acquired education, in fields where they beforehand perhaps could not even think of doing.

6. WOMEN AND LABOR FORCE

Women are equipped with the faculty of socialization when they are able to work even with a minimum level of education, as when they meet people from different or same family backgrounds, they are faced to a degree of openness. Feminization of poverty is a story of the old days. When people refer to poverty, they most of the time do not trespass to see the work status of the women, whether they are employed or unemployed. This seems to be a perception that has been transformed into a crude reality. Statistics reveal that it is most of the time women that are poor if we try to measure that in terms of a gender-based category. When a woman is employed, feminization of poverty can be reduced while inequality can also shrink.

7. SOCIETAL, ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS OF WOMEN

Nowadays, women are joining many social organisations. They no longer think twice to do the step forward for instance, to participate in social activities. They have emancipated in the sense of being able to bring self-development. Women have earned about a third of economics Ph.D.s in 2011. Entering politics is not seemingly what many women would choose as a profession, but it appears to a wider extent that it is rather that the closed political cocoon that restricts its entrance from most women. Despite of this situation, women from the non-elite class have been able to leave their marks in the political sphere. This is partly thanks to their acquisition of education and to their job careers and experiences.

8. AUGMENTED VULNERABILITY OF WOMEN THROUGH EMANCIPATION

Emancipation comes through an array of disguises: perceptions and activities. It is not that our society stands as an assailant where there are always ills waiting for its preys, but it is rather the awareness being made to women and whether they are armed against the harms in the “craze” of emancipation. Vulnerability does not come only through emancipation, even though it can be regarded as setting the ground for it. The hypothesis of this study is that vulnerability of women is enriched through their own emancipation. We highlighted above some of the emancipative areas in which women has evolved, we are now shifting to discern the manners in which emancipation can endangers the personal and professional lives of women.

9. IMPACT OF SOCIAL NETWORKS ON WOMEN

The social networks have become a silent poison that is adding to the increasing divorce rates throughout the


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world- be it for working or non-working women. If unmarried, such networks are allowing for instances that affect the lives of our adolescents. It is not that the social networks are not proper or appropriate, but when things start to worsen, we then intend to reflect on the possible causes. It can always be a case of misuse nevertheless the moment women are having access to the social networks, they are rendering themselves more vulnerable. They very often reveal information about themselves that endangers their own lives. Therefore, such occurrences hint at the fact that perhaps women are not really prepared for an extensive emancipation of themselves.

10. EDUCATION WEB?

Today, most girls are allowed to have nocturnal courses, though they are not completely safe. To be educated is and remains one among the basic requirement for the emancipation of women. However, it is simultaneously increasing the vulnerability of women while many reported cases have provided statistics that between 1 in 4 and 1 in 5 colleges, women experience completed or attempted rape during their college years (Fisher 2000). We here understand that education is primordial, but to what extent can we sacrifice our daughters, wives and relatives for an improvement in the professional spheres is the concern. If not for educational purposes, girls enjoy the freedom of going out at night with acquaintances. In this instance as well, they have to pay a price most of the time. The Delhi rape case is a clear and recent illustration of the vulnerability of women, even though their freedom is not contested in the society. According to the National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey of 2010, it is reported that over 22 million women in the United States have been raped in their lifetime.

11. FEMININITY AND VULNERABILITY

The vulnerability of women is equally accentuated when they are at their workplaces. Very often, women are raped even at their workplaces. The change in perception of men towards women may have bring good in ensuring a deal of emancipation of women. Men have simultaneously recognized the necessity for women to work, or rather if we can say that they have realized the willingness of women to work as results of proving their capabilities through the emancipations. When women abide to their emancipative rules, they tend to even accept social ills as an essential part of their achievements. Women continue to work in places where they are being sexually tortured for reasons such as the retention of their fame, keen to have a built career, difficulty to have other jobs, family responsibilities to shoulder, want continued self-dependence and ultimately as a woman, she has her social image to

preserve. Such demands of the modern society keep the emancipation of women usually in a nutshell.

12. CONCLUSION

The degree of vulnerability in the African is considerable compared to the other parts of the world. Mauritius has been the country that has allowed a fair emancipation to the female gender, though it needs to be enhanced. At the level of safety, it has still some way to go. If an economy has to be developed, women cannot be left behind as they have huge potentials. The emancipation of women though it has been restrictive in some regions of the world, it is a desirable instance which has the capacity to brings a lot of positive impacts to the society. It is not definitely because of the associative risks that the emancipation of woman has to be reduced or halted, rather it has to be boxed with policies that can reduce and prevent the occurrence of the social ills. There are numerous manners in which such targets can be addressed. To come up with modernized policies is always appreciative, however the safety of especially the female gender has to be considered.

13. RECOMMENDATIONS

1. The existing policies regarding women rights,

2. Education is the sacred godsend that has to be accordingly enforced in any country, irrespective of its nature of government.

3. Laws regarding the safety of women has to be enforced and enacted, if needed there should be the introduction of new laws.

4. As the urges of the modern society will but increase, we need to prepare the female gender to be better equipped to face more valiantly the tough situations which compromise their own vulnerabilities. One such effective policy has been that of UN: World Programme for Human Rights Education (2005-ongoing).

5. The NGOs which have brought considerable development in the empowerment of women such as the Nomi Network should be encouraged to exist.

6. To account for gender justice, the policies in place have to be evaluated with transparency to be able to come with better policies. The evaluation of policies has to be also correctly done, leaving behind the practice of corruption.

7. There should be advertised continual awareness on the behalf of the government that women should be viewed as humans, citizens, and


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ultimately as women. This would reduce the perception of seeing women as the weaker sex.

8. Policies to enhance women security has to be corrected implemented and followed. Enforcement of laws to protect women from social ills, firstly if the atrocity is being done to her and secondly when she is about to open up herself to accept such things.

9. It is very difficult to have a check on the everyday vulnerability of women, but the data collected should be prudently kept and correctly analysed and, not manipulated.

10. Social concerns of women is not so much a political issue whereby the policies are left midway or altered, consistency will bring long term effective results.

REFERENCES 1. Contemporary Theories of modernity, Chapter 16. Available from: http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072817186/student_view0/chapter16/chapter_summary.html [Accessed on 12/10/2013]

2. Contemporary Theories of modernity, Chapter 16. Available from: http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072817186/student_view0/chapter16/chapter_summary.html [Accessed on 12/10/2013]

3. The Guardian, Thursday 20 June 2013. Available from: http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2013/jun/20/women-violence-worldwide-statistics-who#data [Accessed on 12/10/2013]

4. Brigham Young. Available from: http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/education. [Accessed on 12/10/2013]

5. Bryce Covert, September 2013. Available from: http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/09/09/2587871/leaky-pipeline-women-economics/ [Accessed on 15th November 2013]

6. Park Katharine, P.K, September 2006. Women, Gender, and Utopia: The Death of Nature and the Historiography of Early Modern Science, Vol. 97, No. 3. Available from : http://www.jstor.org/ [Accessed on 2nd November 2013]

7. McRobbie Angela, M.C, Spring 2000. Feminism and the Third Way, No. 64, Published by: Palgrave Macmillan Journals. Available from : http://www.jstor.org/ [Accessed on 2nd November 2013]

8. Darrell Steffensmeier and Emilie Allan, S.D, A.E, 1996. Gender and Crime: Toward a Gendered Theory of Female Offending. Vol. 22. Published by: Annual Reviews. Available from : http://www.jstor.org/ [Accessed on 2nd November 2013]

9. F. Melian Stawell, S.M, April 1907. Women and Democracy. Vol. 17, No. 3. Published by: The University of Chicago Press. Available from : http://www.jstor.org/ [Accessed on 2nd November 2013]

10. Zona Vallance, V.Z, Jan., 1902. Women as Moral Beings. Vol. 12, No. 2 (), pp. 173-195 Published by: The University of Chicago Press. Available from : http://www.jstor.org/ [Accessed on 2nd November 2013]

11. Mary Gilliland Husband, H.G.M, Jul. 1909. Women as Citizens Author. Vol. 19, No. 4 Published by: The University of Chicago

Press. Available from : http://www.jstor.org/ [Accessed on 2nd November 2013]

12. Achilles Rose, R.A, Aug. 1901. The Progress of Women in Modern Greece Author. Source: The American Journal of Nursing. Vol. 1, No. 11. Published by: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Available from : http://www.jstor.org/ [Accessed on 2nd November 2013]

12. Debbie Budlender, B.D, 2005. Women and Poverty Author(s): Source: Agenda, No. 64, Beyond Beijing. Published by: Agenda Feminist Media. Available from : http://www.jstor.org/ [Accessed on 2nd November 2013]

13. David J. Maume, M.D, Nov. 2006. Gender Differences in Restricting Work Efforts Because of Family Responsibilities Author. Source: Journal of Marriage and Family, Vol. 68, No. 4. Published by: National Council on Family Relations. Available from : http://www.jstor.org/ [Accessed on 2nd November 2013]

14. John Braithwaite, B.J, March 2004. Emancipation and Hope Author. Vol. 592. Published by: Sage Publications, Inc. in association with the American Academy of Political and Social Science. Available from : http://www.jstor.org/ [Accessed on 2nd November 2013]

15. Sarah E. Stevens, S.S, Autumn 2003. Figuring Modernity: The New Woman and the Modern Girl in Republican China Author. Source: NWSA Journal, Vol. 15, No. 3. Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press. Available from : http://www.jstor.org/ [Accessed on 2nd November 2013]

16. Jennifer Purvis, P.J., Autumn 2004. Grrrls and Women Together in the Third Wave: Embracing the Challenges of Intergenerational Feminism(s). Source: NWSA Journal, Vol. 16, No. 3. Published by: The Johns Hopkins University Press. Available from : http://www.jstor.org/ [Accessed on 2nd November 2013]

16. Viviene Taylor, T.V, 2004. From State Security to Human Security and Gender Justice Source: Agenda, No. 59. Published by: Agenda Feminist Media. Available from : http://www.jstor.org/ [Accessed on 2nd November 2013]


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The impact of the 2009 Transitional Unemployment Benefit (TUB) on the welfare of women in the EPZ sector in Mauritius: a qualitative study.

Asrani Gopaul Lecturer in Social Work and Social Policy University of Mauritius [email protected] Mauritius has made a steady progress from the 1902 poor law ordinance to the present SADC guided system of social protection and social security that exist in our country. If we look at the SADC Code of Social Security, Social Protection (2007) is defined as follows:“Social protection is broader than social security. It encompasses social security and social services, as well as developmental social welfare. Social protection thus refers to public and private, or to mixed public and private measures designed to protect individuals against life-cycle crises that curtail their capacity to meet their needs. The objective is to enhance human welfare’’. However, As from February 2009, a contributory unemployment benefit scheme, called Transitional Unemployment Benefit (TUB), has been introduced for redundant workers who have paid contributions for at least six months. This benefit applies to private sector workers only. The benefit is paid at the rate of 90% of insured wage for the first six months, 60% for another three months and at the rate of 30% for a maximum of another six months. Employers have to contribute to a Workfare Programme at the rate of 1% of insured wage. Employees also are required to contribute at the rate of 1% of insured wage. However, this contribution goes to an individual account and is paid as a lump sum together with the lump sum payable under the National Savings Fund in case it has not been wholly used for payment of the transitional unemployment benefit. The scheme has been used by private sector employers as a mean to ‘hire and fire ‘employees blaming poor international economic conditions. The consequences of the massive dismissals have been to the detriment of women working in the EPZ sectors in Mauritius. This is far from the concept of decent work as laid down on the agenda of many international organisations, including ILO. This qualitative study investigated into the impact of the Transitional Unemployment Benefit ( TUB) on the life of working women and whether it has increased their dependency on men. 50 qualitative interviews

were carried out among women who have been fired under this law. The sample will be drawn out both from urban and rural region. The research is original as it will be the first one carried out to qualitatively assess the impact of the Transitional Unemployment Benefit ( TUB) on the life of women. Moreover, this research has been an opportunity to assess this social policy and has furthermore made recommendations through a knowledgeable mean. In the long run, the new insight brought by this piece of research may be used to increase the welfare of women. Key words: Transitional Unemployment Benefit (TUB), social welfare, social policy, welfare of women, social security. INTRODUCTION There is no agreed definition of social protection ( Abel Smith, 1987, Birch 1974) , but the most common element of all the definition is that social protection offered by the state is design to bring welfare to the people. Social welfare on the other side is felt when we derive a sense of wellbeing and a minimum level of comfort, though this is very subjective, in policies put in place for the purpose (Abel Smith, 1953) The export oriented textile manufacturing sector has been a major employer of Mauritian women since the setting up of the EPZ in the 1970s. However, the fear of being one day unemployed has become widespread since 2008 with the replacement of the Employers Right Act by a new piece of legislation which includes inter alia a an unemployment policy known as the Transition Unemployment Benefit act. In 2008 the Labour Act was replaced by a new legislation known as the Employment Rights Act. According to the Ministry of Social Security, this new Act has introduced the concept of “flexicurity” which is a policy approach that attempts to combine flexibility of labour market for employers and security of employment and income for employees. This was supposed to be achieved through the introduction of a workfare programme of which the

The impact of the 2009 Transitional Unemployment Benefit (TUB) on the welfare of women in the EPZ sector in Mauritius

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Transition unemployment Benefit is a component (MSSNS, 2009). Has the Mauritian welfare system lost it way through the TUB legislation? The answer to the question can be easy to answer by women working in the EPZ sector in Mauritius, though employers can say that what they were long waiting for before delocalising and settling their factory in other countries where the only plausible argument is that production cost tends to be cheaper. The EPZ sector has long been a major recruiter of unskilled labour, especially women. However, the application of the TUB seems to go against the philosophy of welfare adopted by the country since independence. Mauritius has been considered to be a pro welfare state country since independence. A solid social welfare system that provides universal free health care, family-planning, social welfare centres, old age pensions, family allowances, and other measures for social protection has been in force in the country since 1968. Though we must agree that social security in Mauritius has never been tailored on the need of women but rather on the need of the family. Even the universal basic allowances such as widow’s allowance or selective social assistance are extended on the basis that the family will be the relieved in times of hardship. As we will see in this paper the life of women in Mauritius has not improved through access to jobs in the manufacturing sector. But they are nearing a new era of slavery at the mercy of unscrupulous factory owners who can decide whether to close down or shift away the production plants in the present era of neoliberal capitalism. LITERATURE REVIEW: Welfare state and the TUB Welfare is difficult to define. Sometimes it is described as the different action of government to increase the well being of its citizens. With more and more neo liberalism ideology affecting our current welfare systems in Mauritius and the ‘third way’ approach being adopted by government to replace our current welfare provision model, we have now to describe it more as a welfare pluralist model rather than a collectivist model. However, in Mauritius welfare is mainly distributed through social security based on the SADC definition for social protection. One of the main areas under the aegis of social security in Mauritius is the labour laws. All workers of the private sector who become redundant are eligible to join the workfare programme and are entitled to the TUB. The Transition

Unemployment Benefit, which is managed by the National Savings Fund, is financed as follows: 50% of the TUB is financed from the employee’s contributions and his recycling fee. Since February 2009, each employee of the private sector contributes 1% of his basic salary to that effect. The recycling fee is a sum which an employer must pay in respect of each worker who becomes redundant, the amount of which depends on the length of service of the employee. - The other 50% of the TUB is paid from 1% contribution of basic salary of each employee which the employer must pay monthly. Any shortage of fund is matched by a grant from Government (MSSNS, 2009). The TUB is paid to workers whose work agreement has been terminated (in the private sector) after a minimum period of employment of six months and who opt to join the Workfare Programme. The monthly rate of benefit payable to a worker who has lost his/her job is as follows: From 3 Month , 90% of Basic Wage or Salary ,From 4th to 6TH Month 60% of basic Wage or Salary ,from 7th TO 12th Month, 30% of basic wage or salary(MSSNS, 2009) .The minimum Transition Unemployment Benefit payable to a Laid Off Worker is Rs 3000 per month and the maximum is subject to the ceiling of salary on which National Pensions Fund contributions are paid(MSSNS, 2009). According to the relevant authorities, The Transition Unemployment Benefit shall cease at the end of the month in which the worker either opts to get out of the Workfare Programme, becomes gainfully employed, - Sets up a small business with the assistance of other government finance institutions, is admitted by the National Empowerment Foundation to a training and re-skilling scheme or reaches the retirement age (MSSNS, 2009). This piece of social policy has been in place to cater for workers mostly in the private sector of which the EPZ tend to be the largest employer. However, due to lack of information this piece of legislation is becoming a sword of Damocles on the head of every worker in the garment factory. Due to the patriarchal profile of our society the sword tend to be sharper for women, as we will observe in this study. The big question remains as to whether the legislation is a measure of dis welfare contrary to the philosophy of a welfare state based on Fabians approach. However, the scheme seems to be of more benefit to employers rather than employees. Welfare of Women workers in Mauritius and industrial law as social welfare. According to Bunwaree(2003), quoting Pascall(2002), welfare tend to be Gender blind. The author further more added that there is a need to address the issue of


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sudden unemployment especially for women in the face of neoliberal globalization. She added that ‘’although it is mandatory for all employers and employees in both large and small establishments to contribute to the National pension scheme (NPS), it has been reported that some employers within small enterprises have managed to evade the law and have not actually contributed to the NPS. This means that some employees do not get any form of income security. Moreover, many of them are not given any form of compensation whatsoever in the face of sudden closures. The absence of unemployment benefit and the complexities of the social aid scheme contribute to the growing sense of insecurity and poverty in the country’’(Bunwaree, Pg 1)

According to Fokan (2002), the Mauritian economy has been directly related to sugar production until the 1970’s where EPZ took over. For Fokan (2002), the history of industrial law in Mauriitus can be divided into four periods: slavery and indentured, industrial associations ordinance 0f 1938, Trade Union and Trades disputes ordinance of 1954 and finally the Industrial Relations Act of 1973. However, the replacement of the IRA act of 1973 by the new Employees Relation Act of 2009 is perceived to be a fifth era where bargaining power is turning to the advantage of employers rather than employees. During the slavery and indentured system, the Mauritian labour force was mainly dichotomised between labourer and sugar plantation owners. Thus the welfare of employees were quasi absent except through some basic services offered by the state based on the Code Noire during slavery and the poor law during the indentured contract as mentioned by Titmuss(1968) in its report. Titmuss further mentioned that even in 1965 the system of welfare and social protection in the island was a reminiscence of the British poor law. Fokkan (2002) further mentioned that labourers were so ill treated by private owners during the period that government had to intervene to restore welfare of the

immigrants. Laws such as the Penal code act of 1838 were used during this dark period of employee’s welfare to control any system of collective action, thus a measure against freedom and welfare of the labourers. After the indentured era, in 1938 the governor of Mauritius, who was at this time under the grips of the French sugar oligarch, considered criminal the formation of trade union on the island. This was even mentioned in the Hoopers’ commission report of 1938. In 1936 Dr Cure and Pandit Sahadeo initiated a series of action for the creation of a labour department and a minimum wage ordinance. The Mauritian labour party formed the Societe de Bienfaisance des Travailleurs de L’ile Maurice with the aim of distributing social security such as unemployment relief, death grants to family members of deceased employees and old age pensions. However, the association was cancelled on various opaque grounds by the government. What follows was the first general strike of 1937 because of the cut of 15% on the cash paid to small planters. Following the strike and the Hooper’s commission report the 1938 ordinance was put in place. It was mainly designed on the South African Industrial Coalition act of 1937(Fokkan, 2002). The trade dispute ordinance of 1947 brought some major amendments in the 1938 ordinance, giving employees the right to picket. This was further reformed to form the trade disputes Ordinance and the Trade Union Ordinance of 1954 giving more rights to employees. The next step in the history of Welfare of employees came with the industrial Relations Act of 1973. In 2008 the labour act was replaced by the Transitional Unemployment Benefit act (TUB). As explained above there is a perception by employees that the act is bringing us back to the colonial period where the rights were for employers rather than employees.


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However, none of the above episodes of industrial relation law has taken into account the fact that women have always been a major contributor to the success of the economy of the island. Moreover, there has never been any attempt to consider the situation and specific the welfare need of women through employment (Aldridge, 1996, Anner ,2000). It is always believed that a poor woman usually lead to a poor family, however, the TUB is far from recognising women as a contributor to the welfare of the family but only as a source of additional income. As the diagram below shows unemployment has been on the increase since 2002 with only small recovery in 2010 and 2012 compared in 2006. These figures are to the disadvantage of women.

According to Statistics Mauritius (2012) Unemployment rate increased from 7.9% to 8.1%. Male unemployment rate increased from 5.2% to 5.3% while female unemployment rate increased from 12.5% to 12.7%. Statistics Mauritius (2012) furthermore added that the tertiary sector was the main source of jobs for Mauritians and that unemployed women outnumbered unemployed men

METHODOLOGY: For the sake of this study a qualitative study was carried out among 50 ex women employees of the EPZ sector. The study investigated into the impact of the TUB on the life of working women and whether it has increased their dependency on men. The knowledge on the TUB was investigated with the qualitative interviews carried out among women who have been fired under this law. The questionnaire was administered to ex workers from different level of jobs (Management , middle management, skilled and unskilled workers).The non probability sample was selected both from urban and rural region using snowballing method. The questionnaire consisted of 4 parts as follows:

a. Bio data of the employee

b. Nature of work being carried out and reason for licensing

c. Knowledge about the TUB

d. Actual situation of the women and their daily difficulties

A qualitative approach was preferred as through this approach it was easier to assess and uncover the conditions of women previously working in the EPZ sector and their welfare conditions following the application of the TUB law.

ANALYSIS AND RESULTS: The qualitative questionnaire was administered and results obtained are being presented below.

a. Bio data of the ex employee The sample selected was as follows: Urban Rural total management 4 5 9 Middle management/ supervisors

5 5 10

Low level 18 13 31 Total 27 23 50 It was indeed very difficult to get access to a list of ex-employees. However, through snowballing and access to informal sector workers who were ex epz employees it was possible to reach the number of 50 respondents. Snowballing proved to be very effective as the ex workers were eager to talk about their dilemma and there was no relevant authority to talk to them. The TUB is administered centrally and it was difficult for the workers to get access to welfare as many administrative barriers existed in the system. So the only difficulty was to get access to a list of unemployed. The interviews were successfully carried out. The questionnaire was administered in the Mauritian Lingua Franca.

b. Nature of work being carried out and reason for licensing

The main reason given by the employees for being thrown out of their job was that the factory was closing down to relocate in another country. They were mentioning mainly Madagascar. Many employees mentioned the fall in amount of production request being obtained by the company from abroad. But still they could not understand why the Mauritian companies were employing so many foreign Bangladeshis and Chinese workers. (it is good to mentioned here that government has decided to regulate the arrival of foreign workers in the construction industry but not in the garment factory). Mauritius imports around 45,632 workers per years and the paradox remains that restricting more will help curb the unemployment rate (Statistics Mauritius, 2012). Many employees were wrongly thinking that the amount of salary was too high for managers and they were also blaming expenditures. We cannot talk about welfare when part of the population is on the street without any jobs(Barr,2000). The current TUB laws disregard the fact that women have more difficulties in getting access to jobs in the


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different sectors of the economy mainly because of the patriarchal nature of our society where a higher percentage of the female labour force is work in the low skill manufacturing sectors. Welfare will exist when everyone will feel secure in the job he/ she is doing. There is no better form of social welfare than having a secure job and a guaranteed salary at the end of the month. In many cases the women feared to take another job in another parallel sector as the level of insecurity was higher than they could bear. Some were offered jobs by other garment factories but at lesser pay. A new form of dependency on male counter parts is taking place, something which should not have happened in a upper middle country like Mauritius, has erupted.

c. Knowledge about the TUB act 2008 Through the interview it was also noticed that all the respondents were unaware of the different sections that exist in the act. Some have taken it for granted that severance allowances were not being paid by the employers with the help of government. Those who have gone to the ministry of social security found it to be a very difficult process where only those with a minimum amount of knowledge could get access. It was difficult for the women to get access to these facilities alone. Some government officials have contacted them during the factory closure but they were left on their own afterwards. They all agreed that government should make it a must to carry out some dissemination and information campaign among the workers. It is a fact that decent work should be the agenda of government. We cannot have decent work without decent access to information pertaining to the basic right of the workers. There have been many report in the press addressing ill treatment of workers in Mauritius, but it can be agreed that not knowing your right as a worker can be qualified to be another form of modern slavery.

d. Actual situation of women and their daily difficulties

Though the TUB was designed to tackle the problem of workers being thrown out on the street without any compensation, the workers agreed that the law has not improved their situation. On the contrary the workers consider the law to be arbitrary in the sense that they are left behind without any compensation but a meagre allowance as mentioned in the law. Some of the women agreed that many of their fellow workers have found new jobs in other factories, but those aged 40 and above were still unemployed. This issue should have been addressed in the law as women of this age usually find it difficult to get another job.

Some of the women (13 out of 50 interviewee) were doing odd jobs in the informal sector of the economy such as street vendors, babysitters and housemaids. The younger ones have been through many interviews and due to recession they are having difficulties to get access to jobs. Those at the level of management and middle management mentioned that many of their colleagues have got jobs easily in other manufacturing sectors.

The greatest difficulties faced by the women were servicing of loan through the use of credit card, hire purchase and even housing loan. They felt so dependent on their husband that in some cases this is causing dislocation in their family life. Education of children have been their responsibility when the husband was servicing housing loan, a TUB pension was not enough for them to meet these daily inhuman conditions. Some of the ex workers are depending on other family members to make ends meet. Some of the women have to gone to court because of non payment of credit loan and hire purchase. Some of the younger women mentioned that they even know some female workers who have entered the prostitution channel at the mercy of some unscrupulous men. Informal welfare seems to have become common among these workers. They complained that once outside the job, they were not even being able to rely on the trade union members. However, as one of the women induced no condition can be more inhuman than being out of work and having to depend on either husband ,other family members or institution to make ends meet.

Many of the women have gone to work in the informal sectors dominated by men and where they are facing daily poverty and inhuman working conditions. On the street they faced the powerlessness of having to live without sanitations facilities, to depend on men who decide on the place they will carry out their trade and prices fixed by male gross resellers.

CONCLUSION

To conclude we can induce that the above qualitative research answers the question asked at the beginning of this paper: has the Mauritian welfare system lost its way? We have through this paper notice the paradigm shift from a Fabians origin to a Third way approach to the detriment of the welfare of women. The question can be a bit early to answer but when we reflect on the difficulties faced by women in the EPZ manufacturing sectors, we can only conclude that third way may not be the best approach for an established welfare state as Mauritius. Thus welfare is something very difficult for women in the present era of neo-liberalism.


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Recommendations

Some recommendations were drawn on the research carried out and they can be listed as follows:

a. Government and other authorities should reconsider the TUB and accommodate the needs of women who cannot be re skilled to other sectors of the economy. These women should be accompanied and helped by third sector organisations

b. It is always believed that a poor woman is equal to a poor family. If we leave the present situation unattended we will be heading to further dislocation in our society.

c. A suitable information campaign should be carried out to keep the women informed of their rights and elements of the TUB law. This will enhance the conditions of women.

d. Women should be given training in other sectors of the economy where they can be employed in sustainable jobs rather than handicrafts.

REFERENCES: Abel Smith B, 1953, the Reform of Social Security, London, Fabians’ Society

Abel smith and Titmuss K, 1987, the philosophy of welfare: selected writings of R. Titmuss, Allen and Unwin, London.

Aldridge, N, 1996, ‘Only Demi Paradise’: Women in Garden Cities and New Towns’, Planning Perspectives vol 11

Anner, J, 1996, Beyond Identity Politics: Reading 1835-1985, London: Allen and Unwin

Barr, N, 2000, the economics of the Welfare States, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Birch, R, 1974, the shaping of the Welfare State, London: Longman

Bunwaree S, 2003, Gender, Employment and Welfare Provisioning: The Mauritian Experience, LAW, MANAGEMENT AND SOCIAL SCIENCES, Research Journal – Volume 5 – 2003 University of Mauritius, Réduit, Mauritius.

Fokkan D, 2002, the development of Industrial Law in Mauritius, LAW, MANAGEMENT AND SOCIAL SCIENCES, Research Journal – Volume 4 – 2002 University of Mauritius, Réduit, Mauritius.

Giddens A , 2002, the third way and its critics, polity press , uk

Ministry of Social Security and National Solidarity, 2010, working paper on Social Security in Mauritius, MSSNSR, Port Louis

Layard R, 1998, how to beat Unemployment, oxford, Oxford University Press.

SADC, 2007, Provisions of the Code on Social Security in the South African Development Community (SADC).

Statistics Mauritius, 2003 to 2012, various issues, unemployment rates in Mauritius.

Titmuss, R, 1968. Social Policy and Population Growth in Mauritius, CASS London

WEB SOURCES:

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/mauritius/unemployment-rate accessed 20 10 2013


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A Qualitative Analysis of Teenage Pregnancy in the Mauritian Society Bhoodoo Anishta University of Mauritius

ABSTRACT

Teenage pregnancy is a problem encountered around the world. “It has been estimated globally that over half of all teenage girls engage in their first sexual intercourse before the age of twenty years. This paper explores one of our country’s major problems that we are facing today: teenage pregnancy. This study will look at why teenage pregnancy is becoming an alarming problem together with studying what is the possible socio-economic, health and psychological problems teenagers face due to teenage pregnancy. It will also explore what factors may be responsible for the teenage pregnancy crisis being so far out of hand.

A mixed approach of qualitative methods has been used for this study. Semi-structured interviews, life history interviews and observation have been conducted for the collection of primary data and secondary data has been gathered from books, internet websites and journal articles amongst others.

As main findings ten pregnant teenagers have been taken as subject on the study from different ethnic groups, regions, socio-economic background and with different levels of educational attainment. And the analysis shows that parental absence and control, technological influence, substance abuse, familial discourse and contraception failure are the main causes of teenage pregnancy in the country.

This study contributes to other studies conducted earlier by students of the university and it helps to show how teenage pregnancy is difficult to deal with by both the victims and society as a whole. The sad and deplorable claims of the adolescent mothers and pregnant teenagers make this study even more connected to the situation that youngsters are living in and brings an overview of how they are affected.

Keywords:

Qualitative analysis, Teenage pregnancy, Impact, Mauritian Society, Teenage mothers, pregnant teenagers

INTRODUCTION

Teenage pregnancy is a social problem encountered by countries worldwide. With globalisation, the number of teenage pregnancies is rising drastically. According to the World Health Organization Report on Making Pregnancy Safer (Vol. 1, No. 1) , about 16 million teenage girls between 15 and 19 years become mother each year; approximately 11% of all birth around the world. About 95% of these births occur in developing countries. Half of all teenage birth occurs are: United States of America, India, Nigeria, Ethiopia, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Brazil and Bangladesh. About 70% to 80% of teenage pregnancy occurs in the Sub Saharan Africa and South America. This may be due to social and cultural norms or since unmarried young women sees it as their only means of establishing identity. In today’s society, parents are more career oriented and they are often absent from home for a long time. Children spend most of their time at school and among peers and once at home they are in company of the television and their mobile phones or computers. This is mostly because parents are absent from home thus resulting in children having less guidance and attention from their parents.

The problem of teenage pregnancy is also prevalent in Mauritius and with technological advance the numbers are going up considerably, where; according to the Mauritius Planning Welfare Association in 2008 above one thousand cases have been recorded. And from the beginning of the year 2013, 35 cases of teenage pregnancy have been recorded.(Indian Ocean Times Newspaper) The main causes of teenage pregnancy observed are parental absence, lack of knowledge, contraception failure, familial discord, substance abuse, social background.

Adolescent pregnancy can lead to the poverty and a sense of dependence. That is, those pregnant teenagers who come from a low socio-economic background may end up by living in an even more impoverished situation after the child’s birth. Being already from a deprived background, these young mothers depend on the welfare state for aid. Therefore once they are benefitting from the social aid they tend to rely only on that for their living and they do not take up jobs to ameliorate their financial situation.

A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF TEENAGE PREGNANCY IN THE MAURITIAN SOCIETY

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The study is being carried out so as to bring an overview to this social phenomenon of teenage pregnancy in Mauritius. There is not much literature contributing to this problem. Therefore this study has of purpose to contribute to the literature on teenage pregnancy.

The main objectives of this study are to find out what are the factors influencing teenagers to engage in early sexual relationships; to provide an approach of the situation pregnant teenagers and adolescents mothers are living in; to obtain an overview of the impacts that teenage pregnancy can have on the young girls’ health, socio-economic relations, psychological well being and on their future and finally how do the teenage mothers move on after their pregnancy.

A mixed approach of qualitative research techniques have been used as method and tool of collecting data. The literature review is based mostly on secondary data. Books, journals articles, reports published by the WHO, UNESCO and the UNDP, newspaper articles and websites have been used. Primary data collected as findings has been collected by using tools like semi-structured interviews, life-history interviews and observation. The data collected was used to carry out case studies on each pregnant teenager.

After having carried out the field work, the data has been analyzed under themes so as to get a better understanding of the situation through which each pregnant teenagers has gone. After evaluating each case thoroughly, the possible cause of teenage pregnancy in the Mauritian society has come up. Thus some recommendations in order to help alleviate this problem have been proposed.

However this study has some limitations; time has been one of the main constraints. And due to this lack of time it was impossible to find not more than ten teenage mothers for this study. Only ten teenage mothers have been taken on this study. Nevertheless the life history of only these ten teenage mothers has helped to get an understanding of the problem of teenage pregnancy. Another reason why only ten teenage mothers were taken as subject on this study is because the adolescents are reluctant to narrate their past experiences due to shame.

LITERATURE REVIEW Teenageyears,SexualityandTeenagePregnancy

“Teenage years are that thrilling and perplexing phase of one’s life, where nearly all of the changes take place. Adolescents cab be seen as neither children nor adults in our society as they.” Hall (1904)

Hall (1904) an early American Psychologist suggested the thought that adolescence is a vital and detached developmental stage. Hall says adolescents move back and forth between joy and sorrow, boldness and self-doubt, reliance and autonomy.

According to Hall (1904) one of the main preoccupations of teenagers is sex to some degree, which is stimulated by an influential sex drive. Obviously many or most of them have no ideas of what to do when they are having these burning urges. So because it seems that ‘everyone’s doing it’ that youngsters go for sex drive under peer pressure with little experience in handling temptation which makes them particularly at risks for STI’s and unwanted pregnancies.

Adolescents often take risks with harmful consequences for their health and well being. Unlike past generations, teenagers today start dating and going out earlier. Lau et al., (2009) ; Waylen et al.,(2009) say that “early dating youngsters are more likely to engage in sexual activity at high school, and that to making minimal use of contraception and therefore having more chances to be early parents. However dating early does not all the time represent early sexual intercourse or unwanted pregnancies.” There are some youngsters who wait until they are older before engaging in a sexual intercourse whereas others do not.

Adolescent girls receive no or little advice, both at home and at school about how to deal with sexual advances being made. If ever they do, then most of them do not have access to contraception or rather do not use it or if they do; there is sometimes a contraception rupture. This is one of the reasons of teenage pregnancy.

Teenage pregnancy can be defined as:

“pregnancy of girls aged less than 20 years which can happen anytime time after puberty that is after two weeks after the first menstrual period” Hall (1904).

According to the World Health Organization Report on Making Pregnancy Safer (Vol. 1, No. 1) , about 16 million teenage girls between 15 and 19 years become mother each year; approximately 11% of all birth around the world. About 95% of these births occur in developing countries.

Half of all teenage birth occurs are: United States of America, India, Nigeria, Ethiopia, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Brazil and Bangladesh. About 70% to 80% of teenage pregnancy occurs in the Sub Saharan Africa and South America. This may be due to social and cultural norms or since unmarried young women sees it as their only means of establishing identity.

Most of the teenage pregnancies worldwide are more likely to be unintentional and those outside marriage are likely to end in abortion. Moreover a small but


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important number of teenage pregnancies are results of forced sex. Despite its downward trend, teenage pregnancies are still very present in the poorest countries. Early child bearing has negative repercussions on the health of the teenager and that of the infant together with social and economic effects and impacts on societal levels. In 2012, rates of teenage pregnancies have turned down for all races and Hispanics. Although reasons for the decline are not apparent, teenagers seem to be less sexually active and those who are sexually active appear to be using contraception than in precedent years.

CausesofTeenagePregnancy

According to the Livestrong Foundation official website, there are many factors causing teenage pregnancy. Dr. R.Y Langham (1996) described some of the causes as stated below: · Peer Pressure In order to fit in the peer group, often teenagers go under some of the pressure. Many of these teenagers allow their friends to influence their decision when it comes to sex even when they are not fully aware of its consequences. Most of the time, teenagers indulge in early sexual intercourse to appear cool and sophisticated in front of their peers and some of the cases end in an unplanned teenage pregnancy. Some teenagers, by the fear of ridicule and rejection involve in sexual intercourse although they were not ready for it. Dr. Langham, (1996)

· Glamorization of Pregnancy Teenage pregnancy is often glamorized in new stories and movies all thanks to the movie industry and the media. Movies that depict teenage pregnancy encourage teenagers to engage in sexual activity. During teenage years, adolescence are more focused on their appearance and how they are perceived by their peers, they want to be seen as part of the group; therefore if teenage pregnancy is seen as acceptable amongst their friends, they may seek to become pregnant. This is a way for them to gain social acceptance. Dr. Langham, (1996)

· Parental Absence Teenage girls, who have limited or no guidance from their parents are more likely to get pregnant. Parents nowadays have busy lives prevent them from giving proper guidance and support that their teenagers need when it comes to make good decisions on issues such as sex. For example, if a teenage girl cannot talk to her parents about sex either because it is a taboo or because they do not have time; she is more likely to turn to her friends which unfortunately results in misinformation. Dr. Langham, (1996)

· Lack of Knowledge Teenagers with little or no sexuality education are more prone to have an unintended pregnancy. Teenagers

getting incorrect information from friends, videos or movies do not fully understand the biological and emotional feature associated with having sex. They do not have the understanding needed to take conversant and responsible decisions about their sexual activities which can change their life.

· Technological Influence Nowadays, peer pressure is less influential than technological trend: teenagers have access to pornographic websites, films and pictures; which they can easily access via their mobile phones, personal computers and other electronic devices. Most of them are attracted to what they see and tend to copy what they see.

· Sexual Abuse and Rape Teenage girls may get pregnant by being victims of rape or sexual abuse. The Guttmacher Institute states: “between 43 and 62 percent of teens acknowledge that they were impregnated by an adult male, and two-thirds report that their babies' fathers are as old as 27. Approximately 5 percent of all teen births are the result of a rape.” Livestrong Foundation Official Website · Substance Abuse Many teenagers doing drugs and consuming alcohol have a lower ability to control their impulses compared to those who do not consume and they contribute to a significant number of teenage pregnancies that occur. Those who drink at a time do not plan to have sex then but it happens. Therefore this can be seen as a cause of unexpected pregnancies. · Familial Discord Exposure to abuse, violence and strife among the family is an important reason leading to early sexual activity of teenagers. After witnessing domestic violence, extra marital affair and divorce of one of the parent push teenagers to explore for new personal relationships. Some of the annoying factors pushing teenagers in premature sexual intercourse are: lack of parent-child contact, parental substance misuse, firm power and emotional neglect. Livestrong Foundation Official Website · Social Background According to Murry, (1996); Upchurch et al., (1999), the incidence of early sexual activity is higher among teenagers of low socio economic status with less educated parents. This can be characterized by the low income of the family and the family breakup. Livestrong Foundation Official Website · Contraceptive Failure Failing to use contraceptives best predicts pregnancy. It is not only that contraceptive method is not available but most teenagers do not have access to them. Or if


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ever they do, there is contraceptive failure. However, some of the teenagers see that using a condom is unnatural or they do not use it because they do not always know when they will be having sex. Some find it embarrassing to buy condom in supermarkets or they feel shy to ask for advice. Livestrong Foundation Official Website · Educational Attainment It may seem peculiar but low educational attainment is another factor causing teenage pregnancy. Compared to those girls who find education worthwhile, those who see education as giving less opportunity are more apt to end school earlier and fall pregnant at an early age.

ImpactsofTeenageMotherhood

Teenage childbearing is connected to severe health, socio economic repercussions. Unlike adults, teenage mothers are more apt to face much health complications as well as other problems. · Health Unlike pregnant adults, teenage mothers have a high risk of having hypertensive disorders. Worldwide, teenagers have a higher rate of premature birth and low weight babies. According to many researchers this is mainly due to inadequate prenatal care, either because the teenage mother do not have enough money to seek medical or because of fear. Many wait until they have reached the third semester to see a doctor, where by that time they suffer from a raised level of anemia and nutritional deficiencies. The impacts are also on the health of the infants; they suffer from many health issues and they are more likely to be hospitalized within the first year of life. Having a child at a young age is risky for both the mother and the child. The World Health Organization estimates the risk of death due to pregnancy is twice higher for women between 15 and 19 years than among adult women and five times higher for teenage mothers under the age of 14 years. · Education Pregnancy can cause nuisance to a teenager’s education. Most of the teenage mothers never attain a diploma level. But however it is important to notice that, the teenagers falling pregnant are usually those who are already having educational problems and some of them may have already drop out of school before becoming pregnant. In any way, a lack of education can have serious repercussion throughout their life. Without a minimum level of education attainment many teenage mothers may find it difficult or to the extreme impossible to find out a proper and secure job. And this further impact on

the offspring, who live in poverty compared to those born to adult responsible and independent women. · Suicide One of the saddest effects of teenage pregnancy is suicide which is normally due to stress, isolation, stigma or social exclusion. Even when considering factors like economic status and education, teenage girls who are pregnant are seven times more prone to commit suicide than their peers. · Poverty Statistics shows that teenage mothers do not fare well financially as a significant number of them come from an already economically disadvantaged family. Teenage mothers make it harder for their families to escape from living in impoverished conditions. However high rates of poverty are influenced by factors like lack of educational attainment and lack of financial support from the fathers of their children as very few contribute to the care of the child. But to some teenage mothers, having a child to look after is a factor that motivates them to get out of poverty.

Impactsonthechild

Teenage pregnancy is a cycle which is almost unbreakable not between siblings but between mothers and daughters as well. Daughters born to teenage mothers are more likely to become teenage mothers in their turn, partly because they are most probably in an environment which is somehow similar to that of their own mothers were living in when they became pregnant. It is expected that daughters of teenage mothers cannot escape poverty and therefore find themselves in a recurring pregnancy cycle, poverty and despair situation. Compared to older mothers, children to teenage mothers, have difficulties when it comes to their psychological and academic development. Adversely the impacts do not stop here, studies have also found that children born to teenage mothers perform below average in school and are less likely to reach secondary school. But this has just to do with outside factors like poverty and social background as with the teenage mothers themselves.

TeenagePregnancyinMauritius

The rate of teenage pregnancy has increased drastically according to the rapport which is either due to the fact that teenage girls drop out school earlier and due to lack of sexuality education. According to the Mauritius Family Planning Welfare Association, the Child Development Unit recorded 3,800 cases of teenage pregnancy between 2003 and 2009 . In 2010, the


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number of reported cases was at 6,021 and during the first two months of 2011, 549 cases were already reported. These cases are due to diverse reasons like: abuse, sexual promiscuity, parental overlook, aggression. Those who are more likely to become teenage mothers are teenagers from broken families, whose parents are suffering from alcoholism and drug abuse and those living in poverty. Although sex education has been included in the education curriculum it has not really been effective as to some extent sex is still seen as taboo in Mauritius. Teenage pregnancy in some cases is terminated by illegal abortion but others end in a delivery. Institutions like the Ministry of Health and Quality of life, Ministry of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare, Child Development Unit (CDU), Family Support Bureau; Ministry of Education and Human Resources, Reform Institutions are working towards the prevention of teenage pregnancy. Also in collaboration with NGO’s like: Mouvement D’aide à la Maternité (MAM), Mauritius Family Planning and Welfare Association (MFPWA) and Action Familiale are working effectively to reduce if not alleviate this dilemma. In 2004, 1617 live births from teenage mother aged between 15 years and 19 years. This represented 8.9% of the total birth; and in 2005 recorded 1554 live birth. In must be noted that the number of reported cases at the CDU and the Family Support Bureau increasingly each year. Each year approximately 25 live births registered to girls below the age of 15 years. The main measures taken to this problem are:

Talks on the Sexual Reproductive Health of adolescents are organized by the Ministry of Health, MFPWA and Action Familiale.

MFPWA has set up two Youth Friendly Service Centers which provide counseling to youth on issues related to their reproductive health.

Service Providers and their intervention Different service providers are working on the predicament of teenage pregnancy by implementing sex education in the curriculum of secondary schools, providing birth control services, making contraception easily accessible to the young, counseling young pregnant mothers, empowering young mothers to have stable and independent life.

Mouvement D’aide à la Maternité (MAM) Founded in the 1995, this non-governmental organization works at welcoming young teenage would be mothers who need assistance and support. They have scheduled weekly activities for these young would be mothers where they are prepared on how to deal with the childbirth and child care. They provide these young teenagers with CD ROMs “Grossesse, accouchement, accueil de bébé.” where all information needed to be known is. They also work upon the prevention of teenage pregnancy by having active session of talks with teenagers where they are allowed to view a CD ROM “A la Decouverte de la Sexualite” which helps the teenagers to have proper information before engaging in sexual activities. Action Familiale Founded in 1963, this organization is also one of those which have of aim to provide birth control. This particular organization was previously at the disposal of young married couple where they are informed about natural contraceptive methods but with years it has also started counseling young mothers. Furthermore, sex education is also implemented in its program. Mauritius Family Planning and Welfare Association Founded in 1957, this organization has as aim to provide birth control services to adults mainly but as teenage pregnancy rate is raising drastically it also help out young teenage girls. It also provides sex education in schools. In some of its Drop-in Center there is also psycho-sexual counseling and judicial assistance for those who are victims of sexual abuse. These organizations work effectively in establishing a good rapport with the pregnant teenagers at first so that they can help them during their pregnancies. Because accepting their pregnancy can be somehow difficult to some teenagers, service providers build a relationship of trust with them so as to ensure that these girls are well surrounded. Although we are in the 21st century Mauritius, teenage pregnancy is still seen as taboo and a kind of stigma on the young pregnant girls and their families. Often due to this, the families of some of these girls reject them; make them subject of psychological and emotional abuse or even subject of physical abuse. They are completely rejected with no moral support as sex before marriage is not accepted in the Mauritian society. This is considered as a deviant act. These girls to some extent regret the decisions they took about their sexual life but they need the parents support when they find out they are pregnant as most of these girls are left alone without the support of their


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partners. Therefore these service providers are also here to assure or at least try to make plans for the families so that they accept the pregnant teenager. Laws for minors in Mauritius In 1994 the Child Protection Act was passed with the key goal of giving security to children victims of mistreatment and neglect. The national laws have been coordinated in line with the Convention on the Rights of the Child. In this deference, a number of laws pertaining to children have been amended in the form of Child Protection Act, the Criminal Code (Amendment) Act and the Criminal Code Supplementary (Amendment) Act. Extract of some of the laws are quoted as follows: · “According to Child Protection Act 1994, “Child” means any unmarried person under the age of eighteen (18).”

· “Article 144, Title V of the Civil Code provides that the age of consent for marriage is complete eighteen (18) years old. However, “a person under the age of eighteen (18) and over sixteen shall be able to contract marriage with his or her parents allowance or the person who has legal authority.”

· Article 249 ‘Rape- attempt upon chastity and illegal sexual intercourse’ of the Penal Code: “Any person, who is guilty of the crime of rape, shall be liable to penal servitude.”

· Section 14 ‘Sexual offenses’ of the Child Protection Act, 1994 " (1) any person who causes, incites or allows any child— 1.to be sexually abused by him or by another person; 2.to have access to a brothel; 3.to engage in prostitution shall commit an offense." · Section 15 ‘Child trafficking’ of the Child Protection Act, 1994: “Any person who wrongfully takes part in any transaction, the object or one of the objects of which is to transfer or confer, wholly or partly, permanently or temporarily, the possession, custody or control of a child for valuable consideration shall commit an offense." · Section 18 & 4 ‘Offenses and Penalties’ of the Child Protection Act, 1994: “A person who commits an offense under section 9, 13 or 16 shall on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding 10,000 rupees and to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years.”

METHODOLOGY This qualitative study has been carried out to get an indication about what are the possible factors leading to teenage pregnancy in Mauritius, the problems encountered by the pregnant teenagers and teenage mothers, the reason why the figures are rising drastically and how do the pregnant teenagers and adolescent mothers plan their future after their pregnancy. For this particular study the suitable approach was in-depth interviews from the proposed sample based on their life history and their views on their pregnancy. The interview was a face-to-face interaction which allowed the interviewer to have full control over the expression of each pregnant adolescent. A set of question has been used as guide. This approach can be seen to have some flexibility as questions were being directed in such a way that interviewees were not feeling embarrassed or hesitant while disclosing their personal life experiences. This was an advantage to the interviewer as the interviewees are at ease while the interview is being conducted and thus giving the interviewer additional questions. For instance the research question of this study is a qualitative one, then the most appropriate and rigorous way of answering it is to use qualitative methods. The question can be addressed through qualitative methods such as interviews, observation, documentary data and case studies. Hence a mixed approach of qualitative methods has been used. In order to get an unbiased sample, subjects of the study have been chosen from both low socio-economic background and high socio-economic background, from rural and urban areas, from different ethnic affiliations. While carrying out this study, data has been gathered from the two main sources: primary data and secondary data. For this investigation data collected is qualitative rather than quantitative in nature. Part of this research is based on secondary data but primary data is a significant source of information for this research. Secondary data was in form of journal articles, books and websites which helped a lot in the review of the literature whereas primary data was collected by carrying out case studies with ten pregnant teenagers. For this particular study semi – structured interview, life history interview and observation has been used to gather information. This kind of technique has a degree of flexibility as the questions were directed in such a manner that the respondents were able to express their feelings and share their personal experiences without much hesitation. Interviewing has been advantageous in many ways, for instance they have been adjusted to


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individual needs, gave a deeper approach to the objective questions into thinking processes. A face-to-face interview allowed the interviewee to ask for clarifications whenever she did not understand a question. Samples in qualitative research are usually purposive. For this study ten cases have been taken due to difficulties encountered while trying to find subjects and constraints of time. The sample was small and it was not representative of the whole population so it made it difficult to generalize the results for the broader population. For this study, non probability sampling was used. However to ensure the credibility of the sample the selection of participants was based on key demographic variables. Participants have been recruited on the basis of age, socio-economic background, area where they live and ethnicity. A researcher has responsibilities towards her research participants, to the people to whom she will present my findings and one of them is concerning ethics. Therefore the two key ethical issues of this study were consent and confidentiality. All the participants of his study were well-informed about what participation entails and they have freely consented to participation. As written consent was a bit hard to obtain, verbal consent was obtained. Also the identity of each participant has been masked and will not be divulged in any circumstances so as to assure each participant, a pseudo name has been used. Difficulties encountered during the study While carrying this study, many difficulties were encountered. Main difficulties came up whilst collecting primary data for the case studies. When contacted some of the service providers, they delayed in replying to the request of allowing some interviews to be conducted with pregnant teenagers from those centers. It has been very difficult to convince the pregnant teenagers for an interview as they would claim being afraid that these given information would be published. Another setback which came across was the unwillingness of some of the teenage mothers to meet up various times. The parents of some of the pregnant teenagers asked to be present when the interview was being carried out and this was another problem in itself as the subjects were hesitant on disclosing everything they went through.

FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS

This part is about the findings of the qualitative research done. The case studies have been carried out under themes namely: age, social background, financial situation, health impacts, and impacts on the psychological level, social level and future planning.

These are the themes that have been used to help have a more critical indication of each case. The impacts of becoming mother at a very young age is detrimental to the young mother’s life and during this study all the problems related to this issue of pregnancy has come to light. Most of the young mothers called as subject for this study have been affected mostly on the psychological level, then second on the social level where they find it very complex to integrate again the society which had excluded them due to their pregnancy. After analyzing all ten cases individually under the psychological, social, economic, health and future planning themes; there have been various similarities that come up between the cases. Firstly all the pregnant adolescents were already sexually active before adult age, i.e. eighteen years old. Secondly they have all committed this deviant act as they lacked parental control. Therefore parental absence is a very important factor which contributes to teenage pregnancy as showed in the literature review. Parents, be they from low socio-economic background or high socio-economic background have busy working life thus they are less likely to provide guidance to their children or to help them take important decision for example about their sexual life. Peer pressure is considered to be less influential on adolescents when it comes to teenage pregnancy as nowadays teenagers are more under technological influence. Almost all teenagers have a mobile phone, personal computers and internet access, which open them to all kind of sex related websites and pages. However the youngest teenager of this study declared to be influenced by her peers’ personal experiences and she engaged in her first sexual activity. On the other hand, three interviewees said they have been exposed to pornographic contents in company of their partners various times thus reproducing what they saw. One of them also stated that she would be ‘sexting’ her partner when they would be together and this is the reason which most probably drove her into early sexual activity. An interviewee has been living in turbulent situations right from childhood. She has witnessed domestic violence, she has lived with an alcoholic father then she was left without much attention after her father’s death. Exposed to factors contributing to familial discord, one interviewee found herself neglected and search for security and care in new personal relationship she would create with her numerous partners. Another teenage mother lived almost the same situation. Although she came from a high socio-economic


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background she was not spared from witnessing her parents’ never ending strife. Therefore a lack of contact with parents, the feeling of being emotionally neglected and exposure to violence also leads to early sexual activity resulting in teenage pregnancy. Although drugs is illegal in Mauritius and that a person needs to reach eighteen years old to be able to consume alcohol, there are still many teenagers who consume such substances. And yet substance abuse is another factor leading to teenage pregnancy. Two teenage mothers who were on this study had sexual activity under alcohol influence. Compared to those who have sex when they are sober, those who are under any substance influence are more likely to lose control over their impulses. Teenage pregnancy can be prevented by the use of proper contraception and nowadays youngsters are encouraged to use contraceptives. Yet teenagers prefer not to use as they are not very accessible. The Mauritian society although modernizing, still has a conservative mindset. However out of these ten cases studied, there was on one teenage mother who used contraception but yet she fell pregnant. Therefore it can be seen in a few cases contraception rupture can be the reason to teenage pregnancy. Therefore on a general basis, almost all the teenage mothers have lived in an unstable economic situation. But however even those who came from high socio-economic background fell in this vicious circle of teenage pregnancy. These pregnant teenagers lacked parental control and attention and proper guidance. This shows that parents nowadays spend less time at home with their children thus they are unaware of their children emotional life. With all the technological facilities available in the country, all teenagers have access to all sort of uncensored contents. Teenagers are exposed to uncensored movies, pornographic websites, chat blogs where they are free to liberate their impulses. The teenage mothers met for this study are those girls who faired averagely at school and most of them have parents with low educational attainment. They all lacked dialogue with their parents as sexual life before marriage is still taboo in our country. Although service providers are working hard on providing proper sex education to adolescents but young girls still need information about their sexual reproductive health. RECOMMENDATIONS

Although we have the help of service providers it can be seen that the number of teenage pregnancy is rising drastically in Mauritius. Most of the pregnant teenagers

come from low social background families and with low educational attainment. Recommendation 1: Societal openness The Mauritian society although being high-tech is still a conservative society where sex is a taboo subject. Youngsters are not expected to have sex outside marriage irrespective of their ethnic groups. However society needs to assume that with this new era of technologies, adolescents of today are moving fast and they cannot be expected to retain upon having intimate relationships. Therefore the young should be seen as assets rather than problems. Their intimate relationships should be respected and they should be included as part of the solution to societal fleas. Recommendations 2: setting up of supportive programs for the youth’s education and economic self-efficiency That is the youth should be seen as an asset, whereby they are always assisted through their learning process and make them aware that they are capable of taking good decisions on their own rather than always pinpointing them for acts they commit. Recommendation 3: Ensure easy access to contraception and condoms, provide confidential and affordable health services to youngsters and have consistent sex education at all grade levels Engaging in long term public sex education campaign through media by making use of social networking sites, internet, billboards, talks and shows in school and talks in public places. Recommendation 4: Respect the youth Do not judge them; provide them with gear to protect their sexual health to demonstrate them that they can protect themselves from early childbearing and Sexually Transmitted Diseases. Recommendation 5: Encourage parents to break the ice and have dialogue with their children concerning their romantic life and advising them on their sexual health. Educate parents to spend more time with their children and listening to their problems related to their intimate life and always providing them with tools to protect themselves.

CONCLUSION

Adolescents have sex as one of their main preoccupation to some degree. They often go for sex


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drives with very little or no guidance at all and this is when the end results are worse. Teenage pregnancy is one of the social problems which are rising considerably and even Mauritius is facing the same situation. The major causes of adolescent pregnancy are the lack of knowledge, technological influence, and substance abuse among others. As mentioned earlier ten adolescents mothers were taken for this study. All of them fell pregnant between the age of fifteen years and seventeen years old. One of these cases ended in an illegal abortion while another one in an adoption. However the remaining eight had to carry on with their pregnancy until birth. Most of them made their pregnancy a reason to move up economically and socially while one of these mothers has not yet figured what she would be doing and she is expecting a second child at only seventeen years old. These teenage mothers come both from low socio-economic and high socio-economic background but those from the deprived families faced a lot of financial problems. Most of these girls are Indo-Mauritian and they are from rural areas. Almost all of them have been able to move on in life and they are preparing for a better future, three of them are already married while one particular teenage mother is still living on welfare aid. Only one of these young mothers’ has been able to reach a good position by her will power and by the support of her parents. Yet two of the young mothers have been subject of domestic violence too. Therefore becoming mother at a very age is detrimental to the girl’s health, education, social relation and future planning. Through this study it has been showed that the young girls of the country are exposed to the threat of teenage pregnancy as long as they will lack parental control, they will not have proper sexual reproductive health education, as long as they will be confronted to prejudice when they will access proper contraception methods.

REFERENCES

1. Advocate for Youth, 2011. Adolescent Sexual Health in Europe and the US. Advocates for Youth Publications. http://forum.morningafterinfo.org/publications/publications-a-z/419-adolescent-sexual-health-in-europe-and-the-us [Date Accessed: 2nd October 2013]

2. Africa and the World, 2012.Teenage Pregnancy in Africa.http://www.africaw.com/forum/f17/teenage-pregnancy-in-africa-teenage-pregnancy-on-the-t1486/[Date Accessed: 2nd October 2013]

3. Browning et al. (2000); O’DONELL et al. (2003): Rathus, S.A., 2011, Childhood and Adolescence, Voyages in Development.4th ed. Wadsworth Cengage Learning: United States of America: Edition; Chapter 16 Page 526

4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012.Teenage Pregnancy in the United States.http://www.cdc.gov/teenpregnancy/aboutteenpreg.html [Accessed on: 21st October 2013]

5. DR. Langham, R.Y., 2010.What are the causes of teenage pregnancy. Livestrong Foundation.http://www.livestrong.com/article/146681-what-are-the-causes-of-teenage-pregnancy/ [accessed on 19th October 2013]

6. Frank, F.F.Jr., 1991.As the Pendulum Swings: Teenage Childbearing and Social Concern. Family Relations, Vol.40 (2), p.127-138.http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/585470?uid=3738640&uid=2&uid=4&sid=21101932509131 [accessed on 5th October 2013]

7. Hall,G.S.,(1904) in Rathus,S.A., 2011, Childhood and Adolescence, Voyages in Development.4th ed. Wadsworth Cengage Learning: United States of America.

8. Institute for Youth Development, 2004.Sexual Activity and Youth.Washington.http://www.youthdevelopment.org/download/sex.pdf [Accessed on: 19th October 2013]

9. Interpol, 2013.Laws protecting children in Mauritius.http://www.interpol.int/Public/Children/SexualAbuse/NationalLaws/[Date Accessed: 2nd October 2013]

10. Lau et al., (2009) ; Waylen et al.,(2009) in: Rathus,S.A., 2011, Childhood and Adolescence, Voyages in Development.4th ed. Wadsworth Cengage Learning: United States of America Edition; Chapter 16 Page 515

11. Michael, Q.P., Michael, C., 2002.A Guide to Using Qualitative Research Methodology. http://www.amazon.fr/Qualitative-Research-Evaluation-Methods-Michael/dp/0761919716 [Accessed on: 01st October 2013]

12. ONLY MY HEALTH.COM, 2013.Causes of Teenage Pregnancy. India. http://www.onlymyhealth.com/Aboutus.html [accessed on 19thOctober 2013]

13. Search Institute, 2013.Parental Guide.http://www.parentfurther.com/high-risk-behaviors/early-sexual-activity [Accessed on: 19thOctober 2013]

14. Seebun, I., 2006. 36th session of the Committee to the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women, New York. http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/cedaw36/mauritiu.pdf [Date Accessed: 2nd October 2013]

15. Singh, S., June, 1998.Adoelscent Child Bearing in Developing Countries: A Global Review. Studies in Family Planning. Volume 29(2), p.117-136.http://www.jstor.org/stable/172154?&Search=yes&searchText=pregnancy&searchText=developing&searchText=countries&searchText=teenage&list=hide&searchUri [Accessed on 13th October 2013]

16. Single Mums (News on Sunday, 2012). http://www.defimedia.info/news-sunday/society/item/5662-


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single-mums.html?tmpl=component&print=1[accessed on 11th October 2013]

17. Teenage Pregnancy not our culture (Times of India 2010).http://indianhomemaker.wordpress.com/2010/01/27/teenage-pregnancies-%E2%80%93-not-our-culture [Date Accessed: 2nd October 2013]

18. UN, 2005.The UN’s Solution Teenage. Beverly LaHaye Institute Pregnancyhttp://www.cwfa.org/articledisplay.asp?id=14800&department=BLI&categoryid=commentary [Accessed on: 19th October 2013]

19. UNESCO, 2011.The State Of The World’s Children. UNICEF Publications.http://www.uis.unesco.org/Library/Documents/state-world-children-adolescence-age-opportunity-education-2011-en.pdf[Accessed on: 21st October 2013]

20. USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2007-11-12-teen-sex_N.html [Accessed on: 19th October 2013]

21. WHO, 2012.Adolescent Pregnancy. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs364/en/index.html [accessed on 10th October 2013]

22. World Health Organization, 2008.Making Pregnancy Safer. WHO publications (Volume1. No.1).http://www.who.int/maternal_child_adolescent/documents/mpsnnotes_2_lr.pdf [Accessed on: 21st October 2013]

23. Indian Ocean Times.http://en.indian-ocean-times.com/Mauritius-35-cases-of-teenage-pregnancy-since-January-caused-by-sexual-abuse_a1220.html[Accessed on: 21st October 2013]


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Is there really a place for Gender Equality in the Economic, Social and Political Arenas Dr. Mahendrenath Motah [email protected]

ABSTRACT

The political will of the government to involve more women in the economic, social and political spheres reflect the evolution that the society has experienced during the post independence period. The creation of various sectors of activity aimed at diversifying the economy saw the increasing participation of women in fields of activity which were, some time back considered to be reserved for men. The strong will and determination of a few of them saw the emergence of a “new” race of women, more daring, but also as qualified and efficient as their male counterparts. Despite the efforts of many of them, very few have been called to assume such responsibilities which would place them at par with men. Our society, being very conservative, has opposed the uprising of women to level men, always keeping them in traditional women oriented enterprises. A look at the place of women in the political, social or economic sector clearly indicates that we still have a long way to go, before we can witness a change in attitude among men in relation to the acceptance of women in a place of authority above men in any of the sectors mentioned above. Culturally, politically, socially, and otherwise considered, members of our traditional society have been socialized, with emphasis since very young, on sex socialization and gender consciousness deep in our unconscious mind. Such appreciation and acceptance of gender differences are very difficult to do away with. The coming generations of male and female members of our society could, perhaps, present some hope for a change of hearts, but the trends we can witness in relation to the respect for the female sex caution us to be more than careful.

Key words: gender equality, women’s share, social status, social structure, and male/female relations.

THE PRESENT SITUATION

In 2012, Mauritius ranked 80th out of 186 countries according to the Gender Inequality Index of the UN. The index reflects inequality in achievements between women and men in reproductive health, empowerment and the labour market. (Human Development Report Office – UNDP March 2013). There is still a long way to go if we refer to the figures below, as highlighted by the CSO Mauritius.

STATISTICAL FACTS

Figures from the CSO (Central Statistics Office, 2012) show the following trends: Diabetes, heart disease and cancer together accounted for 60.6% of causes of deaths among women against 68% of men’s deaths. Disability prevalence is higher amongst the female population. In 2011, out of every 1,000 females, 49 were disabled against 47 males out of every 1,000. Men are more literate than women. However, the literacy gap between men and women has narrowed from 7.2 percentage points in 2000 to 5.0 percentage points in 2011. Employed women work on average six hours less than men. More women are occupying high positions in government services. The proportion of women in the most senior positions was 39%. Domestic violence against men is on the increase, though women are more likely to be victims.

DEALING WITH THE EXISTING MINDSET

The Mauritian society is one which can be considered to be conservative. The place of women is considered to be next to the men, but not equal. The diverse social structure is a blend of different cultural values, with women occupying a place of high but restricted status. Within families, irrespective of ethnic, religious, and social references, women are looked upon as the member responsible for the transmission of all value- based behaviours, to all the other members of the unit, irrespective of age, gender and status within the group concerned. The role of mother, sister, wife, and female counterpart is predominant in almost all situations. Hence, the question of equality between man and woman does not arise, as each of them has specific

IS THERE REALLY A PLACE FOR GENDER EQUALITY IN THE ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ARENAS

position, role and responsibilities within the family unit. Working women have an even more complex status, as on top of the above mentioned roles, she clad herself with yet another responsibility – that of bread winner. This situation, often give rise to conflicts between men and women, which in many known cases end up in compromise and, thus leads to better harmony in the couple and eventually within the family. With the Mauritian society, evolving at a faster pace, due to globalization and the ever growing influence of both eastern and western societies, the lifestyle of many families and couples are subjected to changes. For many, the adjustment to the various facets of active family, work life and societal demands do not pose problems. The few confronted with the same dilemma seem to need help and support.

CHANGING ATTITUDES TOWARDS WOMEN

Gender equality is, first and foremost, a human right. Women are entitled to live in dignity and in all freedom (UNFPA, 2013). Empowering women has always been the aim of almost all governments we have known. We have had women occupying positions of Ministers, Vice-President of the Republic, Judges, Magistrates, Mayors, CEO, Heads of Administration and other prestigious positions within both the public and private sectors. But the representations are still quite low as opposed to men. There has been and still is a political will to enhance the status and representation of women in the various sectors of public and private endeavours. There is a need to bring a change in attitudes among the population, both genders included. The rather low representation of women in specific sectors of active social, political and economic activities, tend to be perceived as a major flaw in the distribution of responsibilities between gender, and ends up as a cause for concern to the authorities. Owing to the prevailing conditions, women are considered as a minority group, hence, are seen to be the subject of glaring discrimination, as soon as any action in favour of their masculine counterpart is initiated. The public and private sectors do not seem to reflect the same image of women as compared to men. The standard operating procedures in these two sectors are quite different from each other. In sectors where there are a higher number of women in lower status positions, the impression is that fewer women are victims of discrimination, harassment and other unjust actions. The question is – Is there less cases of discrimination when women outnumber men in any situation? This could be an interesting area of study for researchers involved in the critical appraisal of the conditions of work when men work in an environment where a majority of women are employed as lower status workers.

EMPOWERING WOMEN

Empowered women can be assets to whole families and communities (UNFPA, 2013) and, as goes the saying “teach a woman and you will be teaching a nation”. Women can also help to improve prospects for the next generations. “The importance of gender equality is underscored by its inclusion as one of the eight Millennium Development Goals”. Gender equality is acknowledged as being a key element to help achieve the other goals.

Despite the fact that many countries, through their respective governments have taken steps to ensure gender equality, yet discrimination against women is still persistent in various forms in many developed and developing countries. Women and girls are seen to be the first victims especially in armed conflicts. In many countries, populations are living in precarious conditions, and the female members of these populations are the one most subjected to unjustified treatment and become easy prey to degrading practices in the hands of men and women soldiers. Despite the fact that these people are protected by international rules and regulations, still, they are victims of unwarranted pains, sufferings and degradation which go unpunished.

Coontz (2013) points out that “today the main barriers to further progress toward gender equity no longer lie in people’s personal attitudes and relationships. Instead, structural impediments prevent people from acting on their egalitarian values, forcing men and women into personal accommodations and rationalizations that do not reflect their preferences. The gender revolution is not in a stall. It has hit a wall”.

POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE DISCRIMINATION

Sex discrimination, or gender inequality, is unequal treatment based solely on gender. Treatment must be unequal, not simply different. Providing separate restroom facilities is not discrimination, but using separate criteria for promotions is discriminatory. Failure to provide equal pay for equal work is discrimination, as are criteria for bonuses based on gender. Job offers and hiring based on gender -- or stereotypes or assumptions about gender -- are discriminatory, for example, in professions such as nursing that are traditionally associated with one gender. Discrimination against women because of pregnancy is not legal; pregnancy and giving birth must be treated the same way as any temporary condition. The workplace seems to be the area where the discrimination is rampant and needs direct intervention


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through training and ongoing sensitization programmes. The ill effects of this type of discrimination can have important consequences on the family in particular and on societal structures in general. The perception of gender sensitive jobs in both the public and the private sectors are nowadays subjected to pressures from both sexes, and jobs considered being male or female dominated tend to appeal to both sexes. This state of mind is gradually changing, as more and more young people are attracted to jobs – irrespective of these being gender sensitive or not. (UNFPA, 2013)

FORMS OF GENDER DISCRIMINATION

Harassment in the workplace is a form of gender discrimination and takes many forms, including bullying and sexual harassment. The latter includes off-color jokes, suggestive photos, and inappropriate physical contact and unwanted sexual overtures. Promises of promotion or other benefits made to an employee by an upper-echelon employer or manager in return for sexual favors is sexual harassment, as are threats of job loss if the favors are not granted.

To illustrate the forms of gender discrimination, we will refer to a new study by UNFPA. They have found that: “laws to check gender discrimination and son preference in India is often ineffective, and in many cases, may advance discriminatory practices”. The following excerpts from the study will shed light on various aspects of gender discrimination as it is practiced in various parts of the world. Several other developing countries have regulations which go in the same direction towards discrimination of women and girls in various sectors of economic and social life.

The study, authored by Kirti Singh, outlines how laws and policies for girls and women should be guided by a more explicit anti-discrimination legal framework that spells out in greater detail substantive and procedural rights for women in different fields of work, and applies to state and private actors.

The study finds some legal provisions are not just inadequate in checking son preference, but also promote the practice and end up being discriminatory for women, such as the Goa Law on Polygamy that permits a second marriage for the husband when there is no son from the first marriage. The study strongly recommends removing such blatantly discriminatory provisions.

The report also highlights the fact that laws are absent in critical areas like honour crimes and marital property

rights. It recommends that laws addressing these issues would play an important role in securing rights for women.

Commenting on the report the UNFPA Representative for India and Bhutan, Frederika Meijer shared the following views:

“A deeply entrenched preference for sons exists for various reasons including that a son inherits property, whereas a daughter is perceived as more of a burden due to factors such as dowry – a practice that continues to prevail despite being illegal. “Laws and their implementation are the backbone of social change. They hold the potential to change mind sets and stem generations of gender discrimination. This study offers a new perspective on reforming laws so that they work for women and girls.”

SUBJECTS OF COMPLAINTS FROM VARIOUS QUARTERS

Even in a workplace where women and men share equal stature, knowledge and experience, differing communication styles may prevent them from working together effectively. These gender barriers can be inherent or may be related to gender stereotypes and the ways in which men and women are taught to behave as children. Although not all men or all women communicate the same way as the rest of their gender, researchers have identified several traits that tend to be more common in one gender or the other. Understanding these tendencies is key in creating a work environment that fosters open communication among all employees”. The situation seems to be very complex, when researchers study gender barriers in multi-cultural societies like the one we have in Mauritius. Conditions which regulate the professional behaviours of employees, irrespective of gender in the public sector, prohibit the discrimination between man and woman. In many cases nowadays, women occupy high status jobs, and deal with a masculine population without any major mishaps. They command the respect of their employees and rarely face situations affected by gender based relationship factors. There seem to be lesser complaints from men than women, and professional relations tend to be harmonious.

FACTS ABOUT REPORT TALK AND RAPPORT TALK IN GENDER COMMUNICATION

In the “Forbes” article “How to Be a Part of the Male Conversations at Work,” author Heather R. Huhman (2013) reports that “women focus more on feelings and

IS THERE REALLY A PLACE FOR GENDER EQUALITY IN THE ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ARENAS

tend to talk about people while men focus more on facts and logic and tend to talk about tangible things such as business or sports. In addition, women use communication to gain insight and understanding, often by asking a lot of questions. Men, on the other hand, communicate primarily to give and get information and are less likely to ask questions”. The distinction in the way men and women communicate at work and in other social settings differ from culture to culture. At work, the prevailing conditions serve as a cushion in gender communication, but at home and other social gatherings, the communication between men and women is subjected to various cultural and religious constraints.

MOTIVATION FACTORS AFFECTING MEN AND WOMEN

“When women meet new people, they focus on learning about the other person and on attempting to earn the other person’s trust by showing an interest in him”, explains relationship author John Gray (2012). “Men, however, focus on establishing their credibility by talking about their achievements, their responsibilities at work and what they have to offer. They expect women to do the same and may not take a woman seriously if she doesn’t quickly establish what she can do as a professional”. The superiority of men vis-à-vis women based on professional status is a predominant factor in the understanding of the relationship between the male and female in many families nowadays, as both of them are breadwinners. The struggle of many women to prove that they are equal to men gives rise to some sort of academic bulimia, when both men and women compete to prove their respective superiority through academic or professional achievements.

WHAT LIES BENEATH THE MISUNDERSTANDINGS

Gender specialist Barbara Annis (2013) says “many men report that a woman may interpret what they say in a way they didn’t expect, causing men to feel unsure about how to approach a topic when discussing it with a woman. When women and men attempt to communicate with no understanding of the other’s communication style, they may come across in a way they didn’t intend. For example, because women tend to focus more on relationship-building when meeting new people, men may doubt their professionalism. On the other hand, because men tend to be more direct and focused on their achievements, women may perceive them as too aggressive”. There seem to be important

differences between men and women, when considering cultural, religious, social and ethnic factors. In certain cultures women seem to be more prone to be submissive and tolerant, while in some others, they have to be pressured and blackmailed to accept compromise. It is in these circumstances that cases of abuse of all sorts: physical, psychological, mental, emotional are found to be a common feature. The differences between male and female become more apparent and consequences on kids and kin can be everlasting and affect attitude and behaviour towards women later in life. Hence, efforts to avoid such perception and eventual misunderstanding between people, based on gender differences.

EFFECTS OF DIFFERENCES IN GENDER EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION

The differences in the way men and women communicate can lead inadvertently to conflict, inhibiting communication between colleagues and hindering productivity. In her “Forbes” article, Huhman (2013) quotes gender diversity expert Connie Glaser, who says “The problem between men and woman in the workplace is not the fact that they play by a different set of rules. The problem is that they don’t know these rules.” Huhman (2013) adds that when this lack of understanding causes disagreement, men may be able to move on more quickly than women, for whom the conflict has more widespread and long-lasting effects. She further states that: ’I was convinced the only path to success in a masculine-dominated corporate culture was to think and behave as a man rather than act authentically as a woman. Unfortunately, this is true in many instances, when we analyse the position of women in many societies, including ours. The origins of such differences lie in the deep socio-cultural practices which characterize some of the traditional Asian societies. In such societies, despite the fact that women enjoy a higher status than men (unofficially), yet they are considered to be of a lower status. In spite of the influence of educational background, women who in many a case have university degrees are still considered to be of a lower status than the man, even if the male counterpart is less qualified academically. In many male dominated families of Asian origin, the fate of the woman is closely linked with the power of the man, based on his birth, wealth, reputation, name and other factors which the culture holds in high esteem.

PAVING THE WAY AHEAD

Many interesting situations arise from the efforts of both men and women to curb the effects of gender


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discrimination in the various sectors of active social life. The family, being the basic social institution, helps in many ways to transmit the values, norms, behaviour patterns, cultural practices to the coming generations. Many of the points raised on the theme of gender discrimination take their roots in the way sex socialisation and the attitudes towards members of the opposite sex develop through interaction variables. Unless deep thought and due consideration are given to the above factors, it will be difficult to assume that these will change in other spheres of life such as school, colleges, universities, places of work and other human cultural activities. In almost all societies, men and women have always been considered to be different and to live life differently as compared to women. Social status, functions, roles and responsibilities have always been and still are distinct, be it in the tribal primitive societies, the underdeveloped, developing and developed societies. The place of women has always been a “place of choice” decided by some authorities more powerful than the actual governments. Let us put it bluntly – the prevailing state of affairs has stayed since the first men were on earth – and nothing has changed, except the forms of relationship between men and women, as for the rest, they will never change!

CONCLUDING REMARKS

In the light of the above, personal views and expert views from researchers in the field of gender discrimination, gender equality, and other related areas of interest, one cannot but accept that treading on the topic of equality among the male and female members of our modern society is a very risky adventure. Nowadays, the male/female relations have become more confused, as well as the male and female social and political identities, due to the recognition of sex discrimination through criteria, other than sex. Who is a male? Who is a female? The answer to the question renders the area of sex discrimination even more confusing, than when the distinction between male and female as originally established posed no problem.

REFERENCES

Annis B. (2013) Gender expert, Barbara Annis & Associates

Coontz Stephanie (Feb 2013): Why gender equality stalled – The NY Times, Sunday Review

Central Statistics Office (2013) Mauritius.

Gray J. (2012) Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus: The classic guide for understanding the opposite sex- John Gray Books

Huhman H, R, (2013) Forbes at Forbes.com

Johnson R.M (2013) – Gender Equality, SOC- UA- 937.

Singh Kirty (2013) – Laws & Son preference in India – A reality Check. UNFPA – ND India.

UNDP (2013) Empowering women and girls empower us all: Gender Equality: A cornerstone of development.

UNDP – Human Development Report Office (March 3013)

UNFPA – (2013) Gender Equality: A cornerstone of Development.

UNFPA (2013) Fact sheet - Millenium Development Goals and Beyond 2015 - UN


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ABOUT OSSREA

The Organization for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa (OSSREA) is a regional membership-based and donor-supported research and capacity-building organization whose mission is to promote dialogue and interaction between researchers and policy-makers in Eastern and Southern Africa with a view to enhancing the impact of research on policy-making and development planning. Its headquarter is based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

P.O.Box: 31971 Addis Ababa, EthiopiaTelephone: 251-11-1239484

Fax: 251-11-1223921Email: [email protected]

Web: http://www.ossrea.net

Nicolas RagodooFSSH,

University of MauritiusReduit

[email protected]: +230 403 76 84

A Qualitative Analysis Of Teenage Pregnancy In Mauritius

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