Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1424528
14 NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 31 OCTOBER 2021 WALK into any school staff room in Malta, and you are more likely to see a crowd of women than men at their seats. The data is clear: NSO statistics for 2018- 2019 found over over 66% of all teaching personnel in Malta were women. But is this a problem? Is the feminisation of teaching a prob- lem in itself; or does it reveal something about the gender in- equality that pervades Maltese life, the differences that manifest themselves across the various professions and trades practised, or the lack of women at the top – in parliament, in the Cabinet, in the corporate boardrooms of banks and listed companies – in so many spheres of our life? Malta today is ranking 13th in the EU on the Gender Equality Index. According to the Euro- pean Institute for Gender Equal- ity (EIGE), the GEI measures how far member states are from achieving a gender-equal soci- ety. Since 2010, Malta's rank- ing increased by five places, or 10.6 points. Meanwhile, Malta's score increased by 1.6 points since 2018 to 65– an increase largely driven by improvements in power representation. Yet it's in the domain of power representation where gender in- equalities are most pronounced, with Malta ranking 19th in this area. Progress has also stalled in political decision-making, where Malta ranks 25th. Women in Cabinet remains unchanged since 2010 at a very low 15%; while MPs increased from 9% to 13% in 2021... and parliamentary gender quotas are yet to kick in. Malta is furthest away from gender equality in economic decision-making, with just 29.9 points: women on the boards of the largest publicly-listed com- panies stands at a mere 10%, up from 2% in 2010. It's in the world of work that Malta registered a big improve- ment, up from 65 points in 2010 to almost 77 in 2019, shooting up 23rd to fifth in just a decades, largely driven by an increase in work participation. But Malta falls back on equality in educa- tion: here, 50% of all female uni- versity students are enrolling in 'feminised' fields like education, health, welfare, humanities and arts. Prof. JosAnn Cutajar, from the University of Malta, says men in classrooms can serve as role models for the children they teach. "Having men in the class- room allows students to observe men who are non-violent and whose interactions with wom- en are positive," she said, add- ing that having a low number of men in any field produces a negative effect on the quality of service provided. In education, women are no better at teaching the complex- ities of maths than men are. But having a mix of male and female teachers gives students the chance to learn from people they relate to, at least on gender alone, while conversely hav- ing the chance to interact with adults who are different to them. "The low number of male stu- dents in education, health and social sciences is having an effect on the efficacy of the provision of services in this area," Cutajar said, such as in the field of social work, where data suggests men are less likely to engage with social workers than women. "It could be that having more men in social work would help ad- dress this. The more men join a profession like social work, the more we normalise men show- ing empathy and talking about their mental health or aggres- sion," Prof. Cutajar said. Boardroom blitz As the gender pay gap index shows, the hidden benefit to having more men in feminised fields is that professional sectors with a large concentration of men tend to offer better pay and higher flexibility. But that in itelf betrays the unfortunate reality that sectors with high numbers of women and migrant workers are more associated with low wages and poor working condi- tions. In this regard, Prof. Cutajar said that bringing more men into feminised sectors could balance out the wage gaps in sectors that tend to be highly concentrated. Elsewhere in decision-mak- ing, the power of incumben- cy threatens women's ability to climb the corporate ladder. Marisa Xuereb, the Chamber of Commerce president, said it was not uncommon for peo- ple to sit on the same company boards for decades, even if it is unhealthy for the organisation. "Older men tend to hang onto company boards far longer than they stay in executive positions. Of course, experience has value Feminised sectors, power of incumbency, and sexist urban design are only some of the hurdles in the way of proper gender equality Old boys' clubs and sexist policies stand in the way of gender equality in Malta NICOLE MEILAK Chamber of Commerce president Marisa Xuereb: "It pays companies to accomodate capable women because talent is hard to come by" Prof. JosAnn Cutajar: Having more men in feminised fieds would benefit men themselves as clients of such professions Emma Portelli Bonnici: "When a woman in politics does something perceived as a 'scandal', many see this as a reflection on women in general" The same is rarely said in the inverse." "I don't mince words on this: those publicly-listed companies that haven't managed to secure themselves at least a couple of capable women on their board are missing out." Marisa Xuereb