Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1424528
15 NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 31 OCTOBER 2021 at board level, but so does new blood," she said. Overall, Xuereb thinks workplaces are becoming more accommodating. The work- from-home set-up has become more available for office work- ers in particular, making more jobs accessible for mothers with young children who need to be at home after school hours. "I believe the shortage of human resources is pushing companies to become more flexible in their approach. It pays companies to accommodate capable women because talent is hard to come by." But the race to boardroom gender equality has a couple of hurdles for women. A McK- insey report found that burn- out is escalating much faster among women than men in the the work- place. The same rings true for Malta, especially for wom- en with children of school age, Xuereb said. "Disruptions to the school rou- tine, including online schooling, placed an increased burden on parents who needed to super- vise their children during online schooling, while trying to work from home as best they could. In many cases, the supervising par- ent was the mother." The second hurdle: senior management positions are high- ly demanding. To become a board director one typically re- quires some senior management experience. But such positions can be highly demanding in terms of working hours, at times requiring overseas travelling. "So many capable women hold back from taking up senior man- agement roles, especially when their children are still young. This means that they start gain- ing senior management expe- rience at a later stage and end up competing with younger and typically more aggressive males to take up directorships vacated by retiring males – when they do retire." Gender is as much of a hurdle in politics as it is in business. Emma Portelli Bonnici, a law- yer and PN candidate, explained that some people will vote for people because they're women, but conversely, some people will not vote for a female candidate because of their gender. "Even if gender does not directly or evi- dently impacting votes, gender can and does in many ways," she said. Beyond the votes, gender can be a struggle when occupying political positions. "Becoming a more public person, as a wom- an from my own experience or as a non-binary person from the lived experiences of friends, comes with a certain level of criticism that men just do not face. "When one woman in politics does something that is perceived as a 'scandal', be that in her per- sonal or public life, many people see this as a reflection on wom- en in general. The same is rarely said in the inverse." Time for quotas? There are plenty of negatives to men dominating politics. Ra- chael Scicluna, an anthropolo- gist and Labour candidate, said a lack of women and other minor- ities in positions of power often results in short-sighted policies that consider only the lived ex- periences and needs of half the population. "Most employment is based on a positivist economic strate- gy based on growth rather than wellbeing, collaborations and the common good. For example, this type of masculinist econ- omy tends to support and fund research which leans towards science and technology, leaving behind the social sciences, arts and humanities," Scicluna said. "Considering that the social fabric of society comprises of divergent lived experiences, not having at least female role models in decision-making set- ups has a direct impact of what type of policies are planned, developed and eventually im- plemented. Having a diverse representation at high-level de- cision-making roles can result in more empathic, proactive and inclusive national policies." Across the board, women's shouldering of unpaid care re- sponsibilities at home hinders them from progressing forward in their careers. Scicluna singles this out as a structural issue that results from the wider dominant culture that associates wom- en with the home and kitchen, and men as decision-makers or breadwinners. "The importance of the home should not be ignored," Scicluna says, seeing the home as the set- ting for domestic and commu- nity life, where important moral values and identities are learned from a very young age. "Unpaid domestic work tends to happen silently behind closed doors, de- spite the fact that it is an impor- tant motor behind the success of a nation. If we had to unpack this silent motor, that is the power of the domestic realm, then we would realise the positive impact it has on our GDP." In this regard, she says that the State should consider the im- pact of the changing family and changing household on the wid- er global economy. In doing so, it can prevent issues related to homelessness, unemployment, mental health issues, ill-health and poverty. Not all gloomy The forecast for gender equali- ty isn't too gloomy. All-male company boards are becoming a bad look, while a new gender quota will see more women writing laws in parlia- ment. But for company boards, Mari- sa Xuereb is no fan of gender quotas. Even on the new par- liamentary quota, the Chamber President is highly critical. "The system that is being adopted prioritises protection of incum- bents, over ensuring that the women who make it are capable and encourage people to vote in more women in future." Malta does not have a lot of publicly-listed companies, but it has a number of capable women with senior management experi- ence, Xuereb said. "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." Portelli Bonnici admitted that she used to be against gender quotas, but between the strong power of incumbency and all the hurdles for women entering pol- itics, quotas suddenly became the only way to shake up the system. "Ultimately, there is no time to wait around for someone to wake up and realise that rep- resentation in politics should be organic – it's 2021, we might as well get started." Sceptics are right to be cynical on gender quotas. They offer no solace to many girls who are structurally discouraged from ever pursuing such high-level positions. Quotas also ignore the uncomfortable class issue in pol- itics, whereby many women who ever make the ballot list often hail from high-paying profes- sions. And one final thing... One may not think of urban planning as an antidote for gen- der equality, but Rachael Sciclu- na knows not to underestimate the importance of the urban en- vironment to help women and other minorities feel included. "This inclusivity depends on how urban and open spaces are designed and should include, from the very start, these com- plex realities of what belong- ing, safety and security mean to women, older people, children, people with disabilities, persons of colour, and so on. These issues should not be an afterthought in design." Sexism in urban design should not be a foreign concept for most in Malta. The struggle of bringing a pram on the bus or the fear of going jogging at night are both examples of how urban Malta could be better designed to accommodate women. The same can be said of gen- der-segregated bathrooms, which fail to accommodate those who don't fit the gender binary. "Designing policy with this perspective in mind opens up a space for all those groups of people who may be side-lined by the dominant hetero-normative and able-bodied ideology." Ultimately, gender equality means equal participation in the workforce, at home, and in all other spheres of life. Scicluna insisted that any form of eco- nomic growth needs to address this issue. "Such an alternative economic model could address the feminisation of poverty, such as the structural issues of single female-led households which fall within the 'at-risk-of-poverty' category," she said. Rachael Scicluna: The struggle of bringing a pram on the bus or the fear of going jogging at night are both examples of how urban Malta could be better designed to accommodate women "Unpaid domestic work tends to happen silently behind closed doors... If we had to unpack this silent motor, that is the power of the domestic realm, then we would realise the positive impact it has on our GDP" Rachael Scicluna