MGT604 Individual Research Essay: Women Empowerment in Bangladesh

This research essay explores the critical issue of women's participation in the national economy of Bangladesh, focusing on the factors that hinder their empowerment within private companies. It delves into the impact of patriarchal and gender values, which restrict women's opportunities in the labor market, leading to lower-paid activities compared to men. The essay examines the importance of women's involvement in economic activities for societal betterment, analyzing various factors influencing their empowerment, such as technological limitations, lack of skills, motivational issues, and administrative barriers. It also discusses the socio-cultural and economic restrictions women face, including limited access to technology, training, and decision-making roles. Furthermore, the essay provides recommendations on how to overcome these challenges to promote greater equality and economic growth.

Running head: MGT604
Individual Assignment –
Research Essay
Student’s Name:
Student’s ID:
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Introduction
In today's context, there is an increasing concern towards the issue of women participation in the
national economy that affects women empowerment. Empowerment is determined to be
processed to take ownership and control of their lives through development. The development
aspects would be fulfilled with the effective involvement of women. Integrating the contribution
of women is significant for the efficiency grounds and equity for any economy. However, the
paper will discuss the patriarchal and gender values that create restrictions for women within the
labor market. This particular scenario is more common in Bangladesh that results in low-paid
activities for women than men. Improved and increased involvement of women in private firms
would result in women's greater voice and agency in making decisions. It will discuss the
importance of women involvement in economic activities for the betterment of the future. The
paper will provide an understanding of various factors that puts an impact on women
empowerment along with an analysis of the factors. Based on such factors, the paper will also
provide recommendations on how to overcome such critical conditions.
Importance of the issues
The issue is based on various factors that affect women empowerment at private companies in
Bangladesh. Women empowerment is determined to be a burning issue in Bangladesh, where the
policymakers are trying to attain sustainable development. Although women have greatly
contributed to the development and success of Bangladesh, still the empowerment status of
women is low in this country as compared to men (Ferdousi, 2015). Women of Bangladesh are
ill-treated through religion, customs, regulations, and rules. The women are deprived of working
in private companies. Although, different areas in Bangladesh have taken various initiatives.
Still, the level of women participation in significant activities, specifically in private companies,
remains low and insufficient as compared to the male counterpart (Dewan, Mukherji & Buisson,
2015). It has been found that the women empowerment in the process of decision-making is
satisfactory, whereas, in Bangladesh, the empowerment level of women is least.

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In Bangladesh, the contribution of women within the national economy is low as they make
significant participation in non-market activities like care for children and the elderly at home
and household chores. This clearly states the fact that the involvement of women in private
organizations is comparatively lower than men. Based on employment quality, it is found that
women execute low-productive and low-paid activities (Pansera & Owen, 2015). In the era of
increased automation and technological advancement, it has been stated that women employees
are more vulnerable than men. Due to supply-side and demand issues, the employment rate of
women in comparison with men is low in Bangladesh. On the supply side, the participation of
women depends upon the socio-economic factors. Thus, it can be said that women in Bangladesh
are locked into a mediocre position within the organization. In the past decade, the rate of
engagement and growth of women employees has slowed that affects women empowerment.
Literature Review
There possess various factors that are associated with women empowerment such as, good
economic status and high salary. According to Headey, Hoddinott, Ali, Tesfaye & Dereje,
(2015), women are highly needed to assist their empowerment while working in private
companies. Most of the scholars have provided a framework where social intrusion and
empowerment are closely related to each other. Empowerment is defined as the enhancement of
capabilities and assets of different groups and individuals to hold and influence the accountable.
The process of women’s empowerment is determined by community setting, extra and mobility
time for engaging in new activities and culture (Schuler, Lenzi, Badal & Nazneen, 2018).
However, the women those who are engaged in the development of entrepreneurship activities
such as working in private companies in Bangladesh are more economically, politically, and
socially empowered. Moreover, the economic empowerment of women is significant for
enhancing economic prosperity and growth.
Empowering women economically includes improving their agency, power, and economic
status. The common factors that have been encountered by women involve structural and socio-
cultural restrictions to their mobility, constraints on access to business and finance development
services, poor infrastructure, absence from decision-making bodies along with training as well as
education. As mentioned by Hasan, (2016), the comprehensive service provision and public
policies are highly needed to address these issues related to women empowerment. The study

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revealed the fact that religious or cultural constraints, lack of capital, and low level of education
affect women empowerment in private companies. The different factors that affect women
empowerment are technological factors, security factors, training programs factors, motivational
factors, knowledge and skills factors, and administrative and legal factors (Kabeer, 2016). All
these factors are discussed below in detail:
Technological factors
The present study states that women empowerment is closely related to innovation and
responsiveness of technological change. Women in Bangladesh are not provided with
technology-related amenities that negatively affects their success while working in private
companies. They are not allowed to make use of information technology that restricts them from
creating innovative ideas (Sahid Ullah, 2016). The male counterparts who are capable of
handling technological change are given more importance as compared to women.
Knowledge and skills factors
Experience, skills, and knowledge influence women empowerment in Bangladesh to a great
extent. The women working in private companies possess a lack of marketing skills,
management skills, and knowledge and have a low level of education. As stated by Islam &
Jantan, (2017), women possess less knowledge of how to manage the organizational activities
that creates a barrier for economic growth and development.
Motivational factors
The level of women empowerment is closely related to motivational levels. Advocacy is
determined to be a significant factor that affects women working in private companies.
Training programs factors
Lack of sufficient and appropriate training for women in private firms is regarded as a barrier
that affects the level of women empowerment. Non-availability of technical support and training
program creates limitations for the women working at private companies (Khan, 2016). Women
are restricted from entering into mechanical and professional training as well as they are
provided less access to training as compared to men. This negatively creates an impact on
women as they are unable to acquire vocational and professional skills.

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Administrative and legal factors
Personal services, sales, and administration are the significant factors that are affecting women
empowerment. In the words of Degert, Parikh & Kabir, (2016), women lack access to
information related to legal regulations and policymaking. As a result, most of the women have
little access to policymakers that creates various difficulty for the women in Bangladesh.
Security factors
The women in Bangladesh who are employed in private firms are dealing with security factors.
The quality of life and women courage is negatively affected due to an unsafe work environment.
However, unsafe work environment leads to detrimental economic and social insecurity for
women (Hopkinson & Aman, 2017). Managing itself in an insecure environment and poor
infrastructure becomes difficult for women.
On the other hand, the women are dealing with various other factors such as problems due to job
satisfaction, relation with supervisor, rewards, promotions, benefits and payments, timing of
work, income, colleagues, location and workplace environment. It has been observed that there is
a huge difference in the job satisfaction level between men and women in Bangladesh. In the
case of women the job satisfaction level is based on the conditions such as motivators and stress,
size of the organization, monthly salary, managerial rank, flexible work, job security, and wage.
The women are highly involved in small and large scale organizational activities, thus they are
highly needed to enhance their level of empowerment. As per Sarker, Bingxin, Sultana &
Prodhan, (2017), the issue of women participation in industry and business sectors in Bangladesh
is regarded as imperative. Based on the demographic structure, the involvement of women in
private companies remains unsatisfactory, and within the mainstream economy, the percentage
of women is considerably low as compared to men counterparts. The significant barriers that
exclude women from engaging in the mainstream economy involve values and traditional social
structures, lack of women-friendly economic and socio-cultural environment, limitation of
existing policy framework along with lack of institutional support (Ghosh, Ghosh & Chowdhury,
2018). It is believed that economically and politically empowered women will make a huge
difference in the future of Bangladesh. The women working in private organizations have limited
access to technology and skills than males.

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In Bangladesh, because of gender biases, women are given less importance than males. As a
result, they get less information about the business and the market. The majority of women
working in private companies are the most vulnerable as well as the neglected community in
Bangladesh. The women are routinely denied from their accessing their opportunities and rights,
and they are indulged in corruption that puts an impact on the process of social development for
women. This clearly states that although women are less associated with corruption, still, they
are indirectly or directly involved in corruption. According to Hassan, (2015), often they lack
leadership that results in self-confidence and personality traits that influence their vision,
ambition, and assertiveness. Moreover, external and domestic violence hinders the expansion and
growth of women in Bangladesh. The women get lack of opportunity because of the patriarchal
mindset of the top-level management that leads to a lack of professional skills.
There possess several barriers that create limitations for women to make a significant
contribution to the community. Most of the time, obligations from family creates barriers for
women to work in private sectors. The women working in private companies are given 40%
access to medium-to-long-term credit. Traditions based on what kind of work will be suitable for
women that leads to a gender division of labor in constructive work restricts the potential of
women to become successful. As mentioned by Akter, (2015), The similarity between the
reproductive and productive work done by the women makes their productive work
underestimated. Women face various internal restrictions that result from the socialization of
gender role that makes them lose their self-confidence. On the other hand, they are not allowed
to make kind of decisions related to organizational activities. As a result, interest in working
within the organization. In Bangladesh, the extent to which empowerment, alleviation, and
economic growth are attained is limited by several constraints. Such constraints intensely put an
impact on women due to unequal power relations among men and women, roles and
responsibilities assigned to women by society and society's perception of women (Hasan &
Almubarak, 2016). However, these restrictions lead to societal norms that affect women and are
institutionalized at the micro level because of differences in gender.
Women face difficulty in utilizing the organizational information due to the difficulties in
attending events and also because of their dual roles that lead to constraints. Mostly they lack
access to modern technologies that could help them in improving their productivity. The

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significant problem that hampers women entrepreneurship is market saturation based on lack of
innovation and lack of access to higher value markets. The household responsibilities of women
affect the empowerment level of women working in private firms. According to the survey
conducted by the Bangladesh Labour force, the involvement of men in the workforce is around
82.5%, whereas the participation of women is 36%. As stated by Brown & Hoque, (2016, April),
despite living in the 21st century, there is no difference in the ratio of the gap among women and
men in the workplace. Women face lots of difficulties in presenting their caliber and potential in
professional life.
Out of a hundred women, around 50% of women are enforced to leave their career in order to
balance their family life. In the urban areas of Bangladesh, the employment rate of women are
decreasing, while in rural areas, the employment rate is increasing. Women in Bangladesh
working in SME's are given low wage as compared to men even though they are more
hardworking, which makes them discouraged to engage in the workplace. Women empowerment
is also affected due to gender norm variables, household factors, individual factors, and
geographical factors. The figure provided below represents the major constraints faced by the
women in Bangladesh (Sultana, Mohanty & Miraglia, 2016). The key limitations faced by
women are lacks of required education and skills, workplace safety, lack of care burden and
transport facilities, lack of working hours, and shortage of women-friendly machines.
Figure: Major restrictions for women that affect empowerment level
(Source: Lwoga & Chigona, 2017)

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Moreover, it has been observed that the number of working women in Bangladesh in 2016-17
has been increased by 18.6 million from 16.2 million in 2012. As per the Global Gender Gap
Report, Bangladesh secured 47th position in 2017, among 144 countries. As a result, the concept
of women efforts and empowerment in this country has led to consistent progress in gender
equality. In the words of Alamgir, (2015), the factors such as global and national policy
strategies focus towards women advancement so that they can play an influential role in society
and also have control over their lives. Bangladesh determines women’s contribution as a
significant aspect in the path of women empowerment, which is an important driver in
transforming the status of the country from low-income to middle-income. In the FY19 budget,
women's advancement through access to societal protection, employment, labor market, health,
and education have been mainly prioritized.
Analysis
It has been analyzed that there possess several factors that affect women empowerment in
Bangladesh at private firms. As compared to the previous decade until now, women in
Bangladesh have to face various challenges in order to focus upon their career. The data based
on women empowerment in Bangladesh has been analyzed with the use of regression, mean,
standard deviation, and frequency analysis (Ahmed, 2017). The descriptive analysis stated the
fact that women participation in private companies is highly affected due to financial support
from institutions, qualified trainers and leaders, and business experience. From the regression
analysis, it has been observed that the factors affecting women empowerment are technological
factors, skills and knowledge factors, security factors, motivational factors, and administrative
and legal factors along with training program factors.
SR/No. Factors Strategies
1. Technological
factors
 Implementing technological innovations in the workplace
 Utilization of e-commerce affects engagement
 Availability of equipment, machine and modern technology
2. Skills and
Knowledge
factors
 Have an adequate idea about working in private firms
 Minimize and manage work

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 Hobbies and interest affects the engagement in the
workplace
3. Training and
programs
factors
 Utilizing the modern process of training
 Qualified trainers and leaders
 Sufficient and innovative materials for training methods
4. Administrativ
e and legal
factors
 Support from government bodies
 Have access to policymakers
5. Security
factors
 Security will be easier for the participation of women
 No involvement of armed conflict for women
6. Motivational
factors
 More voice and advocacy
 Encouragement from the top level management
Table: Descriptive analysis
The above table represents the factors that affect the involvement of women in Small and
Medium Enterprises sector. It has been noticed that according to the Gender Gap Index, the
participation of women in the workplace has increased significantly as compared to the past
decades (Newcombe & Ackom, 2017). It has also been analyzed that economy-wide ratios are
also accountable for the immobility of women employed in private firms. Moreover, the below
figure presents the alignment of women employees based on their skill structure.

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Agro and food processing business
Leather
Garments
Retail trade
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120%
Series 1
Series 1
Figure: Alignment of women employees based on their skill structure
Source: Self-constructed
It has also been analyzed that low level of technical knowledge results into limited involvement
of women in occupational training. The reason for this low level of participation is the mismatch
of academic attainment and skills, along with the shortage of appropriate training programs (Anis
& Kassim, 2016). Although the mismatch of skills possesses for both women as well as men,
still the problem of low involvement, inadequate occupational training and education are high for
women in comparison with men.
Concluding recommendations
It is highly recommended that women in Bangladesh must be provided with government
budgetary allocations to enhance large employment of women in private sectors. The
government must also implement labor law for women as well as it must strictly monitor
workplace safety. The women must be provided with relevant training, where the government
must offer fiscal incentives to private firms to develop training centers. Within the private
sectors, the government must also serve fiscal incentives to offer low-cost accommodations as
well as day care centers for women employees. It is significant for firms to create awareness
programs to enhance the participation of women employees in Bangladesh. The government
could provide support to private firms through cheap credit facilities, tax rebates, and many
more. It must introduce home-working and part-time schemes for women who seek post-
maternity and maternity leave.

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It is the responsibility of the firms to create a gender-friendly environment where it must enhance
greater engagement of women in tertiary and secondary education. The firms must concentrate
on providing women with essential skills at the initial stage. In order to deal with mismatch
skills, it is significant to align women with the actual demand of the market. Furthermore, in
order to create large-scale employment of women, it is required to overcome the weakness by
creating higher and new job productivity along with increased wages. There is also a requirement
to ensure women that they can overcome any challenges or obstacles regarding public insecurity,
harassment, and workplace safety.
Thus, the study helped in identifying the factors that affect women empowerment at private
companies in Bangladesh. The factors that are mentioned above restricts the women working
within the private firms. The study revealed the fact that such factors negatively affect women
from getting relevant opportunities related to their work. The descriptive analysis helped in
analyzing the factors and strategies that would help work women in Bangladesh. Moreover, it
has been observed that there has been a great improvement among women employees as
compared to the past decade. However, in the past decade, the percentage of women
empowerment has increased tremendously in Bangladesh.

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