Abstract:
Sri Lanka is no exception in relation to the impact of
globalization on peripheral countries. The society itself had to get
adjusted to changes required by globalization, such as letting go
the females as unskilled labourers to foreign countries, to newly
established garment factories, call centers etc. The need for
females to work was all the more prominent in the background
of thirty years of civil war where predominantly male armed
forces were engaged in battle fields. The education system in Sri
Lanka was such that more females entered tertiary level
education and became qualified to get employed at managerial
levels.
With the end of the three decade long civil war in year 2009, Sri
Lanka is entering into a new development Era. Hence present
economic trends in Sri Lanka will demand more female
employees for emerging opportunities.
Sri Lankan garment sector consists of a large proportion of
females, representing different levels of the organizational
hierarchy. Entry of females into industry calls for new conditions
of employment and addressing issues relating to diversity.
Within this backdrop this paper is written with the major
objective of analyzing the impact of gender roles on managerial
level female employees in Sri Lankan garment industry.
Gender roles’ as they are commonly known and which are the
foundations of ascribed roles for gender, affect the lives of men
and women around the globe. These impacts shape and reshape
different facets of their lives such as personal, work and social.
Qualitative approach was used as the main research method. The
study covers two Sri Lankan large scale private sector garment
organizations. Using theoretical sampling in-depth interviews
will be held with female and male managers.
Findings will enable to understand the gender role attitudes held
by female and male managers and the impact of such attitudes
on personal and work lives of female managers.
