This webinar was able to present knowledge that is very useful and informative. The webinar occurred at my most convenient time that’s why I find it less hassle and more enjoyable. It’s very special for me to work in my comfortable time since this webinar would have a big effect on my professional life and skills.
Promoting Gender and Equality in Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET)
ITECH Webinar Series (Day 2)
Topic 1: Why Office Administration is a Role Dominated by Women
This webinar tackles the reason behind the office administration role being dominated by women. We can see that whenever we visit an office, it is rare to see that an office has more men than women. Firstly, I want to define what an administrator is. Administrators devise short and long term plans that establish a clear set of goals and objectives. They aim to get the organization to where it wants to go. One of the reasons why administrative roles are dominated by women is because of tradition. This reason clearly talks about how we are used to seeing more women in office than men. Second reason is because of reverse sexism. Most employers bases their qualifications on gender and not on skills. They tend to filter out boys when the position is less physically tiring and offer them a labour workforce. That’s what is happening to women applying for a job that is not in the office setting. Last reason is because of candidates' beliefs. In my opinion, gender should not be too much of a requirement when it comes to job offering, it should be about the skill and output you can provide.
Topic 2: Women in Construction, Gender Equality in Engineering
This topic was all about having women in the construction setting. Gender equality should be promoted in engineering since we can see that there is a lack of women in construction. The gender issues present in the construction is the manifestation of gender bias where it includes, marginalization, stereotypes, violence against women, subordination, and multiple burdens. Marginalization was all about undervaluation of women, unequal pay for work for equal value, last to be hired but first to be fired, exacting sexual favors, and lesser access to and control over resources and benefits. The violence against women happens as psychological, emotional, physical, economic and sexual violence. Also, women have multiple burdens which include child rearing, house work, office work, and community work. On the other hand, gender stereotypes are also present and it is fixed, unquestioned beliefs and images we carry in the back of our minds about men and women. It is giving the duties depending on the gender because it makes you believe that if you’re a girl, you must only do duties that are normally and usually done by girls. Moreover, if you’re a boy, you must do duties that are usually done by boys. Because of this, women became discriminated against in labour or work. There is a shortage of women in civil and railway engineering. Employers are struggling to attract more women into what have traditionally been male-dominated fields. That’s why, it’s really necessary to have a gender-balanced workforce to improve diversity that will lead to company enhancement, improved workforce behavior, and better business outcomes.
Topic 3: Poise: A Gender Awareness & Development View in Engineering and Technology
This topic focuses generally on all genders. From the first two topics, it was all about men and women domination in the workplace. In this topic, its scope was larger and wider. Gender equality that includes other gender aside from male and female. The concept of gender and development refers to the development perspective and process that is empowering, equitable, sustainable, free from violence, respect in human rights, supporting self-determination and actualization of human potential. There are two concepts of equality that differ in a certain situation. First is conservative or formal equality. This equality focuses on giving things to everyone whatever their economic status, gender, or age. However, in progressive or substantive equality. This equality requires examining what people need and giving those people more of a certain thing if they really needed more of it. In our country, we know that women are the ones prone to sexual exploitation and harassment. That's why we lawmakers are creating laws that will protect women more from violence than men. We should know that there are no competitions in gender, that's why men are also given a privilege to have protection against violence because it’s also their human rights. However, we know that women are mostly the victims and with that women will need more protection right now so that the cases will be lessened and eventually, be stopped. In genders, especially the ones who are part of LGBT Community are the ones prone in discrimination and verbal abuse. We should learn to respect people's preferences and we will never be the right person to tell them that they are wrong because we are not that superior. We can’t dictate their life so instead of throwing hate on them, just support them and spread love. God hates no one, we should always remember that.
Being able to attend and participate in this webinar for free is such a big opportunity, however, since it’s live there are some connectivity issues I got troubled with. Due to this, I feel it was incomplete even though it was full of information. That’s why I asked for some clarifications and questions during the Q & A. On the other hand, this webinar contributed a lot of information to my prior knowledge. Whenever I sent the short evaluation provided, I felt fulfilled because I was able to remember and gain that knowledge for a short period of time. I can use this information to share it to anyone who’s been curious about why administrative roles are dominated by women, why there are few women in construction, why construction duties are dominated by men, and the gender equality. Because of the certificate provided at the end of the webinar, I can use it for my job applications to be able to convince HR managers that I’m very well disciplined and will be able to create a safe place for my coworkers.