Gender And EqualityAt The Workplace

By Luke Brincat,Gawdenzio Calleja,and Etienne Grech

An Introduction : The Work Situation In Malta • The survey carried out by Malta’s National Statistics Office (NSO) for the fourth quarter (October-December) 2007, shows that the number of the total employed increased to 155,868 persons thanks to more participation by female workers. This is 59.4% of the Maltese population at the time.

• This was distributed as 77.9% of all males being employed, while 40.5% of all females were employed. This means there was a gender gap of 37.4%.

• Unemployment stood at a total of 10,291 persons. This is the same as a year earlier (Oct.-Dec. 2006).

See pie chart for illustration of above information.

An Introduction : The Work Situation In Malta

Division of Malta's Labour Force (Oct - Dec 2007)

Males Employed32%

Females Inactive

33%

Females Employed

16%

Females Unemployed

1%

Males Unemployed

2%

Males Inactive16%

A Closer LookWe looked for information related to five specific occupations, using statistics collected in the year 2007 by the NSO :

440984 -U4325Drivers

8468388 -UKindergarten teachers

24371783654Nurses

2006212 -U1794Police

FemalesMalesTotal

SexOccupations

-U means that the figure is under-represented due to small sample

We could not find the necessary information about politicians because in Malta, most politicians have another job which is their main occupation.

Occupations

Male Female Total

No Euro No Lm No LM

Police 1794 13685(Lm5874.90)

212-U 12122Lm5204-U 2006 13520

(Lm5804.04)

Nurses 654 15251.25(Lm6547.36) 1783 14465

(Lm6209.75)2437 14676

(Lm6300.36)

Kindergarten teachers 8

12961(Lm5564)-U

817 11098(Lm4764.45)

825 11116(Lm4772.21)

Drivers 3461 11656(Lm5004.12)

65-U 10445(Lm4484)-U

3526 11634(Lm4994.54)

Police include the commissioner of the police, police inspectors superintendents, detectives and police officers

Nurses include nurses with and without degree, and midwifes

Kindergarten teacher include kindergarten teacher and kindergarten assistants

Drivers include motor vehicle drivers, bus drivers, taxi drivers, heavy truck and lorry drivers and other drivers

-U means that the figure is under-represented due to small sample.

Here are the earnings of each job being studied. (Note that average gross annual salary refers to the gross annual basic salary received by employees, i.e. excludes payments for overtime, allowances and bonuses)

Interview With A Male Police Officer

Q: What is your job in the police force?

A: I’m a police constable stationed at the mobile patrol squad (we are the ones called to the scene of dangerous situations).

Interview With A Male Police Officer

Q: Briefly describe your duties

A: My place of work is my vehicle and I patrol a specific area, working with an other officer as a partner. Our main target is to detect high profile crimes such as armed robberies, murder, theft, etc.

Interview With A Male Police Officer

Q: What qualities do you think you need to do your job?

A: One needs to be first and foremost tough. In addition, other good qualities are assertiveness, observation skills and knowledge of the criminal fraternity. Last but not least is to be smart in uniform.

Interview With A Male Police Officer

Q: How do you feel about a woman doing your job?

A: It is a really tough job for a woman. Presently there are no women in my squad. I believe that one can find women who are suitable for my job. Having women at our squad can be very helpful when dealing with female suspects.

Interview With A Male Police Officer

Q: Is there a place for women in the Maltese police force?

A: There are a lot of women in the police force but I believe that they should be given more beat duties (patrolling streets) in order to feel the reality of being an officer upholding the law in the streets.

Interview With A Female Police Officer

Q: What is your job in the police force?

A: I am a police sergeant working within the Maltese drugs squad.

Interview With A Female Police Officer

Q: Briefly describe your duties

A: My job is that of investigating cases where drugs are involved and have to question both victims and traffickers.

Interview With A Female Police Officer

Q: What qualities do you think you need to do your job?

A: One of the most important qualities is to be ready to meet different people from different backgrounds and with very difficult lifestyles. It is also very important to manage one’s feelings especially when dealing with emotional problems and challenging ones.

Interview With A Female Police Officer

Q: How do you feel about a man doing your job?

A: Well, I think that a woman can remain more calm when dealing with a tense situation. On the other hand the male image in this job can be very intimidating especially towards the accused.

Interview With A Female Police Officer

Q: Is there a place for women in the Maltese police force?

A: I really think times have changed and today the female figure in the force plays an equally important role.

Thank you for your attention!