Gender differences in the allocation of tasks and decent work in the food and beverage industry in Lagos, Nigeria

Abstract

Gender differences in workplace have become a universal phenomenon. Some jobs are designated as men’s and women’s jobs called sex-typing. Also, some jobs and occupations are seen as gender neutral. Several studies have been carried out by scholars on gender differences in work environments, but only few of these studies have related gender differences and decent work in the workplace. It is against this backdrop that this study examines gender differences in the allocations of tasks in the food and beverage industry in Lagos State. The study was anchored on the cultural belief and social relational context of gender. Questionnaires were administered to 550 respondents through multi-stage sampling technique and four organisations were purposively selected (Food X and Food Y; Beverage L and Beverage M). A structured questionnaire was used to elicit information on the socio-economic characteristics, gender participation in allocation of tasks, gender involvement in union activities and indices of decent work. Data collected was analyzed through simple percentage and frequency distribution. For the qualitative aspect, 16 In-depth interviews were conducted with purposively selected female workers, male workers, management staff and Union leaders. The qualitative data was content analysed and summarized ethnographically. The study found that the percentage of male workers in professional, technical and managerial cadres were far more than the female workers in the industry. Also, religious beliefs, technicality of the tasks, lukewarm attitude are some of the reasons for differences in task in the industry. Furthermore, the study found some low indices of decent work in the area of employment opportunities for women participation in technical and engineering, disparity in wages and salaries among others. The study therefore recommends that women participation rates and allocation of tasks in workplace should be increased and gender ceiling should be minimized to bring about equality in work environments.

Keywords: Gender, Allocation of tasks, Workplace, Food and Beverage Industry