Women’s status in public administration in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Women in developing countries are more likely to experience challenges than other individuals in the course of their everyday life. There is a continued inequality and defenselessness of women in all sectors where women remain unrepresented and oppressed. The struggle for mainstreaming women in politics and public administration continues to be a challenge in many contemporary democracies. In the context of Sri Lanka, the representation of women in public administration is relatively high, however their advancement at the public sector remain challenged. Given this context, this study examines the challenges of female administrators who are in the top positions in the district secretariat level in Sri Lanka. For this qualitative study, 20 female respondents in addition to five male administrators in the Galle District were chosen to gather information on factors that hinder women’s status in the public sector in Sri Lanka. The findings of this sturdy uncover the fact that women in public sector in Sri Lanka experience challenges in balancing work and family. Also this study reveals that women have experienced severe workplace challenges than their male administrators who are considered as efficient and active to perform administrative tasks. Finally this study concludes that even though women have been experiencing challenges at their workplace and family life, still they remain active in the male dominated public sector.