Abstract
Ghanaian civil service is a classic example of a gender pyramid where top positions tend to be occupied by men, while women (more than 50%) face gender discrimination. Gender stereotypes about women are a major barrier to womens career advancement in Ghanaian civil service. Based on a series of in-depth interviews with women in the Ghanaian public authorities, we identified the main problems women face in the Ghanaian civil service, such as patriarchal practices, gender discrimination, and harassment, including sexual harassment. Our study aims to show the practitioners why it is hardly possible to call public service a comfortable job for women in Ghana.
Highlights
The global processes of incorporating women into the labor market, including the civil service, are paying off
Our study shows that Ghanaian women working in public bodies have personal experience of patriarchy practices during all the period of working in the civil service
Landing a job in government agencies is associated with the influence of gender stereotypes and patriarchy, which reigns in Ghanaian society dramatically
Summary
The global processes of incorporating women into the labor market, including the civil service, are paying off. There is a trend towards the feminization of the civil service. There are more than 50% of Ghanaian civil servants are female. Despite the high numbers of females in the civil service, gender disparities and discrimination remain a critical phenomenon in Ghanian public administration. There is a “gender pyramid” in Ghanian public authorities when only a small proportion of women have access to the decision-making level
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