ARGENTINA-LABOUR: Tough Times for Women Graduates.

By Marcela Valente Reprint | | Print |

Marcela Valente

BUENOS AIRES, Sep 5 1997 (IPS) - Since the 1980s more women than men have been graduating from Argentine universities and therein lies a problem that has yet to be solved. Discrimination in the job market-place means that the rate of unemployment is higher among women and, if they get a job, their salaries are lower.

A study conducted by sociologist Artemio Lopez revealed that in 1993 the University of Buenos Aires awarded 81 diplomas to men to for every 100 it gave to women.

The presence of women at institutions of higher education has been growing since the late 1970s, when there were about 100 female graduates for every 151 male graduates. The gap gradually increased and by the mid-1980s, women graduates surpassed the number of men finshing university.

Women form the majority of students at 19 of the country’s 29 universities, and their academic performance usually is better. Of the 33 students with the highest grades in the country, 23 are women, according to a list drawn up by the Minister of Education, Susana Decibe.

Higher education, however, does not always guarantee a secure transition into the work place – nor into positions of decision- making. Sociologist Cecilia Lipszyc says that studies among university graduates who are searching for jobs show the unemployment figure among women is 53 percent higher among the wpomen than the male graduates.

Official figures indicate that the overall rate of unemployment in Argentina increased 140.6 percent between 1991 and 1995. “But if one looks at the gender differences, one sees that among men the increase has been 135 percent, while for women it has been 159 percent.” Lipszyc says.

When it comes to breaking this down by age groups, among 25 to 39-year- olds – where the largest percentage of university graduates is concentrated – unemployment among women increased 220 percent during those years, compared to an increase of 135 percent for men in the same group.

“In general, we can assert that women have an equal or better level of education than men, but there are more unemployed women; and those who do have jobs have lower salaries. In some areas, such as technical and scientific jobs, women’s salaries are 50 percent lower than those of men,” Lipszyc says.

The culprit in Argentina, she says, is the infamous “glass ceiling”, which prevents women from reaching positions that are traditionally “male”, defined as all those which are not an extension of domestic functions of attending to the home and the children.

A study conducted by the National Institute for Public Administration demonstrated in 1991 that men could obtain a management position in public administration after one year of work, while women had to wait 12 years.

“The number of women in the economically active population has increased greatly, but their participation in that sector does not necessarily imply access to jobs, but rather to the ranks of the unemployed”, says Lipszyc. the expert.

In Argentina, women’s participation has been particularly important in education since the beginning of the century, explains the sociologist. “Women were needed to discipline the labor force at home, and therefore needed to be educated for that”, she notes.

Take the case of Rosa Martinez who received a degree in psychology six years ago. She has a three-year-old child and her husband works an average of 12 hours a day.

“I would like to take on some small jobs in order to gain experience, but I can only work for a few hours a day and on a limited schedule, with my mother’s help”, she said.

The career Rosa chose is considered to be quintessentially “female”. Eighty-one percent of psychology students are women. When they graduate, most get jobs seeing patients at hospitals without pay for several years, in some cases up to ten, “in order to keep learning.”

Lopez, author of a study titled “Women and the University” which analyzes the gender gap in education, reached a striking conclusion for those interested in this issue.

The sociologist notes that “if the university is a pivotal factor in forming leaders, the changes in the gender ratio among the student population and graduates will necessarily have an impact on the future composition of those eiltes”.

That hypothesis will have more chances of materializing if the increase in the number of graduates goes hand in hand with transformations in the labor market, as well as in the home, where Argentine women still await relief and are demanding justice.