By Dalia Acosta
HAVANA, Mar 8 2002 (IPS)

More and more Cuban women hold executive and management posts in the workplace, but they have to prove every day that they can do the job better than any man, say women’s groups and government officials.

Managing a factory, a hospital or a scientific research centre becomes complicated for women due to the demands of their male colleagues or subordinates, many of whom do not accept the authority of the female leader.

“They make life more difficult for us women who reach directive posts,” said Hortensia Cardoso, director of the Centre for Agricultural Research, outside the Cuban capital, on the eve of Mar 8, International Women’s Day.

A woman has to make three times the effort to achieve the same results as a man because she is subject to greater demands in both the labour and domestic spheres, Cardoso told IPS.

“Those of us who finally – and after much work – reach a managerial post find a scenario in which the male majority does not appreciate our talents or our unique problems,” she added.

If the male manager of a factory remains at the workplace until 10 p.m., a woman in the same position must show that she can do so also. Meetings scheduled outside the normal workday often extend into the late hours of the evening, when many women have family responsibilities awaiting them at home.

There is no room for women in executive or management posts to suffer menstrual discomfort or to deal with their children’s problems. Household and family duties must be set aside, in spite of the fact that few women seem to receive the support they need from the spouse in sharing tasks in these areas.

Maternity is another “problem” in the world of work. More than a few young women postpone having children for years, and in many cases completely give up on the idea of motherhood, because they do not want to risk losing a job or sacrifice opportunities for promotions.

If you are a woman, “you have to be so intelligent that everyone is left speechless when you say anything,” said Mariela Guzmán, a civil engineer.

Guzmán says she is content to be “an engineer and nothing more.” The management posts “only bring problems, meetings at all hours, and only a little more in wages. The government may try to motivate you with a free week at a hotel on the beach, but the rest of the time you have to give your life to your work.”

Women in directorial positions relate better with their subordinates and are seen as more understanding, flexible and organised than their male counterparts, according to several studies carried out in Cuba.

At the end of 2001, Cuban women held 33.5 percent of the management posts in the country, surpassing the goal of 30 percent established at the United Nations-sponsored Fourth World Conference on Women, in Beijing in 1995.

That portion, however, is still considered insufficient in a country like socialist-run Cuba, where women represent 44 percent of state employees and 66.4 percent of technicians and professionals.

While 51.6 percent of scientific researchers in Cuba are women, only 49 of the 199 research institutions in the country are headed by a female director, according to a report presented Feb 28 at a government seminar evaluating compliance with the Beijing objectives.

>From the moment the Fidel Castro government took power, following the victory of the Cuban Revolution on Jan 1, 1959, it has promoted gender equality, in the public and private spheres alike.

But 40 years on, the persistence of sexist stereotypes and women’s excessive burdens related to household and family continue to put the brakes on the promotion of women to managerial posts, according to sources at the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC).

Among the limitations that women confront, the organisation mentioned that they receive almost no support in performing domestic chores.

A meeting of the FMC National Committee concluded in late February that there is rarely a fair appreciation of the complexities involved for a woman to seek satisfaction in work, without abandoning her family and household responsibilities.

Cuban Vice-President Carlos Lage stated that “the entry of women into directorial posts is not only a question of justice and rights, but a means of fortifying the leadership apparatus” of the country.

Lage said the advances in women’s access to power are still insufficient and fail to keep up with the possibilities, or even with the apparent awareness of the problem.

The contradictions in the levels of women’s professional training, employment, and access to power in Cuba “begins to generate certain conflicts and implies that we are not taking best advantage of women’s potential,” according to Mayda Alvarez, an expert in gender issues.

Cuban women represent more than 60 percent of the country’s university graduates and are the majority in certain fields of science, which would suggest that they should have a greater presence in leadership, Alvarez said.

The choices involved, however, are not simple, as many Cuban women experience an ongoing internal conflict between the woman they would like to be and the model of femininity that they inherited from their mothers.

“When my husband arrives at home after work and asks me put on the water to heat for the bath, I feel like telling him to do it himself, but I always keep quiet and just do it,” says Juana Velásquez, a doctor.

Velásquez works several more hours outside the home each day than her husband does, and she contributes more to the household income. But “nothing in the world” would convince her to accept a managerial position at the hospital where she has worked for 10 years. “I don’t have time for that,” she says.

Excerpt: