BRAC strives for achieving gender equality through the empowerment of women and the transformation of gender relations within the organization and communities. This study was conducted to see the workplace environment of the organization offers to its staff from a gender perspective. It was a cross-sectional study designed to understand the perception of gender climate among the BRAC staff working in Bangladesh. The data was collected from November 2015 to July 2016. A total of 37,552 employees were involved in different stages of the official operations of BRAC and the data was collected from the representative sample. The study employed a complementary method of blending qualitative and quantitative approaches in relevance to the key intervening areas and objectives. A structured questionnaire was employed to collect quantitative data, and for qualitative data, in-depth interviews were applied. The BRAC’s efforts of offering an equal workplace to all staff regarding equal pay and capacity-building opportunity to ensure justice have been reflected in the findings of the study. On the other hand, the study revealed female respondents’ struggle to make their places in terms of respect, recognition and valuation within and outside the organization. In terms of sexual harassment, the study indicates that most of the respondents have no such experience at their workplace. The majority of the respondents reported having a positive relationship with their supervisors and senior colleagues. However, compared to their male counterparts, female respondents have a lower level of positive reflection on the issues of equal opportunity and professional development, salary, benefit, rewards and promotion. Moreover, although the majority of the respondents of both genders show positive expression about their workplace, the challenges they report regarding their workplace should be addressed to ensure a positive gender climate.
Authors: Ali, Rumana; Upoma, Raihana Azim; Begum, Hasne Ara; Khan, Ashrafuzzaman; Rafi, Mohammad; Samadder, Mrinmoy
Type: Monograph
Year: 2018
