HTML last revised 14th June, 2004.This work offers a statistical analysis of the range and scope of women's involvement at the managerial level in the socio-economic and political life of Antigua and Barbuda. It has produced data which are in keeping with Caribbean trends: that the numbers of women involved in leadership and decision-making processes are small in comparison to men. In the United Nations Decade for Women (1976-1985), governments throughout the Caribbean and the rest of the world promised to actively seek to bring about a more equitable distribution of power and privilege in their countries. However, despite the establishment of a host of Women's Desks, Women's Divisions and academic Departments of Gender Studies in the UN Decade for Women gender inequalities are still glaring. Furthermore, the major aims of the 1996 United Nations Beijing Conference on Women to carry forward policies and plans to enhance the status of women have not been realized to any significant degree. It is true that for Antigua and Barbuda gains have been made in women's education and health. But this is nothing new. There has been steady improvement in these two critical areas for several decades before the UN Decade for Women started in 1976. However, in other areas, in particular the political life of the nation, women continue to be under represented at the highest levels. The Caribbean-wide trend of minimal participation by women in the governance of their countries is perhaps no where as clearly demonstrated as in Antigua and Barbuda.
The scope of the study covers three broad sectors: the public, the private and the professions. Within these sectors, data - aggregated by sex and level of attainment - are analyzed. The study makes use of the most recent data available from published and unpublished sources. This study will not review the various definitions of the terms "management" and "managers". The terms are used here to refer simply to those categories of persons who are responsible for making policy decisions at the highest level of organizations, both public and private. They also refer to those who are responsible for seeing that such policy decisions are carried out - the senior administrative personnel of organizations. For the purposes of this study, professionals such as doctors, lawyers, engineers and vendors are also regarded as "managers" since they are often responsible for formulating policies as well as engaging in administrative tasks at the highest levels.
A recent census was undertaken in Antigua and Barbuda in 2001 which puts the population of Antigua and Barbuda at 70,074 with 36,746 females and 33,328 males, a fairly even ratio of 1.1 to 1. However, the data are still in the process of being tabulated and analyzed. But the data from the 1991 population census are more complete, hence, throughout this paper statistics from the 1991 census are used to indicate relevant characteristics of the population. According to the 1991 census, the resident population of Antigua and Barbuda was estimated to be 63,896 persons, but the number of persons for whom completed data are available is only 59,355. Of this 59,355 tabulated population, 30,743 persons are female and 28,612 male - a ratio of 1.07 to 1 which is a relatively equitable distribution according to sex.
It is useful to provide some data on Barbuda as a separate entity. Barbuda is often subsumed under Antigua though it is a separate island with its own distinct character and its own distinct issues. Barbuda is a small island of just 62 square miles. This low-lying island is situated some 25 miles north of its sister island of Antigua. It is mainly a fishing community, although in recent years, with the establishment of two very exclusive hotels on the island, tourism has become a significant employer of labour. In the 1991 census, Barbuda had a population of approximately 1,241 persons: 572 or 46.1% females and 669 males or 53.9%. Ten years later, the 2001 census put the population of Barbuda at 1,417 - 669 females and 748 males, 47.2% and 52.8% respectively.
Of some relevance to an analysis of the involvement of women in management and decision-making processes in Antigua and Barbuda is status of their health. A healthy, long life gives some assurance that a person will be around long enough to advance through the system, if advancement is at all possible. In general, the health of Antiguan women is good by both Caribbean and international standards. The life expectancy at birth for females is currently about 78 years compared to that of males which is approximately 72 years (for the USA it is 80 for females and 77 for males). The maternal health of the nation's women is also very good. Only one maternal death was reported in 2002. For the three years previously, not a single woman had died in childbirth.
However, the incidence of HIV/AIDS in the country is cause for some alarm as the numbers of those affected are increasing steadily. The statistics on HIV/AIDS first began to be collected in 1985. In the period 1985 to September 2002, there were 401 notifications by persons that they had the virus. Of that total, 159 or 39.6% were women. The statistics as at June 2003 indicate that the number of notifications increased to 428. Of this total, 42% are women. Thus to date, fewer women have contracted the virus than men. However, when the statistics are broken down into age categories, the incidence of infection among females paints a grim picture of what the future is likely to hold for the health of women. Among persons in their late twenties (25-29), women outnumber men by a ratio of 35:28. The ratio is even higher in the lower age groups. For youths aged 15-19, the ratio of women to men is 15:1, "which means that teenage women are surpassing their men counterparts by a landslide" (AIDS Secretariat, 2003: 14). But generally-speaking, these statistics do not give a true picture of the incidence of HIV/AIDS in the country as persons are not compelled by law to notify health authorities if they are infected. It is believed that a significant number of persons go abroad to seek treatment.
Of even greater relevance to our study, however, is the level of higher education attained by women and men in the society.
Table 1: Population of Antigua and Barbuda by Post-Secondary Levels of Education and the Percentage Population at Each Level: By Gender, 1991 Census
| Male | Female | Total | M % | F % | % Total | |
| Post Secondary/Pre-University | 1,120 | 1,420 | 2,540 | 1.88 | 2.39 | 4.27 |
| University | 1,182 | 908 | 2,090 | 1.99 | 1.53 | 3.52 |
| Other | 193 | 201 | 394 | 0.32 | 0.34 | 0.66 |
| Not Stated | 544 | 528 | 1,072 | 0.92 | 0.88 | 1.80 |
| TOTAL | 28,612 | 30,743 | 59,355 | 48.20 | 51.80 | 100.00 |
Primary Source: 1991 Census, Department of Statistics, Government of Antigua and Barbuda
From Table 1 it can be seen that at the post-secondary/pre-university level of education, females predominate. This observation is also borne out by the enrolment figures at the Antigua State College (ASC) - the main tertiary institution which caters for students at this level. Students are admitted to do the Cambridge Advanced Level Examinations and more recently CAPE (the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations), both of which can be regarded as preparation for entry into university. At the ASC, the trend for many years has been that females greatly outnumber males in programmes that are directly relevant to university admission. In the 1991/1992 academic year, the proportion of female to male enrolment in the A-Level Department (CAPE had not started as yet) was 59.7% to 40.3% and in 2002/2003, it had risen to 65.5% to 34.5%. Thus, over the period, 1992 to 2003, female enrolment at the post-secondary/pre-university level surpassed that of males by a further 11.6%.
However, at the level of university education in Antigua and Barbuda, the 1991 census figures show that men outnumber women. (Refer to Table 1). Of the mere 3.52% of the population that had university education, 1.99% was male compared to 1.53% female. Thus, roughly, for every 4 males that had university education in 1991, there were only 3 females. This abrupt reversal in favour of males at university level is somewhat surprising. One would expect that post-secondary/pre-university education prepares persons for university level education. A possible explanation for the preponderance of males over females who have university education is that the census collected statistics on the resident population which included persons from other countries domiciled in Antigua and Barbuda.
Actual enrolment figures in all tertiary institutions in Antigua and Barbuda reveal that for at least a decade, more females pursue University level education than males. For instance at the Antigua State College, there is a Department of Undergraduate Studies which enrolls students in university level programmes of the University of the West Indies. In this department, the enrolment statistics show a preponderance of females over males. In 1997/1998, enrolment by sex was at par, but from then onward, males began to lose significant ground to females. In the year, 2002/2003 - a year when total enrolment had dropped sharply from what it was two years previously - females outnumber males over 4 to 1.
A similar trend of female dominance in enrolment figures can be observed at the University of the West Indies, School of Continuing Studies and in this institution, the disparity between the sexes is even greater. The overwhelming majority of the students enrolled in its academic and professional programmes are female. In the 1991/1992 academic year, 82% of the students enrolled in all such programmes were female and by 1995/1996, the percentage had increased to 93%. The enrolment figures for the current academic year 2003/2004 still exhibits this trend. Of the 191 students enrolled, only 20 are male. Thus, females continue to outnumber males by a ratio of almost 10:1. It is therefore very clear from the data that, at our local tertiary level institutions, more females than males are currently availing themselves of academic and professional training.
It is also useful to examine recent trends in the region as a whole. Enrolment statistics at the regional University, the University of the West Indies, indicate that for over a decade, it has trained more females than males. From as early as the 1990's, roughly 62% of all its graduates were female. Evidence indicates that this trend in female dominance in higher education is continuing and even escalating. In 1996/1997, of the total number of graduates from all three campuses, 63% were female and by 2000/2001 (the most recent year for which figures are available), the percentage of females graduates rose to 69% (UWI, Official Statistics, 2000/2001: 83-85). In that same year, UWI graduates from Antigua and Barbuda numbered 70 persons and of that total, 42 or 60% were female. Thus, unless such women opt not to enter the workforce (and there is no evidence to show that they choose not to work) there ought to be, today, an even larger cadre of women than men who can attain management positions.
The Government of Antigua and Barbuda is by far the single largest employer of labour in the nation. Of the 26,753 persons who in the 1991 census reported that they were employed, 7,346 or 27% were government employees. The distribution of government employees by sex is relatively even: 3,820 or 52% males to 3,526 or 48% females. However, when we look specifically at the Civil Service and distinguish between established and non-established workers, women have some advantage over men. In 1980, they occupied 52% of all established positions. In 1989, they had increased their dominance considerably to 64.8% and in 1993 (the most recent year for which the figures are disaggregated by sex), their percentage rose to 65.9%. All things being equal, this should have led to a concomitant dominance in managerial positions.
But until recently, women failed to achieve a proportional number of positions in the higher echelons of the Civil Service. In 1992, of the 14 positions in the highest category of the Civil Service, that of Permanent Secretary and its equivalents, only 5 or 36% were female. Women achieved parity with men in 1993 when there were 8 females and 8 males in the category. This parity was maintained for several years. However, currently in 2003, women have surpassed males as permanent secretaries. Of the 22 permanent secretaries, 12 or 55% are female. It must be reiterated, though, that at this level, even if the ratio were fifty/fifty according to sex, this ratio would not be consonant with the proportion of men and women employed in the Civil Service. In fairness to women, the ratio ought to be higher in their favour since they predominate numerically at the lower levels.
There are a number of Statutory Bodies and Corporations that are wholly owned by the Government of Antigua and Barbuda. Of the 19 Statutory Bodies and Corporations that existed in 1992, twelve of them, mostly the smaller ones had more women in their employ than men. By 2000, the number of such bodies had risen to 26 with 17 of them (again the smaller ones for the most part) having more female employees. But in total, there are far more men employed in these bodies than women because the larger ones are predominantly male. Of the total of 1460 persons employed in these institutions in 1992, 915 were male and 545 were female. These figures translate into 62.7% male and 37.3% female. By 1999, there was an increase of over 7% in the number of women employed in such organizations. However, in the year 2000, the latest for which data are available, they constituted only 44.8% of employees. They have yet to achieve parity with males.
The reason (or reasons) why there is such an overwhelming preponderance of men in the general staff of Government statutory bodies and corporations is not clear. One possible explanation is that many of these bodies are linked to professions that, traditionally, have been male-dominated. For instance, the Antigua Public Utilities Authority (APUA), the largest of all such Government bodies, employs mostly electricians, engineers and other technical staff. The number of males employed by the APUA in 1992 was 605 compared to 143 females - a ratio of just over 4:1. In 2000, the numbers of employees increased for both sexes: 652 males to 176 females. But for women, the increase is not particularly significant, a mere 2.3% over the eight year period. The proportion of male to female employees still remains high - 3.69:1.
The appointment of persons to boards of government statutory bodies and corporations can be regarded as bestowing managerial status on the members because such boards generally make policy decisions not only for their own organizations, but also for a wide range of other government institutions. In addition, membership confers a great deal of power and prestige as well as attracting quite decent levels of remuneration. When we examine the membership of women on such government boards, we see that women fare very badly. Women are even more under-represented at the board level than they are in the general body staff. In 1992, of the total of 93 appointed board members, only 12 were female - a mere 11.4%. By 1999, the percentage of women serving on such boards had increased to 22.1% and further to 23.4% in 2000. These figures point to some improvement in the position of women in decision-making processes of these Government bodies, but they still lag far behind men in this regard.
A more detailed examination of one such board - the Board of Education (1994), shows that of the nine appointees to this Board in 2000, six were male and three female. Currently in 2003, of the ten members, there are an even number of males and females - five each. But it is interesting to point out that the persons who have chaired this board since its inception in 1994 have all been male. This is so despite the fact that this board deals with issues relating to education and as shall be shown below, the teaching profession has been overwhelmingly female for decades.
Although there are a number of private schools operating at all levels of the educational system, the Government of Antigua and Barbuda is still the major institution undertaking the employment and training of teachers. (And accurate figures are not readily available for non-Government schools.) As is true for the region as a whole, women greatly outnumber men in the teaching profession. In the current school year 2003/2004, there are 458 teachers in Government primary schools (excluding Barbuda); of that total 401 or 87.6% are female. Women also outstrip men by far in the headship of schools at this level. Of the 37 principals, only four are male. Thus women outnumber men almost 10:1 in terms of the management of primary schools.
Barbuda has only one school, the Holy Trinity School, that houses both primary and secondary level students. The primary and secondary departments of the Holy Trinity School share teachers. The teaching profession in Barbuda is also mainly female. Of the 33 teachers, 21 or 64% are female. The current head, who is a Barbudan, is male. He is the first Barbudan to head the Holy Trinity School. All of the previous heads have been Antiguans.
It is useful to examine the teaching profession at the level of secondary schools to determine whether or not the preponderance of female teachers at this level also translates into dominance in managerial positions, that is, headship of schools. At the secondary level, the proportion of female to male teachers employed by the Government is not as great as it is at the primary level, but female teachers still predominate significantly. Of the 341 secondary teachers (excluding Barbuda) 236 are female and 105 male, a ratio of approximately 2.24:1. Principals number eight, five of whom are female, a ratio of 1.6:1. An obvious interpretation of the data is that in their appointment as heads of secondary schools, women still have an advantage over men. But considering that the teaching profession is still overwhelmingly female at this level, this perceived advantage is not proportional to their overall strength in numbers.
Currently in the academic year 2003/2004, of the four major institutions of higher learning in Antigua and Barbuda, namely, the UWI School of Continuing Studies (UWI), the Antigua State College (ASC), the Antigua Hospitality Training Institute (AHTI) and the Antigua and Barbuda Institute of Technology (ABIIT, recently established in 2000) three of them have female heads. The current head of the ASC is a female but the two previous heads were male.
It is pertinent to look at the Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda as it is as important arm of government. The involvement of females in the police force is very low, as is the case throughout the Caribbean. In 1980, the percentage of women actually employed in the force was only 9%. In 1994, it had crept up to 13% and currently in the year, 2003, it has reached the level of 14% - still extremely low.
Table 2: Rank of Females in the Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda for Selected Years
| Selected Years | 1980 | 1985 | 1994 | 2003 |
| Commissioner of Police | - | - | - | - |
| Ass. Commissioner of Police | - | - | - | 1 |
| Superintendent | - | - | - | - |
| Ass. Superintendent | - | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Inspector | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| Senior Sergeant | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Sergeant | 4 | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| Corporal | 7 | 12 | 13 | 11 |
| Constable | 20 | 20 | 36 | 69 |
| TOTAL | 33 | 40 | 58 | 94 |
Source: Unpublished Statistics. The Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda
Specifically, in relation to the question of how many women are in managerial positions, we see from Table 2 that in 1980, the highest ranking female officer was an Inspector. Five years later, only one attained the rank of Assistant Superintendent and nine years after that, there was still only one female Assistant Superintendent. This not is surprising since there were limits put on how high a female could go in the force. A female officer could only aspire to the rank of Superintendent. As the Police Establishment put it in one of their brochures:
Prior to mid 1998, the women establishment of the Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda was separate to the men. During this period, the highest rank that could be attained by a female was superintendent. This was changed and both establishments are now amalgamated; therefore, the opportunities are equal, and a female can now attain the rank of Commissioner of Police (Police Brochure, 2003).
In 1996, the force had one female Superintendent, but she has since retired. Presently, there is one female Assistant Superintendent and a female has at last risen to the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police. She currently heads the largest police station - the St John's Police Station. She is the first female police officer to hold this crucial poSt
The nation of Antigua and Barbuda does not have any army. It only has a Defence Force which started out as a volunteer force. Today, it is fully professional with a membership of trained soldiers. As with most, if not all armies in the world, the numbers of females serving in the military are usually far less than males. In the Defence Force of Antigua and Barbuda, there are 36 female soldiers out of a total of 233. Of the 36 females, only two, a mere 5.5% are of officer rank.
In the private sector, the tourism industry and related activities account for the largest percentage of the persons employed. Indeed, according to the 1991 census, the category of "Hotels and Restaurants" employed 4,662 persons or 17.4% of the total 26,753 employed persons. Again, as in the Public Service, women are to be found in greater numbers in the tourism industry than men: 2,658 women to 2,004 men; a percentage ratio of 57% to 43%. From Labour Department statistics published in 1996/1997 (the most recent year for which figures are available), the numbers are lower: a total of 2509 consisting of 1377 females and 1132 males: 54% female to 46% male. These Labour Department figures also show a preponderance of women in the industry.
However, from the statistics presented above, the decrease in numbers observed from 1991 to 1996/1997 does not necessarily reflect a reduction in the numbers of persons employed in this industry. It is likely that the category that the Census used in 1991 and that used by the Labour Department, though they bear the same title, "Hotels and Restaurants", might not include the same workers. But, as is well known, the majority of women employed in hotels and restaurants occupy mainly low status jobs such as housekeeping (maids, laundry workers and cooks). Some women are in front office jobs and personnel management, but their numbers are generally low.
The Antigua Hotel and Tourism Association (AHTA) reported that in 2003, there are approximately 52 hotels registered with the organization. Of that total, only five have female managers. Similarly, of the 34 restaurants that are registered, there are only 3 female managers, a mere 8.8% (Unpublished Statistics). These figures do not show any improvement on the situation seven years ago when this research was first conducted. The contrary is the case. In 1996, according to the AHTA, of the 39 hotels that were registered with the organization, 7 had females as General Managers - 12.8%. Of the approximate 106 hotels and restaurants that registered jointly, 17 or 16% had female managers (Unpublished Statistics).
When we examine the category "manager" (below that of General Manager) of various departments in hotels, the figures show the usual trend of very few females occupying these managerial positions. According to the 1991 census, of the 31 "Sales and Marketing Managers" reported to exist in the hotel industry, only 12 or 39% are female; of the 23 "Human Resource Directors", 9 or 40% are female and of the 13 "Head Chefs", only 2 are female - a mere 15%.
Similar statistics collected by the Labour Department for 1996/1997 paint the same picture of female under-representation in the managerial categories. Of the 86 persons listed variously as "Night Manager", "Food and Beverage Manager", "Guest Services Manager", only 23 were women - just 27%. The two "Laundry" and "Canteen Managers" were both women. All 11 of the "Restaurant Managers" listed were men. When we extend the managerial category to include assistant managers and persons performing supervisory roles as well, women still fare very badly. Of the total 271 persons assisting in management and supervision, only 129 are women - less than half of the total. Again, the figures indicate that women predominate in areas that are traditionally considered to be women's work: of the 19 "Housekeeping Supervisors", 17 were women. 10 of the 13 "Canteen Supervisors" were also female. Clearly, then, although women outnumber men in this industry that is critical to the economy of Antigua and Barbuda, their numbers at the level of management are still extremely low. It would be useful to find out whether the difference in the level of education between males and females in the tourism industry is significant and whether this is correlated with their level of employment. However, such an examination is beyond the scope of this present study.
Vending, particularly street vending, is an important activity in the informal sector of the economy of Antigua and Barbuda. The contribution of vendors to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is not known and many vendors fail to pay the taxes that are levied on businesses. Although vending does not require a high level of education, it makes use of entrepreneurial skills that are often developed to a high level of sophistication. Vendors can be considered to be "managers" who have to engage in complex decision-making processes from time to time.
Most of the vendors in the country are located in the city of St John's, but there are others who are located on beaches near the major hotels and at major historic sites. In April, 2000, the Government of Antigua and Barbuda undertook a total survey of vendors in the city of St John. Most of the information on vending in this study is drawn from this survey (Ministry of Planning, Tourism and Urban Renewal, Government of Antigua and Barbuda, 2000). The population of vendors in the city in April, 2000 was approximately 389 persons. Of that total, 364 persons, or 93.6%, responded to the survey. Vending is an activity that is dominated by women. Of the 364 vendors surveyed, 85.2 % were women. The overwhelming majority of the vendors, 80.4%, owned the business or stall. Only 17% ran the business on behalf of someone else.
"To work in a bank" has traditionally been a major aspiration of young women in Antigua. This is especially true for those who leave school with some CXC subjects and who do not intend to go on to University or College immediately. A bank job still carries a great deal of prestige in Antigua. By and large, women continue to predominate as tellers and clerks in banking institutions.
Table 3: Staff of Selected Commercial Banks in Antigua and Barbuda by Gender and Level of Employment for the year 2003
| Name of Bank | Employees | Supervisors | Middle | Senior Executives | ||||||||
| M | F | T | M | F | T | M | F | T | M | F | T | |
| A&B InveSt Bank | 26 | 60 | 86 | 08 | 24 | 32 | 02 | 06 | 08 | 08 | 03 | 11 |
| Bank of Antigua | 20 | 43 | 63 | 09 | 21 | 30 | 04 | 03 | 07 | 03 | 00 | 03 |
| Antigua Com. Bank | 46 | 78 | 124 | 10 | 06 | 16 | 04 | 05 | 09 | 04 | 05 | 09 |
| 1st Carib Int. Bank* | 16 | 47 | 63 | 05 | 20 | 25 | 02 | 04 | 06 | 03 | 03 | 06 |
| Royal Bank of Can. | 06 | 32 | 38 | 00 | 10 | 10 | 00 | 05 | 05 | 00 | 03 | 03 |
Source: Unpublished Statistics from the Commercial Banks, 2003 (Compiled by Osoba).
*This bank was the former Barclays Bank which underwent a merger in 2002.
Of the five banks listed in Table 3, all the General Managers or Chief Executive Officers except one are male. The sole female General Manager is at the Royal Bank of Canada which, over the years, has consistently had far more females than males at all levels of operation.
Table 4: Staff of the Antigua Commercial Bank by Level of Employment and Gender: 1996 and 2003
| 1996 | 2003 | ||||||||||
| M | % | F | % | T | M | % | F | % | T | ||
| Employees | 42 | 37 | 67 | 63 | 109 | 46 | 37 | 78 | 63 | 124 | |
| Supervisors | 08 | 42 | 11 | 58 | 19 | 06 | 38 | 10 | 62 | 16 | |
| Middle Managers | 04 | 44 | 05 | 56 | 09 | 05 | 56 | 04 | 44 | 09 | |
| Senior Executives/ Managers | 03 | 50 | 03 | 50 | 06 | 05 | 56 | 04 | 44 | 09 | |
Source: Unpublished Statistics, Antigua Commercial Bank
It is useful to examine in some detail the distribution of staff in a specific commercial bank - the Antigua Commercial Bank which is the largest commercial bank in the nation. Over the seven year period, 1996 to 2003, females continued to outnumber males both in the overall number of employees and at the supervisory level. The proportion of female to male employees in general, has remained constant. It was 63% female to 37% male in 1996 and this same proportion obtains in 2003. At the supervisory level, there has been a small proportional increase in the number of females. However, at the level of both middle managers and senior executive managers, there is now one male more than female in each category. The Manager of the bank - the chief executive - is male; the head of a subsidiary, the ACB Mortgage and Trust Company is also male and the Group General Manager is also male. Thus, males dominate in the higher echelons. Again, this points to the possibility that men are being favoured for promotion to the higher levels or if managers are recruited from outside, females fail to compete favourably with men. Another possibility exists, however: that the males who are employed in the higher echelons are more educated than the females.
For the reasons mentioned in the introduction, professional women are being treated as part of the cadre of managers. Going back to the Antigua and Barbuda census of 1991, under the listing "Professionals" there were 775 males to 625 females - 55% to 45%. When the categories of "Professionals" and "Technicians and Associate Professionals" are merged, the numbers yielded are 2207 males and 1955 females. This reduces to a slight extent the disparity between males and females: 53% males to 47% females.
There are more men than women in the legal profession in Antigua and Barbuda. This has been so from the time lawyers began practicing in the country. What is surprising is that this trend has continued up to the present, given the fact that in the region, more women are being trained as lawyers than men. Over the last decade or so, in the Faculty of Law at the University of the West Indies, from which most of the lawyers in Antigua and Barbuda graduated, the overwhelming majority of students have been female. In 2001/2001, 78.3% of graduates of the Law Faculty at Cave Hill were female. The sole graduate from Antigua and Barbuda was female (UWI, Official Statistics: 83-84).
In 1996, of the 66 members of the legal profession practicing in Antigua and Barbuda, there were twice as many male attorneys as females - 44 males to 22, a ratio of 2:1. Currently, there are 113 qualified lawyers in the country. Of that total, 48 or 42.8% are female. Thus in seven years, the ratio of males to females has decreased from 2:1 to 1.35:1, but females are still some way off in attaining parity of numbers with males.
Presently, in 2003, there are 26 Firms/ Partnerships/Associations of legal professionals registered in the state. Of this total, only six - a mere 23%, are headed by women. In 1996, the Antigua Bar Association elected its first female president. She was also the youngest ever president to occupy this distinguished position. She has since demitted the post and her successor is a male who is still the current president.
When we examine the Judiciary, there is some female representation, albeit very low. The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court serves the whole of the OECS and not Antigua only. In this, the highest judicial system in the region, women are still grossly under-represented. It was only in 1994 that two women judges were appointed for the first time to the 14-member body. At present, almost a decade since the first two were appointed, there are still only two female judges in the OECS. Of the three presiding magistrates who currently hold office in 2003, two are female, one of whom is the Chief Magistrate. The current Chief Magistrate is the first female in the history of Antigua and Barbuda to hold this position.
An interesting phenomenon in the area of the development of medical services in Antigua and Barbuda is that a significant proportion of the doctors, nurses and pharmacists working in the country are foreigners. Current estimates for 2003 put the number of doctors who reside and work in Antigua and Barbuda as 83 males and 20 females - four times as many males as females. Of the total of 103 doctors, 32 are Government employees - five females and 27 males. Some of these doctors who are employed by the Government are allowed to engage in private practice as well. A number of other doctors are registered to work in the nation, but some of them reside overseas and come to practice in Antigua from time to time. Others are engaged in studies overseas.
In the only privately-run Medical Centre, of the 18 consultants who are affiliated with it, only seven or 39% are female. The Centre is supervised by a Board comprised of seven members, some of whom are not medical doctors. Of the seven board members, three are women.
There are a number of prestigious management positions in the Medical Profession. Among these are the positions of Chief Medical Officer and Medical Superintendent in the Ministry of Health, Government of Antigua and Barbuda. The Chief Medical Officer is male; the Medical Superintendent - the highest management position at the Government-owned, Holberton Hospital, is also male. However, the Hospital Administrator at the above-named hospital is female and so is the current President of the Medical Association. The previous president was also a female. It is fair to surmise then, that females are fairly well represented in the top management positions in the field of medicine.
It is no surprise that the nursing profession in the nation is almost entirely female. This is the trend in the Caribbean as a whole, although Guyana has a sizeable number of male nurses. An outcome of this is that the management of the nursing profession is 100% female. At the state-owned government hospital, all of the Sisters in charge of the wards, as well as the Matron and Deputy Matron are female. All the Public Health Nurses who are in charge of the 27 Government-run Clinics and Health Centres in the various districts are female. Similarly, the Head Nurse at the only private medical centre mentioned above is female.
It is, perhaps, in the sphere of political life that women suffer the greatest discrimination in access to or appointment to managerial positions. To date, the nation state of Antigua and Barbuda has never had a woman as an elected Member of Parliament. In the General Elections in 1994, two women ran as independent candidates for the 17-member Lower House of Parliament but were unsuccessful. In the last General Elections in 1999, no woman was put forward as a candidate by either of the two major parties, neither did any run independently. Presently, with the next General Elections due is March at the very latest, there has been a move by the Directorate of Gender Affairs in the Ministry of Health and Social Improvement, as well as the Professional Organization of Women in Antigua and Barbuda (POWA) to encourage women to seek election to Parliament. To date, one of the two major political party has nominated two women to contest seats and the other party, one female. The glaring omission of women from the Lower House of Parliament since its inception is a blot on the development of parliamentary democracy in the nation of Antigua and Barbuda.
The Senate or Upper House consists of 16 nominated members. In 1996, only two of its members were female. In 2002, the number had increased to four. In late March, 2003, one more female senator was appointed which brings the total number of female senators to five. Currently, one holds the position of a Parliamentary Secretary attached to the Prime Minister's Office, with responsibility for Women's Affairs; another is the current General Secretary of one of the leading trade unions in the nation; a third female is the President of the Senate and the other two are ordinary members of the Senate. The current Speaker of the House is female, the first female Speaker in the history of the nation.
Yet women in Antigua and Barbuda have always been able and loyal party supporters. Indeed, the degree of loyalty of many of them borders on the fanatical. But though they give excellent support at the grass roots level and are regarded as great organizers of party rallies, meetings, fund-raising events and so on, their presence in the ruling structures of political parties is not as strong as it should be.
In Antigua and Barbuda, the two major political parties are closely linked to the two major trade unions. The Antigua Trades and Labour Union (AT&LU), the first trade union to be established in 1939, is affiliated with the Antigua Labour Party (ALP). The Antigua Workers Union (AWU) was affiliated with the now defunct Progressive Labour Movement (PLM). However, it has retained close ties with the successor of the PLM - the United Progressive Party (UPP).
As Faustina Ward-Osborne reports in her 1990 study of women in Antigua and Barbuda, in the period 1980-1989, no woman held any top position in either of the two trade unions although in 1985, one of them had a female treasurer (Ward-Osborne, 1991:13).
Today, women are still grossly under-represented in the Executives of the two trade unions. For the year 2003, of the 50 executive members of the two trade unions combined, only 14 are female. Of the 25 members of the executive of the AT&LU specifically, only seven are female and no female currently holds any top position such as President, Vice-President or Trustee. Similarly, the executive of the AWU is also overwhelmingly male. Of its 25 executive members, only seven are female but the 3rd Vice-President, the Treasurer and one Trustee are female.
The Antigua and Barbuda Union of Teachers is a powerful trade union. It has over 800 members and controls, to a high degree, the teaching profession. The current President and Vice-President as well as the General Secretary are all male. Of the 12-member executive, only two are female - the 2nd Vice-President and the Treasurer. However, the immediate past president was female. An interesting observation can be made. In 1996, women held more positions of power in this union. Of the 12-member executive then, 6 were female, including the President. Thus, today, it appears that women have lost ground in this union which has a large female membership, as is the teaching profession on the whole.
In its day-to-day affairs, Barbuda is governed by an eleven-member Council. All eleven members of the current Council are male. The Council has a number of committees which function like mini-ministries. Of the seven committees, only two have women as members. The Education and Training Committee has two women among its ten members and the Tourism Board has one female out of its eight members.
The Constitution of Antigua and Barbuda provides for one member of the Lower House of Parliament to be elected from Barbuda. Thus, for purposes of electoral representation, Barbuda functions as a single constituency. The Constitution also allows for one senator to be appointed from among the Barbudan people. No woman has ever been appointed as a Senator from Barbuda. The Member of Parliament elected from Barbuda and the Senator appointed from Barbuda both have the right to sit on the Council. The other nine members of the Barbuda Council are elected every four years. To date, only one woman has ever been elected to the Barbuda Council. She was elected in 1984 and did not serve her full term because she resigned from her seat over allegations that she had "crossed the carpet". In the elections to council that were held in April, 2003, no woman was put forward by any party.
The fact that women, to a large extent, "manage" their households (even in situations where there is a male head) is often overlooked in classic studies of management. But it is obvious that many women have to exercise managerial skills when they budget the financial resources of the household. They also have to juggle their time between the demands of the workplace and domestic responsibilities and as well as being good mates to the men in their lives.
In her 1990 study of households in Antigua and Barbuda, Ward-Osborne found that 58.5% of the households were headed by females. The 1991 census figures give a different picture. Only 42% of the households were said by respondents to have female heads. This disparity in figures can perhaps be explained by the tendency of some women to give the headship of households to men in situations where it might appear politic to do so. Women often do not wish to be seen to be in a dominant position vis-à-vis men; they sometimes defer to men as the main authority figures in their households even when, to all intents and purposes, they are the ones controlling all the crucial aspects of the management of their households. It is likely that Ward-Osborne conducted her research in a manner which elicited more frank responses from women than the responses they gave to the census enumerators.
The term "a glass ceiling" is used to refer to an invisible barrier that seems to exist which prevents persons from moving upwards into the higher echelons of management in specific organizations. In many cultures, there appears to be a limit beyond which women hardly ever progress upwards in the economic and socio-political life of their countries. How true is this for the women in Antigua and Barbuda?
In Antigua and Barbuda, there is no discrimination against women in terms of access to education. In general, there is no overt discrimination against them in terms of access to jobs. Indeed, generally-speaking, the Caribbean labour market has a relatively good record of equality of opportunity for the sexes.
Some of the statistics examined in this paper did point to the fact that women are fully represented at the lower levels of business, corporations, firms, the Public Service and so on. Indeed, in the Public Service and the Tourism Industry, for instance, they have more than their fair share of jobs. However, it has been clearly demonstrated that even where the sheer weight of their numbers should determine such, they are not in many instances adequately represented in higher managerial positions. This finding is particularly true of the spheres of political life and commercial banking - two areas where their contributions at the lower levels in terms of their numbers and participation far outweigh that of men.
In keeping with a worldwide trend, women are not to be found in large numbers in the police force. Therefore, the fact that they are hardly represented in the higher ranks of the officer cadre would not be particularly significant except that until recently, there was indeed "a glass ceiling" in the police force. There was no established position for female officers beyond the rank of Superintendent. As we have seen, this barrier was eliminated in 2003.
It was pointed out earlier on in this study that, except for the statistics on the size of the population by enumeration districts, no other figures are available from the census that was taken in 2001. Thus it is not yet possible to ascertain whether or not this latest census would show that women have made gains in the level of their education and employment in some key areas of the economy. It is clear that women continue to dominate the teaching profession at all levels. They still predominate in the lower echelons of the Public Service, but in terms of their numbers at the level of Permanent Secretary and its equivalents, their numbers are relatively the same as they were seven year ago.
In the political arena, there has been little or no substantive change for decades. There are still no women in Parliament. However, there has been an increasingly loud clamour for women to be more equitable represented in all aspects of political leadership. General Elections are due in March 2004. The Directorate of Gender Affairs, through a project called, "Women's Political Participation: Training in Governance and Democracy", funded by the Organization of American States in 2002, hosted a series of training workshops and other activities that highlighted the need for women to be partners in the governance of Antigua and Barbuda. These activities of the Directorate of Gender Affairs did change the political climate to some degree in that the women who attended the sessions called upon all political parties to field women candidates in the next General Elections. This clarion call has been echoed by various women's groups, chief among them, POWA - the Professional Organization of Women in Antigua and Barbuda. The members of POWA have used the media time and time again to advance the cause of women.
The UPP, the United Progressive Party, by February 2003, had nominated two women as candidates in two constituencies. The other major party, the ALP, the Antigua Labour Party, has fielded only one female candidate although several women lost at the primary round in at least three constituencies. The road ahead is a long one. Cultural attitudes are still resistant to the idea of women participating in politics at the highest levels. Aspiring women politicians say time and time again that the greatest barriers and stumbling-blocks to their progress come from women themselves (Osoba, 2002).
The question has to be asked: why do women fail to reach the top managerial positions in so many spheres of life? Ward-Osborne asked this very question in her 1990 study and came up with some tentative answers:
On the one hand, it seems that some of the barriers are based on the perception of women as persons who have to juggle work with other fixed responsibilities in the domestic sphere which may hinder their performance on the job. Also that women's availability for promotion and movement are dependent usually on their domestic arrangements.
On the other hand, some women seem to limit their expectations as a result of marriage, child bearing and child rearing. Further, common practice seems to determine that the domestic arrangements could be disrupted as a result of job changes and promotion of the male partner, but the same is not the expected practice for the female partner.
These approaches affect women in institutions such as banks, where promotion is often linked to the ability of the worker to take up overseas or other transfers which may remove them from the home. (Ward-Osborne, 1991:13).
Indeed, at the management workshop held in September 1996 to discuss the findings of the research on which this current study is based, the women presented the same arguments as Ward-Osborne as to why they often could not take up promotions. A female assistant manager of one of the commercial banks stated that she was offered a promotion to the position of manager in a branch in St Lucia but could not take the offer up because she knew her husband would not think of relocating to another country. All 75 female participants present at the workshop were of the opinion that women would move to enhance their husband's careers, but the reverse is hardly ever the case.
They also voiced the opinion that in some establishments, the top executives, generally male, are of the view "that men need promotion more than women because men have more financial responsibilities". Of course, in reality, this is not the case. Historically, in the plantation economies of the Caribbean, able-bodied women worked as long hours as able-bodied men in the sugar cane fields. After emancipation, women continued to contribute as much as men to their households and in many instances, women were the sole supporters of households. This is also true today. As we have seen, Ward-Osborne's study puts the number of female heads of households in Antigua and Barbuda in 1990 as 58.5%. It will be interesting to observe what figures the 2001 census reveal on the headship of households. These statistics are not yet available.
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© Ermina Osoba, 2004.
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