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Balancing Work and Family: Women in Bangladesh Civil Service

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Women in Governing Institutions in South Asia

Abstract

This article explores the reasons for continued low rates of participation of women in the BCS despite having favorable economic and social, as well as pro-women affirmative recruitment policies. The study finds that women face intra-bureaucratic structural and cultural constraints when they enter the BCS. At the same time, women bureaucrats face issues at home when they try to balance work and family roles. These two-prong constraints further discourage women to enter and progress in the BCS. Based on empirical research, this article identifies gender discrimination, sexual harassment, overwork, and behavior of male colleagues as major constraints in the work place. At the household level, they endure hostility in interpersonal relationships, arguments with husbands, and being blamed for children’s poor performance at school. In this situation, women bureaucrats adopt diverse strategies to balance work and family roles. This paper explores the scope and limits of these strategies.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Chittagong, Chittagong, Bangladesh

    Nishat Afroze Ahmed

  2. University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh

    Ferdous Jahan

Authors
  1. Nishat Afroze Ahmed
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  2. Ferdous Jahan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nishat Afroze Ahmed .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Chittagong, Chittagong, Bangladesh

    Nizam Ahmed

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Ahmed, N.A., Jahan, F. (2018). Balancing Work and Family: Women in Bangladesh Civil Service. In: Ahmed, N. (eds) Women in Governing Institutions in South Asia. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57475-2_8

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