A study in Malta has assessed the skills of so-called ‘inactive’ women. It aimed to understand what prevents inactive or unemployed women from participating in lifelong learning opportunities. The research found that 72% of inactive women were not involved in training or further education either due to lack of time or because they were simply not interested. The report states that more needs to be done to enhance the skills of inactive women to make them more employable.
About the study
A study commissioned by the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality (NCPE) and co-funded by the European Union (EU) has assessed the skills of ‘inactive’ women in Malta. The research was part of a broader project called Unlocking the Female Potential (ESF 3.47). The results of the Malta study were included in a report (3.54Mb PDF) published in early 2012.
The aim of study was to look at the barriers which hinder unemployed or so-called inactive women from furthering their training and education. It also assessed the skills required to take advantage of the job opportunities available and looked at what skills were lacking.
The study was based on face-to-face interviews with 603 inactive women were divided into two groups according to age (15–34 and 35–59 years-old). In addition, 604 computer-aided telephone interviews (CATI) were held with employers from different sectors of the economy who were asked questions about the skills needed in their businesses.
Main findings
Inactive women – education and skills
A large majority of inactive women (74%) have an Ordinary Level of education or lower, meaning they took exams at around 16 years-old. However, the qualifications of the younger cohort are better. For example only 8% of the respondents who are aged 35+ have an Advanced Level or equivalent vocational educational and training (VET) Diploma, but this increases to 22% in the younger age group. An Advanced Level or VET Diploma exam is normally taken at around 18 years-old, with a VET Diploma being roughly equivalent to passing three Advanced Level subjects.
When it comes to training, the vast majority of inactive females (72%) were not attending any training and only 8.5% were planning to do so. Lack of time was given by 47% of respondents as the main reason for inactive women not furthering their education or training. The survey showed 41% were not interested or motivated to complete any further education courses.
Only 22% of the inactive women were undergoing some form of training, though the majority of these (73%) were doing so on a full-time basis.
Health, social work and care work were identified as the most sought-after areas for potential employment.
Interestingly, the biggest cohort of inactive women (40%) had previously worked in the manufacturing sector.
A high percentage of respondents were bi-lingual; 60% indicated they were fluent in English, while 22% suggested that they were also proficient in Italian.
A sense of responsibility, good communication techniques and reliability were the three leading skills identified by inactive women as important. The report indicated ‘number crunching’, creativity and artistic skills were identified as the skills most lacking among the women.
Employers indicated that inactive women were generally good at teamwork, time management and customer handling skills. Employers said project management, negotiating and financial management skills were what let them down most.
Only 17% of the inactive women surveyed said that they possessed a specific technical skill and these differed according to age. For example, younger inactive women were more likely to have a skill related to the field of beauty, hairdressing, art, creativity, media and graphic design. Older women were more likely to have sewing and craft related skills. In both cohorts the top skills seem to be influenced by gendered choices.
Just over half the inactive women (52.6%) described their ability to use email as ‘good’ or ‘very good’, with a higher percentage (59.7%) able to use the internet. The number of respondents who said their knowledge of word processing packages was ‘good’ or ‘very good’ was slightly lower at 43.6%.
What employers want
When asked what would make the inactive women more employable, many employers suggested that previous job experience and the ability to work in a team would help. Honesty (50%), reliability and taking work seriously (49%) and courtesy and politeness (45%) also came high on the employers’ agenda. A high proportion of employers (45%) suggested that prospective employees would need to have specific technical skills to work in their business. Among the skills most highly sought-after by employers were ICT knowledge and mechanical and engineering skills.
Some employers said they faced greater problems finding people for certain low-skilled jobs than specialised or skilled positions. This was possibly due to the low pay and nature of the job which would tend to attract fewer applicants.
When considering the technical skills required by employers and those possessed by inactive women, a skills mismatch emerged to some extent. However, an encouraging 35% of employers suggested that most of their job vacancies were appropriate for inactive women. Jobs available included vacancies in the hospitality and public services sector. However, 38% of employers operating in real estate, construction and manufacturing were doubtful about the possibility of inactive women filling their vacancies. Further training in ICT and social skills were most recommended by employers to help inactive women back to work.
The majority of employers suggested that gender did not matter when it came to filling a vacancy. However, the study showed that 28% of employers – mostly those in the real estate, construction and in wholesale and retail sectors – indicated that gender played an important part in the choice of applicants. Male applicants seem to be preferred in jobs required physical strength, while women were typically chosen for jobs where there was direct contact with clients and work requiring good organisational skills.
Commentary
The study showed that the most sought-after jobs across Malta’s nine business sectors were largely roles that did not require highly specialised technical skills or high qualifications. This raises some hope for the large cohort of inactive women in Malta who may decide to look for work in the future. However, more can be done to increase the technical skills of inactive women in order to make them more employable.
Reference
NCPE (National Commission for the Promotion of Equality) (2012), Unlocking the female potential (3.54Mb PDF), NCPE, Valetta, Malta, pp. 55–21.
Anna Borg, Centre for Labour Studies