Analysis of Work Environment on Gender Placement in the Civil Service.A Survey of the Provincial Administration in Imenti North District in Meru County

Abstract

Although women make up half of the world's population and despite their achievement of equal citizenship status to men, they remain vastly under-represented in governance forums where women are 40%-50% of the labor force, they account for less than 8% of top managers. This has led to the "pipeline problem" with the proportion of women in senior roles stagnant and even decreasing. This study intended to look at the effect of work environment on gender placement in the civil service and the study objectives included, to determine the influence of affirmative action, Working Conditions, traditional culture values terms of employment on Gender Placement in Provincial Administration in Meru county and the neo-classical economics theory which applies the supply-demand framework to analyze the gender inequality in labor market outcomes did guide the study. The design of the study is a descriptive survey .The study was carried out in Imenti North district and the study sample was drawn from the five Divisions that comprise Imenti North District. The district is divided into five (5) divisions, twenty two (22) locations and fifty three (53) sub-locations. A total of five (5) District officers, seventy five (75) Chiefs and Assistant Chiefs were target population of the study. Stratified sampling design was used for the study. The researcher used both primary and secondary data collection methods. Primary data was collected by use of questionnaires. Both descriptive and inferential statistical analysis techniques was used. Data that was collected was sorted, classified and coded then tabulated for ease of analysis. The data was then summarized and categorized according to common themes. Data collected was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics and presented using frequency distribution tables, charts, and graphs. From the findings the researcher found that there was a significant relationship in affirmative action and working conditions towards gender placement in provincial administration in Meru County. Also the researcher found that traditional culture values and terms of employment had no significant relationship with gender placement in provincial administration in Meru County.