THE FEMALE LOCOMOTIVE DRIVER
Paradox or potential?


A Gender Study within TAZARA
by Mona Dahms and Naomi Katunzi

Funded by:
Swedish International Development Authority

Dar es Salaam
March 1992


Acknowledgment

This Gender Study would not have been possible without the dedicated efforts of a
number of people. The study was initiated by Tina Wahlgren, the previous WID Officer
at SIDA's Development Cooperation Office in Dar es Salaam. It was carried through to
implementation by the present WID Officer, Helena Altvall, assisted by two forceful
women in Tanzania Zambia Railway Authority: the Principal Personnel Officer Mrs.
Margareth P. Banyikwa and Lena Solvius from the GM:2 Project. Thanks go to these
women. A special thank you goes to our TAZARA Project Coordinator, Mrs. Margareth
P. Banyikwa, for assisting us in many ways: with documentary material, with financial
support and with her humorous and invaluable company during the field study.

Thanks go also to SIDA for funding the study, as well as to TAZARA management for
allowing us to perform the study within the Authority.

We would also like to thank our faithful Computer Assistant, Ms. Joyce Ndalichako,
without whom the analysis of the questionnaires would have been an extremely difficult
task.

The report is dedicated to all the women-and men-within TAZARA who gave us their
time and their confidence, with the expectation that this study might help change their
working conditions so that they may find personal satisfaction while working towards
the accomplishment of Authority objectives.


List of Abbreviations
ADM       Administration Department
AUD       Internal Audit
BEST      Basic Education Statistics in Tanzania
B.Sc.     Bachelor of Science
CE        Civil Engineering Department
CPI       Career Progress Index
C.PL.     Corporate Planning
DGM       Deputy General Manager
DSM       Dar es Salaam District
Fin       Finance And Accounting Department
GM        General Manager
GM:2      General Management 2 Project
HO        Head Office, Dar es Salaam
KSM       Kasama District
LSK       Lusaka Area Office
MBA       Mlimba District
MBY       Mbeya District
ME        Mechanical Engineering Department
MPK       Mpika District, Zambia Regional Office
NKM       New Kapiri Mposhi District
PERS      Personnel Department
PPTC      Post Primary Technical Center
RM        Regional Manager
RO        Regional Office
SIDA      Swedish International Development Authority
SFU       Safety Unit
SoS       Schemes of Service
SS        Salary Scale
SUPP      Supplies Department
TAZARA    Tanzania Zambia Railway Authority
TNZ       Tanzania Region
TRAF      Traffic Department
TTS       TAZARA Training School, Mpika
UN        United Nations
VT        Vocational Training
WID       Women in Development
ZMB       Zambia Region


Table of Contents                     

 
List of Figures.............................................iv

List of Tables...............................................v

Executive Summary...........................................vii

Part One: Introduction.......................................1
1.1 Background to the Study.............................1
1.2 Gender Equality.....................................2
1.3 Methodology.........................................2
1.4 Validity of the Study...............................3
1.5 A Guide to the Report...............................4

Part Two: A Presentation of TAZARA...........................5
2.1 Organizational Structure............................5
2.2 Staff Distribution..................................6
2.3 Regional Differences...............................10

Part Three: The Female Staff of TAZARA......................11
3.1 Distribution of Female Staff.......................11
3.2 Selected Life Stories..............................17
3.3 Gender Differences within TAZARA Staff.............23
3.4 Concluding Remarks.................................30

Part Four: Training and Human Resource Development..........31
4.1 Course Attendance..................................31
4.2 Opinions on TAZARA Training........................33
4.3 Staff Suggestions..................................38
4.4 Concluding Remarks.................................41

Part Five: Safety Considerations............................43
5.1 Safety of Operations...............................43
5.2 Security of Funds..................................45
5.3 Disciplinary Conduct...............................47
5.4 Concluding Remarks.................................48


Part Six: Barriers to Female Employment and Career Progress..49
6.1 Structural Barriers.................................49
6.2 Socio-cultural Barriers.............................55
6.3 The Barriers Become Effective.......................59
6.4 Concluding Remarks..................................61

Part Seven: Recommendations..................................63
7.1 The Female Dominated Areas..........................63
7.2 Non-Technical Areas.................................64
7.3 Technical Areas.....................................65
7.4 Women in General....................................67
7.5 Conclusion..........................................69

References.................................................. .70

List of Appendices...........................................71

Appendix A: Terms of Reference...............................73
Appendix B: Questionnaire....................................79
Appendix C: Lists of Interviewees............................89
Appendix D: Staff Distribution by Job Category...............95
Appendix E: Staff Distribution by Salary Scale..............101
Appendix F: Staff Distribution by Age(from GM:2)............103
Appendix G: Results from the Questionnaire Survey...........105

List of Figures

Figure 2.1. The Organizational Structure of TAZARA.............5
Figure 2.2. Distribution of TAZARA Staff by Regions............7
Figure 2.3. Distributions of TAZARA Staff by Job Category......8
Figure 2.4. Distributions of TAZARA Staff by Salary Scale......9
Figure 3.1. Distribution of Female TAZARA Staff by Regions....12
Figure 3.3. Distribution of Female TAZARA Staff by Salary Scale16
Figure 3.4. Age Distribution by Gender for a Sample of 45% of TAZARA
Staff....................................23
Figure 5.1. Number of Serious Accidents in TAZARA during the               Period
1976-1991................................44


List of Tables

Table 3.1 distribution of TAZARA Staff by Gender. job Category        and cadre........13
Table  3.2 Response to the Question:
Owhat is your highest level of academic 
qualifications?O ...........24
Table  3.3 career Progress Index for TAZARA Staff..............26
Table 3.4 Response to the Statement: "Women cannot manage technical
jobs"..................27
Table 3.5 Response  to  the  Statement : "Men are better at technical jobs than
women" ..............28
Table  3.6 Response  to the Statement : "Women are not good             
managers".................29
Table   4.1  Attendance at courses Sponsored by TAZARA .........32
Table   4.2  Response to the Question:
"How do you judge the training opportunities offered to you
by TAZARA?".........................33

Table   4.3  Response to the Question: ÒDo you find the attaining opportunities within
TAZARA are fairly and equally distributed among region, departments, sections and
units?Ó................34

Table   4.4  Response to the Question: "Do you find that training opportunities within
TAZARA are fairly and equally distributed among female and male staff?"...........37 

Table   4.5 Suggestions with regard to opening up more training               possibilities for
female staff.39

Table   4.6  Suggestions on Improving Career Progression for Female Staff. .................40

Table 5.1  Response to the Statement: "Women are more careful in  the job than
men"..............45

Table   5.2  Response to the Statement: "Women are more honest               than
menÓ.....................46

Table    5.3  Response to the Statement: "Women are a more reliable work force than
men"........47


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This report presents the findings from a gender study conducted within the Tanzania
zambia Railway authority, funded by the Swedish International development Authority.
The gender study is part of the GM:2 Project: Manpower Development Plan and
Training Facilities, under the Ten Year development Plan.

Aims and Objectives

The major aim of this study is to identify areas of improvement of facilities for better
utilization of female employees with a 
view to enhancing the performance of the Authority.

Objectives of the study are:
1.   To examine possible barriers to and opportunities for female 
employment and career progression.
2.   To formulate policies and recommend strategies for female 
employment.
3.   To suggest training and development opportunities and career
progression for female staff
4.   To analyze safety factors in the company from a gender point      
of view.  

Methodology and Limitations

Collection of data involved documentary analysis, a questionnaire survey and
interviews. the consultants are aware of a number of limitations consuming the validity
and reliability of the findings.the major ones being:(i) The sample size for the
questionnaire survey was 226 respondents out of a staff of approximately 7.000
employees, with a very fair representation of female employees b an
under-representation of lower cadre male employees. (ii) During the field study,
interviews in the Districts had to be conducted with acting junior staff due to the fact
that computer appreciation courses for the management staff were being conducted at
the same time.

Major Findings

Statistics based upon documentary analysis shows that there are very few women
working in TAZARA, they are concentrated in few, female dominated job categories and
very few senior managers are found among them. Geographically the women are
concentrated in Dar es Salaam.

Findings from the questionnaire survey indicate that on average the female employees
are younger, have higher academic qualifications and are given less career progress
possibilities than their male colleagues.

Most of the women interviewed have expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of career
progress and with the lack of training possibilities. Dissatisfaction with training
possibilities is also evident from the questionnaire survey. The lack of career progress
can be attributed to the in-service structure of promotion embedded in the Scheme of
Service for the secrearial cadre, to which almost half of the female staff belongs. The lack
of training possibilities can be attributed to the lack of training programs for this cadre.

Unfortunately, due to insufficient gender specific statistics on safety, security and
discipline, it has not been possible to perform an exact analysis of safety factors in the
company from a gender point of view. Thus, it can only be implied (based upon
opinions and views from other employees) that an increase in female employment might
increase safety and security.

Major Barriers

Barriers to female employment. career progression and job mobility may be structural or
socio-cultural or a combination of both. Structural barriers are caused by laid-down
regulations or structures internal or external to TAZARA. while the socio-cultural
barriers are caused by gender stereotyped attitudes concerning womenÍs and menÍs
roles in society, in the job market 
and in the home.

Structural Barriers

In the technical areas the main structural barrier to female TAZARA employment is a
lack of women with the required technical qualifications.

The major structural barrier within TAZARA  to female career progress lies in the
Schemes of Service for the female dominated cadres. These cadres, ie. the secretarial
cadre and the telephone operatorsÕ cadre, are give unfair treatment in terms of starting
salary as well as in terms of promotion possibilities.

Another barrier is that women do not want to work in the remote rural areas 
characteristic for most of the railway.

A barrier that seems to prevent promotion in a number of cases is that women-as Well
as other employees-lack knowledge about their possibilities for promotion, based upon
the Scheme of Service.


Socio-cultural Barriers

Traditionally, certain job categories are considered to be "for men only" and certain (but
far less and most often lower status) categories are considered to be "for women only."
"working on the railway" is very much seen as "men's work."

These traditional attitudes create psychological barriers in the individual girl or woman,
entrenching her in her "traditional" role as a woman and barring her away from a
technical education
and career.

The same attitudes also create psychological barriers in the male members of society,
among which are the men who constitute the TAZARA management. It is therefore to be
expected that part of the management is reluctant. if not resistant. to employ or promote
women in non-traditional areas. It is not a small task to attempt to change these
attitudes and it is to be appreciated that the TAZARA management has taken a first
step by initiating this gender study. A second step is to acknowledge the existence of the
barrier outlined and a third step would be to implement the recommendations that are
made herein.


Recommendations

The findings indicate that the average female employee is younger and has higher
academics qualifications than her male colleague. Further. the findings give reason to
believe that an increase in female employment might lead to increased safety and
security. Therefore, increased female employment and better utilization of present
female employees may lead to enhanced performance of that authority.

The recommendations are aimed at overcoming the barriers found in the study, It is not
within the powers of TAZARA to remove all the barriers, but it is possible - provided
that the will to do
so exists-to diminish the negative effects of may of these barriers.

The four groups of recommendations pertain to :

(a) The female dominated areas
(b) Non-technical areas
(c) Technical areas
(d) Women in general


1. The Female Dominated Areas

More than half of the female TAZARA employees are working in these job categories.
which are characterized by low status low salary, monotonous work and slow career
progress.

Major recommendations are:

(i) To organize and conduct special courses for secretaries and telephone operators
already working with TAZARA . With the aim of training them for enhancement of
skills, promotion and career change. In this way could be achieved a better utilization of
the majority of female  employees already working with TAZARA

(ii) To revise the Schemes of Service with a view to giving fair and equal treatment, in
terms of entry salary and promotion possibilities, to cadres requiring the same academic
qualifications for entry.

2. Non-Technical Areas

These job categories include the cadres in operational staff dealing with customers, as
well as cadres in the personnel, supplies and accounts departments, characteristic of
these cadres is that they are male dominated, although it is to be expected that there are
efficient female candidates with appropriate qualifications in the job market.

Major recommendations are:

(i) To introduce a policy of reserving a quota of of vacant positions for qualified women
to be filled by promotion from within or by external advertisement, until a certain target,
for example 30% women, has been reached.

(ii) To encourage women with appropriate  qualifications to apply for these jobs by
including an appropriate statement in job advertisements.

(iii)  To recruit women directly from Secondary Schools and Colleges and to train them
within TAZARA    

3. Technical Areas

These job categories are characterized by having very few women with appropriate
technical qualifications. Therefore affirmative action is required to attract the women 

Major recommendations are:

(i)  To introduce a policy of awarding extra points of merit to qualified female
applicants of technical jobs until a certain target, for example 20% women, is achieved.

(ii) To encourage women with appropriate technical qualifications to apply for technical
jobs by including an appropriate statement in job advertisements.

(iii)To recruit women directly from Technical Secondary Schools and Technical colleges
to the lower technical cadres and give them on-the-job training.

4. Women in General

The recommendations in this group are aimed at improving women's working conditions
in general. It is our belief that more women will be attracted to TAZARA only if the
present female employees are given decent working conditions.

The major recommendations are:

(i) To form women's groups at the workplaces, with the aim of self-conscientization and
enhancement of women's self awareness:TAZARA should provide facilities for such
groups and the women themselves should decide on the objectives of and activities in
the groups. Such groups have elsewhere proved to be invaluable in terms of raising
women's self-confidence and persistence.

(ii) To augment the awareness of management specifically, and male employees in
general, with regard to women's employment and career progress. The abovementioned
women's groups could be useful in this connection. It is important that not only the
female but also all male employees acknowledge the existence of barriers to female
employment and career progress. and that they appreciate the efforts required to
overcome such barriers.


Conclusion

In the above recommendations training stands out as a focal point. This training
obviously has to e part of the Authority's overall requirement for training and human
resource development.

It is the opinion of the consultants that a human resource development plan will help
alleviate many of the problems identified by this study. It is also therefore strongly
recommended that the Strategic (Wo) manpower Development Plan, proposed by the
GM-2 Project, be implemented soonest, with a view to utilizing all human resources
within the Authority as efficiently as possible.