Browsing by Author "Mongela, Consolata M.R."

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    Factors influencing women’s participation in skill upgrading programmes in Business oriented enterprises in Tanzania: the case of Pamba Engineering limited
    (University of Dar es Salaam, 1995) Mongela, Consolata M.R.
    The study investigated factors which influenced women's participation m skill upgrading programmes in business oriented enterprises. Three research questions with underlying assumptions guided the study. The research questions examined the extent of female workers enrolment, attendance and performance in programmes provided : meaningful participation was viewed by the study as the unity of the three variables. One private company in Mwanza Municipality, Tanzania mainland, was studied . The data were collected from two hundred and thirty six unsampled respondents , two purposively selected respondents and two randomly selected ones. Amongst the unsampled respondents, there were 34 female workers and 198 male workers of the company as well as four externally hired instructors. The purposively selected respondents were members of the company's top management responsible for the provision of workers' education, while the randomly selected ones were each a member of the National Workers' Education Council and the Workers' Education and Workers' Participation Division respectively. The main research findings revealed that although the company was not aware of the Prime-Minister's Directive on Workers' Education, it was keen on skill upgrading programmes for its workers such that there was a variety of The findings also showed that in-plant programmes were held within the company's premises, and workers were provided with lunch as well as transport to and from work or programme sessions held after working hours . Nevertheless , attendance of female participants was generally poor due to inconveniences in the allocation of time and duration . Finally, the study findings revealed that women's performance in skill upgrading programmes was low not only due to poor attendance but also due to other factors including gender biasness in the content of teaching/learning materials, gender insensitivity of teachers as well as both the male and female learners. In light of the findings and conclusions , the following recommendations, among others, were made: the policy on equal employment right should be strengthened and followed up alongside gender sensitization on the side of both employers and women in general; the Prime Minister's Directive should be enforced by enacting it as a law to ensure its implementation in all work places; the special department for working women's affairs in the Ministry of Labour and Youth Development should closely follow up training problems of female workers and organize gender sensitization programmes for trainers/workers' education officers and the general public. The latter could be done through mass education media