GENDER DISPARITY IN LEADERSHIP: A CASE STUDY OF BELIZE BANKS

This journal by Philippa Sherlett Duncan has focused on gaining insights into the
underrepresentation of women leadership positions in Belize banks and opt to answer the
question “Why are there so few women in a leadership position in Belize banks?. With the rise of
globalization, banks in Belize were struggling to compete with the global standards and practices
similar to the degree as with the world’s top financial institutions. Their one of many solutions
that they have geared towards is the promotion of employees as a leader that will acquire
knowledge and perspectives on identifying risks and employing resources efficiently in an
evolving, complex global environment (Duncan, 2017). However, with this crisis in mind, less
than 10% of employees with leadership positions are female.

In violation of the equal rights on employees to men and women stated in Section 16 of
the Constitution of Belize, women employees are neglected to the chance of promoting a
leadership position. This study has stated two reasons why such discrimination emerged. It draws
back to the time where they were colonized by Britain. Even then, women receive less income
than men in banks, which is a lady-like profession. Moreover, Belize is largely populated by a
Christian community, to the extent that priests have a position in their National Assembly.
Priests have stated that naturally, men are more superior to females who are only for childbearing
and not for leadership. Insights into the political and religious history show that the selection of
more men than women is not a new practice.

As with employment here in the Philippines, the estimated proportion of women’s annual
earnings to men’s annual earnings stands at less than 60% (Asian Development Bank, 2013).
Even with the Labor Code that governs the discrimination against women in the workforce stated
that it is unlawful for an employer to deny any woman the employment benefits provided under
our laws by reason of her sex, gender discrimination in the workplace is prominent here in the
Philippines. Having said that, the House of Representative recently approved in 2018 the HB
6769 that includes penalties against discriminatory acts against women. Violators are said to be
fined from PHP50,000 to PHP200,000 or be given a prison term of at least three months but not
more than three years, or both, at the discretion of the court (Philippine News Agency, 2018).