Arcadia Ireland

To mark this celebration of Women all over the world and to highlight the Arcadia University commitment to addressing issues related to Race, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, I presented a virtual event last Friday evening. It focused on Irish Women in the Workforce and how their roles in society have changed over the years. I took a step back into 1930s Ireland where restrictions were so heavily imposed on women and barriers of participation to the workforce were put in place. 

Three pieces of legislation stand out. In 1925 the government introduced the Civil Service Regulation Bill which limited the right of women to sit for competitive examinations in the Civil Service. The 1932 marriage bar required women National School teachers to retire on marriage, a bar eventually extended to the entire Civil Service. They were in common use up until the 1970s, which means that there are women like my own mother still alive today who had first-hand experience of the Bar. In 1935 the government piloted the Conditions of Employment Bill that gave authority to limit the number of women employed in any given industry and limit the type of industries that could employ women.
These restrictions left women with very little disposable income, leaving men with key purchasing decisions and power in the family home. Thankfully the restrictions were lifted as we moved into the late 70s and early 80s.

In the1990s and early 2000s, coming into the Celtic Tiger Years, women's roles changed more. More women were better educated and now in senior roles in companies. Family sizes started to decline and women were also faced with new challenges in managing their "dual roles" of workplace participant and mother in the home. Childcare facilities began to grow and house prices began to rise which I suppose increased the need for two wages to come into the household. As we moved to the recession times, largely due to the construction industry folding up, women, in some families became the main breadwinners in the family. 

I visited some of the findings of a 2020 report carried out by the Irish National Women’s Council around women’s roles in Ireland during this COVID-19 pandemic. In this report one could really see the efforts that women had made and the additional responsibilities they had taken on to keep things afloat in the family during the Pandemic. This is ongoing of course but the report was carried out earlier into the first lockdown of 2020 when schools were all closed and people were faced with the challenge of working from home and fulfilling parental tasks 24-7.  Of course men played their parts too but the women interviewed felt that their roles were continuous and their significant others (usually men) were stepping in to "help out" from time to time. Interestingly in same sex couples, the work seemed more evenly distributed. 

It really was incredible and joyous to think about all of the changes that have taken place for women over the years but my efforts also let me see that women in Ireland are still challenged with things like the Gender Pay Gap or the fact that we are so underrepresented in the political system.

I hope that this is the continuation of many REDI events and that it will be something we can share with students when they return to Ireland. Happy International Women’s day to all!