TALENT POOL
A Balancing Act
Elizabeth Moir explains why she is against gender-based generalisations
As a British educationist residing in Sri Lanka for the past 38 years, Elizabeth Moir was awarded an MBE for her far-reaching achievements in the field of education. She is the Head of Elizabeth Moir School.
She studied at Oxford University in the 1960s and recalls that at the time, there was one female to every five male undergraduates: “The competition for entry was fierce; and although women excelled in every field, we were not allowed as members of the Oxford Union.” “I should of course say from the outset that I come from an older generation and have had the opportunity to watch the developments in the battle for gender equality very closely for years. While on the one hand this battle is far from over, it is undeniable that we have come a long way,” Moir affirms.
“In 1961, two of my contemporaries – Rose Dugale and Jenny Grove – decided to do something about this; they gate-crashed an Oxford Union debate, wearing wigs and men’s clothing. They asked me to sit upstairs in the gallery with reporters from the Daily Mail. It was no surprise that the story made headline news the next morning!” she recalls.
That was the year in which women were finally admitted as full members. Today, 50 percent of the undergraduates at Oxford are women, she adds.
Moir is heartened to see how times have changed since then: “The young men and women of today run neck and neck, and I’m very much against gender-based generalisations! I find it is pretty evenly balanced between girls and boys for the top spots in class, and each student is an individual thinker.”
The renowned educationist believes that by making it difficult for women to sit at that table, you are reducing the talent pool available to you: “Without gender parity, up to 50 percent of the workforce is being neglected. This is a huge waste of talent. In general, the more diverse the representation, the more balanced and productive the outcome.”
She explains that “as an educator, I have spent almost my entire professional life in a field in which women dominate in terms of numbers. Today, 75 percent of teachers and more than 50 percent of school principals worldwide are female…”
This brings us to perhaps the greatest barrier women face in their professional careers – viz. childcare. Moir says: “It is after all, hard to have a level playing field until bringing up a child isn’t seen as predominantly the mother’s job.”
“Some fathers let their egos and societal pressure dictate that they cannot be stay-at-home dads, and share the responsibilities at home. This is changing and fathers are much more involved; but I feel husbands often see their jobs as more important than their wives’ or women as being naturally better parents. Neither of these stereotypical beliefs is true,” she emphasises.
Moir notes that at one time, teaching was viewed as one of the few ‘suitable’ careers for women but that is hardly the case today: “Instead, I’m inclined to suggest that education remains a popular field for women due to practical considerations. For example, teachers can align their daily schedules with those of their children and of course, they’re on holiday when their children are on holiday – both of these are tremendous advantages.”
She believes that if childcare is viewed as the biggest barrier to equality, workplaces should do more to support women in this regard with paid and generous paternity leave, longer paid maternity leave, and more flexibility to work from home for both parents.
Elizabeth Moir sums up: “I believe that the lessons learned from the pandemic will serve us well; after all, it has been proved that for many of us, it doesn’t matter where we work from as long as we do our jobs in a productive and responsible manner.”
