Women as public servants in top ranking positions : a longitudinal study

Abstract

There is a perception that in Malta there are only a few women holding top ranking positions in the Public Service. This concept instigated me to research whether this is true or false. For this reason, I tried to find out whether in a span of ten years, from the year 2002 to 2012 there was an increase in women occupying positions within Scales 1 to 5. This research also strives to find out that if there was an increase, this was due to Malta forming part of the European Union or because of other factors. To this effect, I interviewed four top ranking female employees from various Government Departments. Respondents were asked questions on various aspects in relation to their work. They were also asked how the opportunity came about to occupy positions within the highest category of the salary scale structure. One of the respondents who come from the training and development field was also asked how training and development can help female public servants venture themselves up the bureaucracy ladder. It was found out that all four of them were not ambitious to reach their current position but it was circumstances which led them to this. It was also found out that basically, within the ten years under review, there has been an increase in women occupying a top-ranking position. By time this will continue to increase. This is due to the fact that women are now being given the same opportunities as men. Women can prove to be very competent in their work. Besides this, family friendly measures are attracting more women in the Public Service. Those who start in lower ranks can now hope that by time, those who venture can continue to climb the seniority ladder. In this way one could be able to reach the highest-ranking positions within the Public Service.