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| Photo courtesy: Committee to Protect Journalists |
Despite its small
geographical size, Bangladesh boasts a large and diverse media landscape.
According to the latest government data, the country has 1,311 registered daily
newspapers, with 530 of them published in the capital city, Dhaka. The
government has issued licenses for 53 private television channels, as well as
28 FM and 32 community radio stations, along with more than 200 online news
portals. This expansion in the media sector has occurred particularly over the
past two decades. As a result, there has been significant growth in job
opportunities in the field. While there is no official database on the number
of journalists in Bangladesh, it can be assumed that thousands are now employed
in the industry. As an outsider, one will see that a lot of women are working
as journalists too. Their role is particularly “visible” on television screens.
However, a deeper look reveals the existence and reinforcement of the glass
ceiling phenomenon. There are invisible barriers and structural disparities
that prevent women journalists from advancing to senior positions. I find the
concept of tokenism from Rosabeth Kanter relevant to the media industry in
Bangladesh, where women are mostly treated as tokens. They are more visible
than their actual representation.
A recent study on Bangladesh's
media sector, conducted by the Management and Resources Development Initiative
(2023), reveals stark gender imbalances at various levels. Among the
organizations surveyed, women constitute only 13.58% of decision-makers across
the sector (p. 101). This figure becomes even more troubling in specific media
organizations. For instance, at Kaler Kantho, Samakal, and Channel
24, women hold zero decision-making positions (p. 102).
There are also gender-based
job placements seen in the media industry of Bangladesh. Women are mostly
employed for in-house jobs such as sub-editors, news presenters, etc. The practice
of employing women for field reporting is very low, though reporting is considered
the most challenging and rewarding job. The study found that women constitute
merely 5.72% of all reporters across the media landscape (p. 104). This creates
a pipeline problem—with so few women entering reporting, the pool for potential
advancement to senior positions remains limited. Even the women who are
recruited as reporters are often not assigned to important news beats. This
trend also reduces their potential for career advancement opportunities.
The research itself
reveals the existence of a glass ceiling by stating that "women
journalists have said, while mid-ranking women managers in television are
slowly rising, a glass ceiling is very much there" (p. 14). I have worked for
different media organizations in Bangladesh for more than two decades. I had the
opportunity to take part in a lot of recruitment processes for new journalists.
Through this experience, I myself observed the existence of invisible barriers
that prevent women from entering the profession and reaching top positions. Of course,
there are some cases where the women journalists themselves decline to take
more responsibility, but there are hidden reasons behind their decisions.
I think the glass
ceiling in newsrooms cannot be understood without considering Bangladesh's
broader social context. The country operates within a patriarchal system where traditionally
men have control and authority over women. This patriarchal mindset influences
media organizations, too. Women have to overcome various obstacles in the
family, society, and even in the workplace to move forward. Many of the
organizations still think that women are not capable of taking the challenging
role of leading newsrooms. Some of the management still believe that women
would not be able to take the workload of senior positions. However, they don’t
give emphasis on removing the structural barriers, such as a safe workplace for
long-hour duties, proper transportation, and adequate child-care opportunities.
The research notes that "women in journalism have the added obstacles of
unfriendly work environments and demands of traditional gender roles, which
prioritize their care work and family responsibilities more" (p. 51).
In papers, most media
organizations commit to ensuring gender equality. However, in reality, there is
very little reflection of this commitment. Based on my understanding of
tokenism, I can say that the media focuses on ensuring symbolic representation
of women, rather than ensuring real representation. According to Kanter, tokens
“experience heightened visibility, stereotyping, and isolation from others.
When they fail or make mistakes, they are seen as representative of the rest of
their group” (as cited in Wingfield, 2010, p. 252). For this intensive scrutiny,
many women journalists have to prove many more qualifications in journalism
than men. I have seen practices of giving women journalists the leadership of
the newsroom for a single day on Women’s day. I think this practice also
reflects the mentality of tokenism,
I think the media
organizations should change their mentality and approach and should focus on
equity rather than only equality. The competition and comparison should be fair
and equal. The male colleagues also need to change their mindsets. I think ensuring
more women in decision-making positions in the media will also help to change
the scenario. They will set examples and standards for other women colleagues. Creating
more inclusive television newsrooms is not just about gender equality—it's
about improving journalism itself by ensuring diverse voices and perspectives
in news production and decision-making. Only by dismantling the glass ceiling
can Bangladesh's television newsrooms truly serve the diverse society they aim
to inform.
References
Management and
Resources Development Initiative (MRDI). (2023). Gender equality
and media regulation study: Bangladesh (2nd ed.). Fojo Media
Institute, Linnaeus University.
Wingfield, A. H.
(2010). Are some emotions marked “whites only”? Racialized feeling rules in
professional workplaces. Social Problems, *57*(2), 251–268.
https://doi.org/10.1525/sp.2010.57.2.251
https://womenjournalistbd.com/about
I see the same glass-ceiling pattern in Bangladesh’s development sector. Many NGOs promote a 60% women / 40% men staff ratio, but most women are in junior posts. When manager or director jobs open, they often go to familiar faces inside the circle. The numbers look good, the power does not.
ReplyDeleteIn many foreign donor-funded projects the 60/40 split is written into the project design, so organisations hit the target on paper but keep senior roles unchanged. If the goal is fairness, make the steps visible. Post the job criteria in plain language. Share shortlists and who was selected, with two or three clear reasons. Use hiring panels from outside the unit, with women and men. Rotate who leads high-profile assignments and who represents the project at meetings. Pair mid-career women with a senior sponsor who can open real opportunities, not just give advice. Provide safe late-hour transport and childcare support where needed.
I totally agree with you Ibrahim, that the glass ceiling and tokenism are deeply rooted issues that continue to shape women’s experiences in the media industry. As a former journalist, I have personally witnessed how these dynamics play out in real life, where women are only deemed fit for on air personality jobs, broadcasting and reporting just because they are considered more visually appealing and are "women". Your discussion on Bangladesh’s media landscape effectively highlights how women’s visibility does not always translate into equal authority or representation.
ReplyDeleteThis situation reflects what we often see in other developing contexts where cultural expectations and institutional practices intersect to reinforce gender inequality. For example, in Nigeria, the media industry shows a similar contradiction, while women are only present as television anchors and reporters, only a few occupy editorial or leadership positions. Studies by Okunna (2015) and Nwabueze (2018) reveal that women journalists in Nigeria face systemic barriers such as gender stereotyping, lack of mentorship, and newsroom cultures that favor men for “hard news” and leadership assignments.
Thank you so much for sharing.
Thank you for sharing! Your article reminded me of the introduction chapter (Kochhar et al.) we read for last week in Women Work and Growth: Leveling the playing field.
ReplyDeleteMore specifically, it reminded me of the following quote: “...as of October 2015, in the United States the share of women among chief executive officers in Standard & Poor’s 500 companies was 4.4 percent.” In the US, we also see a gender gap in senior level jobs. I have not worked as a journalist, but I have experienced circumstances when I would be passed up for a supervisor or project lead position because of a perceived inability to do a job that would instead be assigned to male counterparts.
You made a very valid point regarding the number of women who are assigned to senior positions being dependent on the number of women who enter the field of reporting to begin with. In the chapter by Kochar et al. the authors listed the average labor gender gap percentages found around the world. West Asia and North Africa were listed at 53%, South Asia at 50%, Latin America and Caribbean at 26%, and
North America and sub-Saharan Africa at less than 13%. Though these are not specific to journalism reporting jobs, but rather the number of women who are in formal employment as a whole, the same logic still applies. The less women who join the workforce, the fewer number of women there would be in senior positions.
Like you said, there are more pressures on women because of the societal expectation that they complete reproductive labor and the lack of supportive structures or programs to make it possible or easier to work in a full time position (or senior position). Women are more likely to be fired, let go, or passed up on opportunities if they have children, whereas the same cannot generally be said for the fathers. Because women are deemed largely responsible for child care, if the children are sick or need to be driven somewhere for a school program, the woman is usually the one to take time out of their work life.
In class, we also talked about tokenism in the development agency industry. Development agencies would create WID offices and have one woman at the desk who had little resources or funding to accomplish much. The development agencies could say that they cared about women in development and figuratively gesture towards their WID offices, while still largely sidelining women.
From Rathgeber's “WID, WAD, GAD” article: " In the early 1980s, the [USAID] WID Office staff consisted of only five professionals, all female, in an agency that had an overwhelmingly male professional and female clerical staff...The WID Office had a weak power base as a result of its small staff allocation, a small budget that necessitated dependency on the budgets of other bureaus within the agency..."