Gender and Employment in Post-Independence Zimbabwe

Abstract

The study is premised on the basis that in the Zimbabwean labour market there is occupational discrimination among men and women. The labour market reveals that men and women are employed in different occupations, where women are concentrated in the administrative and clerical jobs, while men represent the executive . and managerial jobs. It is therefore necessary to understand the contemporary situation of the employment status historically, hence the study analyses the precolonial, colonial and post-colonial periods of Zimbabwean history. Although women have made considerable inroads into executive and managerial jobs, the rate is not convincing enough considering that women constitute more that 52% of the population. Women still do not have equal influence in political and decision-making bodies as well as in education. They continue to be marginalised in the economy and in the enjoyment of legal and human rights.