Health, Women's Work, and Industrialization - Center for Gender in ...

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By 1974, approximately 103 off-shore assembly plants were established by
U.S. semiconductor companies; all of these operations employed large numbers
of women. The size of the electronics industry is impressive, as shown in
Table 3.
Compared to both women's proportion in the general population and their
employment in the manufacturi ng sector, the concentrati on of women in the
electronics industry (all branches) is disproportionately high, as seen in
Table 4.
The concentration of women in electronics is no mere coincidence, since
the presence of a 1 arge, low-wage, female 1 abor force is a well-documented
reason for corporate locational decisions to invest in Asia. A variety of
reasons is gi ven by company management and researchers for the preference
for female labor (Grossman 1978; UNIDO 1980; Froebel et al. 1980; Eisold
1982; El son and Pearson 1981; Lim 1978b). These can be grouped as (l)
physical characteristics, (2) social and cultural attitudes and behavior,
and (3) position in the labor market.
The most common explanation for concentration of women workers in
assembly work is that women have nimble fingers, agile hands, and keen
eyesight. They are considered to be more efficient and careful than men.
Their dextrous skills are believed to be derived from experience in
needl ework and other domestic chores; therefore they are consi dered well
suited for labor-intensive jobs that focus on fine detail.
Women are also preferred because they are considered to be more patient,
more cooperative, and more easily controlled than men. Indeed, the
socialization process for women in traditional and patriarchal societies
probably means that women, especi ally young women, are more respectful of
authority, more passive and obedient, and more malleable than men. They are
therefore considered well suited to monotonous and repetitive jobs.
In addition, the wages that women earn in less developed countries are
even lower than the prevailing wages for men (Lim 1983). Occupational
segregation by sex tends to be more rigid in less developed countries.
Because of strict sex-role stereotyping and lack of employment opportunities
for men, women have few opportunities for paid employment outside the
domestic setting. It is generally assumed that men are the primary
breadwi nners, and women work ei ther as suppl emental wage-earners or only
until marriage. Women are seen as lacking financial obligations and career
aspirations. They are therefore considered well suited to jobs that pay low
wages and that have minimum job advancement opportunities.
For these reasons the el ectroni cs compani es have sought out and hi red
women workers in Asia. Today, in most Asian countries, the electronics
industry accounts for a large proportion of the employment in manufacturing
as well as a substantial proportion of the female labor force.