GLOBALISATION, EXPORT PROCESSING ZONE EMPLOYMENT AND WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT IN GHANA

ABSTRACT Globalization and the spread of export processing zones (EPZs) have resulted in the global drift of women into paid employment in this sector with marked implications for their empowerment across the world. Although Ghana has joined the tidal wave of establishing EPZs, the conditions under which women work in this sector and its implications on their empowerment are not well understood. This study was therefore conducted to assess the working conditions in Ghana’s EPZ and its influence on women’s empowerment in the economic, decision making, organisational and psychological dimensions. Adopting an interpretivist approach, the research was conducted with a sequential exploratory strategy. The first phase was the qualitative phase in which thirty women were selected from three free zones’ factories for in-depth interviews. Three focus group discussions; one for each factory was also conducted. The second phase was the quantitative phase in which findings from the qualitative phase were extended to a larger group of hundred and eighty-four women, who were proportionately sampled from the three selected factories for a survey. The study found out that although job loss in Ghana’s EPZ is rampant due to the lack of contractual agreement and other forces of globalisation, conditions of work such as salaries, working hours and occupational health and safety are generally better than the much known “sweatshop” conditions mostly found in other EPZs across the world. Women may also be experiencing empowerment especially in the economic dimension and in relation to decision making in their households which has improved their sense of self-worth and self-respect. However, lack of unionisation or its dormancy where it exists poses many challenges for women to press for better conditions of service. It is therefore important to address certain structural changes, especially on the working conditions for women in Ghana’s EPZs to ensure that they benefit fully from the empowering effects of their employment.