WOMEN IN PUBLIC SERVICE: A QUALITATIVE STUDY ON THE FACTORS OF MOTIVATION OF WOMEN ON THE THREE BRANCHES OF THE GOVERNMENT Joseph

Nikolai B. Chioco1 Gian Carlo E. Bumanlag2

1

Undergraduate student of the Department of Social Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, Central Luzon State University, Science City of Munoz, Nueva Ecija, Philippines
2

Faculty of the Department of Social Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, Central Luzon State University, Science City of Munoz, Nueva Ecija, Philippines Abstract This study was conducted to identify and describe the profile of the top women public servants in San Jose City, Nueva Ecija from executive, legislative, and judiciary branch of the government and their motivations in their pursuant of public office as well as its similarities and differences depending on their branch of government Mayor Marivic V. Belena, Councilor Glenda F. Macadangdang, and Executive Judge Cynthia M. Florendo were the participants of this case study who shared their experiences and their motivation. Elective public officials came from prominent political families in the locality that had been their linkage of entry into politics. It was found out that their personal ambition had been a factor of motivation in their entry to public service which can be traced back to their childhood. All of them have ambition for the community but only those from the executive and legislative can realize this ambition through their entry in public service. Their motivational factors are different from each other and so are their views on politics. However, their views on public service are just the same as they unanimously cited that the emergence of women in public service is an indicator of the development of gender equality. Moreover, they all agreed that the Philippine Society does not entirely offer equality between men and women. This finding had supported that a public servant does not necessarily be a politician but a politician is automatically a public servant. Moreover, it was found out that their political linkage is significant for their entry in public service and so are their personal ambitions. Keywords: Women, Public Service, Motivational Factors

INTRODUCTION Philippines had been one of the top countries which have the least gap on measurement of gender equality between male and female and the most Gender equality based on measurements which have concrete criteria on the computation and considers several factors. Asian cultures are notorious on their unfair treatment between men and women. This stereotyping by more liberal cultures from the west resulted on Chinas one-child policy or abortion of female fetus. Other traditions of Asian cultures are the elongation of the necks of their women or the suppression of foot growth or lotus feet among other cultures (Reuters, 2007, par. 4). However, Philippines is different on these other Eastern cultures as the Filipino society gives high regards on the women as the other half of population. In fact, global rankings of gender equality ranked the pearl of the orient first on Southeast Asia and 8th worldwide (WEF, 2012). Women emerge in politics not only through elections but through their hard work, intelligence, and education. In San Jose City, a peaceful second class city in the northern part of Nueva Ecija, was governed majorly by men. However, top government posts are occupied by women on Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Branch of the Government.

METHODOLOGY This research was conducted during the second semester of Academic Year 2012-2013. It used the qualitative method of research with the structure of a case study where the researcher investigated the motivational factors of women in the three branches of government namely the executive, legislative, and the judiciary through an in-depth interview. The participants were the top officials: City Mayor Marivic V. Belena, City Councilor Glenda F. Macadangdang, and Executive Judge Cynthia M. Florendo. They were chosen purposively and represented each branch of the government in San Jose City. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS The in-depth interviews with the three prominent women in the public service of San Jose City had revealed their personal profile and factors of motivation personally, economically, and socio-politically. Both of the elective public servants namely that City Mayor and the Councilor came from prominent political families in the locale of this study. On the other hand, the executive judge came from a poor family in Pangasinan. However, they were all highly educated and can be considered successful. Their ages range from 35 to 52 years old but they entered public service at different stages of their lives. All of them are mothers of very young children which mean that

they tend the needs of their children and that they take the role of a mother of a family. Their motivation in entering public service can be traced back during their childhood as it was reflected on their ambition as a child. Moreover, they also have ambition for their families which vary from the continuance of the servitude to the elevation from poverty. They also have ambitions for the community but not all of them can realize this through public service. They have differing views towards politics and public service but they unanimously agreed that it is an indicator of the development of gender equality in the Philippines, though the society has not yet embraced total equality between genders. They also said that women are capable of all the capabilities of men given the same resources and opportunities but they still acknowledge that there are more men who are better than women in public service. Economically, their entry in public service gave them less opportunity to earn as they receive a fixed monthly salary from the government and they took oath that they should avoid any conflicts of interest between their offices and their private businesses. Their views about the economic benefits of the government vary dependent on the social class of the family where they belong.

The peers, the community, and the political parties or the sense of political independence are factors of motivation for these women public servants. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION In the analysis of the data, the researcher concludes that political linkage is very significant on the factors of motivation of women to enter in politics. Their motivations include the satisfaction of their needs which can be found on Abraham Maslows Hierarchy of Needs and Steven Reiss 16 factors of motivation. Meanwhile, their motivational factors can also be analyzed as both intrinsic and extrinsic. It is recommended that the women in public service shall continue public offices as it elevates their status on the Philippine society. The researcher also recommends to the government of the Philippines to implement programs or conduct seminars to motivate the women in entering the public service. Recommendations are also made for the entirety of women in the Philippines that they shall continue their battle for gender equality through entry to public service. The researcher also specifically recommends the future researchers to further study about women. Another recommendation for them is to have a more structured research to allocate more time in the data gathering.

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