Choose the family or the career, you cannot have it all. It was a belief most women held few decades ago. Today everything has changed, or is it?
In the corporate world of Mongolia, women seem to be everywhere. Managers to staff, seminars to networking events you can see outnumbering women. Nevertheless, studies are telling us a different story. In the last decade women’s education attainment was mostly higher than men. Unfortunately, this does not automatically translate to women’s labor force participation. According to the latest available study of 2022, the women’s labor force participation rate in Mongolia was 51.5%, while men’s was significantly higher at 66.4%. Position wise, women also fall behind. From the total of 58,300 managerial positions, 23,300 – 40% were women, whereas male was 35,000 – 60%. Furthermore, gender-based salary gap is still persistent in Mongolia. According to the study, average hourly wage of male worker was 6,400 MNT, meanwhile women’s 5,100 MNT. All these numbers are indicating a disadvantaged career opportunity for female employees.
Women with small children further disadvantaged. There are very few remote and part-time positions available at the job market. Especially, with a promotion to a higher position, you have to show up at the office every day. These conditions leave women with small children with an option to start their own business.
The small and medium sized enterprise is dominated by women, making 68%. If we look closely, we can have more understanding of what type of businesses these women run. 75.2% of these women owned enterprises have no paid employees. Most women indicated that they take their family support in their business. Family members take part in the business in a form of helping with product sales, delivery, marketing and social network. It means online shops, bakery, sewing and handmade business sector is prevalent among women with small children.
Only one out of five women is a member of business support network or association. Female business owners with family caring obligations does not take part in such networks. They struggle between family obligations and the business. Lack of self-development affects the business development.
Women, who has no skills of sewing or make anything with hands, has a limited option of participation in the market. Consequently, women with small children even though they have a university degree finds themselves in much more disadvantaged place. If there were more options and support, women do not have to struggle between children and career. Essentially, family obligations do not have to mostly fall onto women’s shoulders. Unfortunately, this is an issue for most women not participating in the labor market.
Personally, as I have an experience working from home part-time with my former employer, while looking after my children, I can tell part-time work is the most suitable option for women with children to build their career. I have worked mostly from home, thus my occasional visit to our office always felt refreshing and delightful. It was pleasant to see my co-workers in person time to time. Also, I had an option to participate in all organizational activities including the retreats, trainings and a New Year party, which was uplifting. I felt less stressful, more productive and more importantly felt part of a society.
Recently, I have found a remote and part time job with Lambda Global, which is this work – an English writer. Platform based remote work feels different than the contracted part-time employee. Mostly, because I do not have co-workers, I am not an official member of the organization. Nonetheless, as everything has two sides, this remote work has its advantages. There are no strict deadlines and I can manage my time. I only have one specific clear task, which allows me to improve my writing skill day by day.
I know a start-up aiming to address the unemployment issue of mothers. Momade agency Mongolia allows mothers to work from home and provide services such as translation, social marketing, finance and human resources among others. This is a great initiative supporting mothers to build their career. We need more of these in Mongolia.
From Lambda Global, if we search for remote jobs, today there are only 12 job vacancies available. Only seven vacancies for part-time work. It is quite surprising to see such low number of remote and part-time jobs availability. As I have mentioned in my article “Prepare the bucket before the milk: Mongolia’s closing window on young talent” http://18.136.193.188/2026/04/26/prepare-the-bucket-before-the-milk-mongolias-closing-window-on-young-talent/ organizations should start changing the existing practices. It is my sincere hope that women with small children will have more opportunity to work part-time and still be able to build their career.
References:
1. Comparative study on international law and regulations for women business enterprises and study on current conditions in Mongolia, Ts. Norovdondog Phd et al, 2021.
2. Covid-19 impact assessment on micro and small-scale women business enterprises in Mongolia, National Committee on Gender Equality and Independent Research Institute of Mongolia,2021.
3. Labor Market Of Mongolia: Mid-Term Demand and Supply Forecasting Study Report, the Ministry Of Labour and Social Protection, Research Institute Of Labour And Social Protection, MMCG,2024.