Stability, Career Opportunities and Experience

 These three interconnected elements of female empowerment are absent within

flower employment. Except for some qualified workers like accountants or agronomists,1

the flower industry does not take permanent workers. As has been reported, the work

timeframe average in flower industry is only 1.22 years (Chapter 6), and after that time

workers are dismissed. Women workers fired could only find jobs again in other flower

plantations for about two more times, provided that they are under the average age of 25

years old, which is another limit in the flower industry. In such a case, women could

work about four years more as flower workers. After that, it is not likely for them to find

a job any more in the flower industry and maybe in any kind of job.2 In these conditions,

it will be difficult to have career opportunities for women, and therefore, experience is

irrelevant in such a short working period.

 Without stability, career opportunities, or experience, the employment of women

is an ephemeral improvement, after which women will reinforce their pessimistic views

on gender relations.

Social Networks

 Women workers gain a social network based in the flower industry, and weaken the

traditional community based network. Although industry related social networks could

offer better entrepreneurial options, they are not necessarily stable or trustworthy as

community network. As Herrera (1999) and Korovkin (2000) concur, social

participation of female workers is weakened in the community when they become flower



1 For example, one of the interviewed people, Mr. Patricio Collahuaso, is an employee from Mulauco who
has worked at a flower plantation since 13 years ago. He is a flower technician.
2 According the World Fact Book 2003, unemployment in Ecuador is 7.7%, but underemployment is about
47%.