The Future of Gender Equality in the Workplace
Despite being unlawful for over 40 years, gender discrimination in the workplace continues to be a pressing issue. Gender discrimination comes in many forms, whether it’s sexual harassment, unfavourable treatment to working mothers, or even lack of gender representation in managerial positions.
Unsurprisingly, sexual harassment is the most common form of gender inequality experienced by women in thworkplace, with four in every ten women in the UK experiencing some form of unwanted sexual advances at work (CIPD, 2021). Unfortunately, most sexual harassment cases in the workplace, especially verbal, are often shrugged off as ‘jokes’ and swept under the carpet, leaving victims feeling defeated and unheard. Many women don’t report their experiences of sexual harassment in the workplace in fear of this reaction. Even more worryingly, in 2020, a survey of callers to Rights of Women’s Sexual Harassment at Work Advice Line found that 10% of victims who reported their experience of sexual harassment were either dismissed or threatened with a dismissal (E.W Group, 2020).
Following this finding, I decided to take it upon myself and find out if any of my fellow co-workers had experienced sexual harassment in the workplace, and if so, whether they reported it or not and what the outcome was.
Amy’s Story*
“I started my career in the banking industry which is a very male dominated environment so there was a lot of language used which was derogatory to women and any women within this sector was actively encouraged to flirt a little, show a bit of skin and you'll get more business - none of the men were told to do this! There is one instance that stands out to me though, I was 25 and at an event being hosted by one of the businesses top clients. While on my way to the bathroom I was grabbed by a Director and tried to make my excuses but he said "if you want us to keep working together, you better make it worth my while" - luckily, I am confident enough to get myself out of that situation but when I brought it up with my direct manager, I was told to "stop making a fuss, I should be flattered". I never felt like I was taken seriously within the financial services industry, and this is why I loved recruitment as everyone starts at the same level. You are rewarded based on your contribution and achievements rather than gender.”
This begs the question, is gender inequality more evident in certain sectors? Research shows this is most definitely the case when it comes to the gender pay gap. The gender pay gap among all employees was 15.5% in 2020 (ONS, 2020), however there was a distinct higher pay gap among certain industries such as the media and film industries. In 2017 research found that the highest-paid male and female actors revealed an average salary of $57.4 million for men and $21.8 million for women, meaning top female actors were earning 38% as much as the top male actors (Forbes, 2017). It was found that female Social Workers and Therapist professionals, experienced the smallest pay gap of between 0.6-3% (Glassdoor, 2019).
Another pressing means of inequality women face in the workplace is the lack of female representation in managerial and executive positions compared to non-executive roles, meaning that women are still underrepresented in operational roles, and therefore don’t have the day-to-day influence of decision-making roles in UK business.
Here at Hoop, we consider ourselves a female-led business with women accounting for 79% of all employees, and an impressive 67% of all managerial roles. We strongly believe in gender equality and do not tolerate any form of discrimination. To combat under-representation of women in managerial roles we partnered up with Chwarae Teg to enrol Lauren, our Nursing Divisional Manager in the Agile Nation2 Career Development Programme developed to improve the position of women working in the private or third/voluntary sector. Since she began the she has received two promotions, and now manages a team of consultants overseeing the recruitment of temporary and permanent qualified staff in both the public and private sector.
Employers now have a legal obligation to take precautionary steps to protect their female employees against discrimination and are legally liable if they fail to do so, however according to the Global Gender Gap Report 2020 it will take another 100 years to achieve gender equality based on the current rate of progress (S&P Global, 2020). If you’re an employer wondering what you can do to ensure your organisation is providing an equal environment for your employees, here’s a few recommendations on how to prevent discrimination:
- Externally and internally communicate that women are valued within your company. Does it reiterate that your company is a diverse community — inclusive of gender diversity? How many women are represented within your managerial and leadership positions? Do you offer flexible working for working mothers? Addressing all of these areas is a great way of conveying your company’s culture, values and beliefs.
- Implement progression programs to encourage women within your organisation to better their career development and apply for managerial and leadership roles within the business. You can find out more about the Agile Nation2 Career Development Programme in the sources below.
- Improve the work-life balance by adopting agile and flexible working options. Here at Hoop we accommodate part-time and remote working to work around your family commitments. Insurance company Zurich saw a 16% increase in women applying for jobs after it became the first firm in the UK to advertise all its vacancies with the options of ‘part-time’, ‘job-share’ or ‘flexible working’ (World Economic Forum, 2020). This not only benefits female employees, but also men who share these parental and family commitments.
It’s important to remember gender equality works both ways. Although statistically women face considerably more discrimination than men (Inequality.org, 2021), they are still far less likely to report sexual harassment out of fear of being mocked by their colleagues or having the case turned around on them and facing disciplinary or dismissal. This being said, research shows that in the past decade there has been a considerable rise of 15% in men reporting sexual harassment in the workplace (PLBSH, 2021). Could this mean we’re en-route to a more equal working environment for both men and women?
Sources
https://www.cipd.co.uk/news-views/viewpoint/gender-equality-work#gref
https://theewgroup.com/sexual-harassment-workplace/
https://www.glassdoor.com/blog/smallest-gender-pay-gaps/
https://ftsewomenleaders.com/latest-reports/
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/12/zurich-flexible-working-women-diversity/
https://inequality.org/facts/gender-inequality/
https://www.plbsh.com/yes-men-can-be-sexually-harassed-in-the-workplace/
*Names changed for anonymity purposes.
