WORKPLACE EQUALITY


engineering, finance, manufacturing, aviation, and IT. It’s also important to mention that male dominated fields have a higher earning potential, even if women within them still earn less. Unfortunately, women who do choose


to pursue a career within these fields are often faced with considerable challenges. These include pervasive stereotypes about their abilities and skills, higher stress and anxiety compared to women working in different fields, and lack of career advancement opportunities. So while women in STEM fields have been blazing the way for other female professionals, there is still a long way before women are welcomed to the top positions in many industries.


Gender bias and discrimination in interviews Unfortunately, inherent gender bias is exhibited by both male and female hiring managers, who have been found 1.5 times more likely to hire a male over a female candidate that are equal-performing candidates.


Whether these prejudiced behaviours


are subconscious or intentional does not matter as, either way, they can stand in the way of a woman getting hired for a job she is evidently qualified for.


What we can do? What can leaders do? Table 1 illustrates a few of the challenges women face in the workplace. In detail, although women comprise half of the world’s workforce, participation rates in some sectors are considerably skewed. For example, health care and social services have a high percentage of women, with around 77 per cent. In stark contrast, women in male dominated sectors represent only about 12 per cent of the total workforce. With such a small proportion of


women, it makes sense that women who perform managerial roles in male-


While women in STEM fields have been blazing the way for other female professionals, there is still a long way before women are welcomed to the top positions in many industries


32


Respondents experiencing burnout, stress, or exhaustion, by gender


Overall 50 40 30 20 10 0


l Burned out l Chronically stressed l Exhausted Senior leaders Managers 50 40 30 20 10 Men Women Men Women Question: In the last few months, which of the following have you felt consistently at work? Figure 3. Burnout, stress and exhaustion continue to affect women more than men.


dominated workplaces may face unique challenges.


In these sectors, they may find policies that either do not support women in the workplace or actively exclude them. For example, some women reported not having changing rooms available to them (where men in the same team or location had ample space assigned). When women work in non-traditional


roles, it is still seen as something of a novelty. Because of this, many women feel there is a lack of social, emotional, and work support available to them. The underlying assumptions surrounding gender roles have had a negative effect on organisational culture, putting females at a disadvantage.


Toolkit for women facing challenges in management roles Having practical strategies can be helpful for women when faced with discrimination or resistance in the workplace. l Vary between feminine or masculine skill sets or attributes as needed.


l Work with a mentor in the industry. l Focus on the positive elements of the job instead of dwelling on the negative.


l Speak up about discriminatory hiring or promotion practices.


l Call for recruiting practices that actively encourage women to apply.


l Support fellow women in the workplace.


According to a recent report, women also tend to focus on the challenging and engaging nature of the work. By dedicating themselves to the job at hand, they were able to let the politics go as they became accustomed to their role. Recognition and success were also


critical to women’s perseverance. While this does not always have to be official, small things like having male colleagues nominate them as safety representatives or coming to them for advice can make a huge difference to women’s work


satisfaction and effectiveness in male- dominated industries. In Italy, a new Law 162/2021 has


recently come into force, enacted to promote the certification of gender equality and lead companies towards concrete policies and measures aimed at reducing the gender gap with respect to growth opportunities, wage and job equality, policies for the management of gender differences, and the protection of motherhood. In order to access all the advantages (tax, participation in tenders, etc.) provided for by the provisions, companies may request accredited certification of the management system for gender equality according to the Reference Practice UNI/PdR 125: 2022 from accredited bodies from Accredia.


Change ahead? Another emerging factor that neuroscience has confirmed is the genetic difference in the attitudes of men and women, due to the different brain development that tends to be complementary.


In the typically male-dominated and


traditional world of finance, for example, the process of accepting the unsustainable dominance of the male brain in management teams has begun and is already giving its first results: some asset allocation managers specifically require female fund managers or investment teams made up of women.


The pandemic and workplace The pandemic continues to take a toll on employees, and especially women. Women are even more burned out now than they were two years ago, and burnout is escalating much faster among women than among men. Additionally, four in ten women have considered leaving their company or switching jobs – and high employee turnover in recent months suggests that many of them are doing just that (see Fig 3).


IFHE DIGEST 2023 Men Women 0


Source: Women in the workplace 2021; LeanIn.Org and McKinsey 2021


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97