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92% of Australian women believe they do not enjoy equal rights according to the results of a new study conducted by cosmetic company the Heat Group and UNIFEM Australia, the United Nations Development Fund for women.
Of the 500 women polled 41% flagged domestic commitments, lack of support in the home and the resulting inability to work longer hours and promote themselves professionally, as the major stumbling blocks to gender equality in Australia. Further, more than half reported feeling pressure to conform to traditional female roles within the home.
“Programs such as the Paid Parental Leave scheme may help to move these women from the home to the workplace with greater ease, however it also highlights other issues such as access to flexible hours, the wage gap and access to affordable child care are still key issues for women,” said Gillian Franklin, Managing Director of the Heat Group.
The poll also revealed that 41% of women felt they had been passed over for promotion because of their sex, a trend that is particularly evident amongst women over 40.
Kate O’Reilly, Board Member of UNIFEM Australia said “It simply does not make economic sense not to have equality in the workplace. Companies who support the full participation of women at all levels demonstrate stronger performance.”
Of the more than 500 women polled nationally, 69% said they wanted more measures to improve the current situation of women in Australia, supporting the view that despite progress being made in Australia, we still had a long way to go.
Source: Heat Group/UNIFEM Australia
I’ve seen unconscious gender bias in place on so many occasions that I see this as a much more important issue to tackle than glass ceilings. Why in talent and succession planning meetings do people leaders still discuss a woman’s marital status and whether she has kids (or is likely to have them) as an indication of her flight risk? (yes, it really does happen.) Why are men usually described by their people leaders in these discussions in terms of their competency attributes (the sorts of projects and work he’s undertaken of past), whereas a woman is described to those not familiar with her in terms of her physical attributes (what she looks like). Why do we still assume that leadership roles cannot be performed on flexible terms (when all the technology has long existed for work to be performed and monitored remotely and on flexible terms)? These are all examples of unconscious bias that I’ve seen in play time and time again. They perpetuate the stereotype that leaders are male, that their life revolves around their work and that the old way is the only way. We need to bring examples of bias and stereotypes out into the open and give women the confidence of knowing they’re not alone in experiencing these issues – this will give women the confidence and energy to keep pushing on when they’re faced with such obstacles.