Miles to Go Before Women Gets a Fair Go in the Workplace

Consider these disturbing findings from the latest APESMA’s survey of its female members (58.6% had tertiary qualifications in science and 30.0% in engineering):

1. Nearly 40% of respondents stated that they had been bullied and 38% discriminated against in the course of their employment.
2. Nearly 20% reported that they had been sexually harassed, although only one fifth of those had reported the incident through official channels.
3. Nearly 70% of respondents said that taking maternity/parental leave – including unpaid leave – was likely to be detrimental to their career, despite legally having access to these provisions.
4. 47.4% of respondents said that their career progression had been affected by workplace culture.
5. And nearly one quarter of respondents expected that they would leave their profession within five years.

It just beggars belief that in this day and age women still get a very raw deal in workplaces. What is the point in recruiting talented people when workplaces cannot be fair? Inequity  doesn’t make business sense when the country is grappling will an ageing population and skills shortage.

Read the whole report, titled ‘Women in the professions: The state of play 2009-10, here.