Work

Workplace gender equality is achieved when people are able to access and enjoy the same rewards, resources and opportunities regardless of gender.

Being discriminated against because of your gender is extremely unfair. No one should be put through such hostility. The law is written for equal treatment, equal pay, and equal opportunity.

Furthermore, the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Condition, founded that, regarding physical environments, men are more likely to have a worse working quality time than women, but better payed.

In relation to the social environment, they found out that, men tend to receive less support from colleagues and managers, while women are much more likely to be exposed to adverse social behaviors such as threats, verbal abuse or harassment. Moreover and as just mentioned, women are more likely to report being exposed to emotional demands, while men are more likely to report higher levels of quantitative demands, like working to tight deadlines.

Pay components, such as ‘shares in the company’ are increasing more rapidly among men than women and the gender gap is therefore enlarging.

Studies have found that women tend to spend more time on unpaid household and family care work, and men spend more time in paid work. This unequal distribution of time creates barriers to women’s advancement at work and reduces women’s economic security.

In addition, most women now get higher education than their mothers and grandmothers before them. They’re able to bring those skills to the workplace and this has started to show.

Pregnancy

Even if job discrimination against pregnant women is illegal, there are still thousands of claims of made each year. For factors related to pregnancy or breastfeeding, pregnant women may be forced to step down from a job until they hit a certain stage in their pregnancy or be shot. Denying reasonable accommodations for pregnant women, demoting pregnant employees, and forced time off or restrictions on work hours are some examples for pregnancy discrimination.

An employee becomes victim of gender discrimination, when:

• Decrease in productivity

• Tension between the victim and the company

• Isolation from the rest of the team

• Low self-esteem

• Fear, frustration or anger

One of the most glaring issues is the gender wage gap, the difference in earnings between men and women. The gap is especially prevalent during the economic struggles caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic.

"Gender inequality at work persists across Europe, although the long standing attention paid and efforts made to tackle it"

The Publication Office of the European Union

This Eurofound report presents a closer look at women’s and men’s working conditions, using data from Eurofound’s European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) and complementing previous Eurofound research on, along with, working time patterns, work-life balance and workers’ health. Beyond the general differences in the labour market, it highlights many important gaps in men’s and women’s working conditions and job quality which require specific attention. According to the EWCS data, the reduction of gender gaps in those areas showing improvement over the last 5 to 10 years remains limited. European and national strategies aimed at achieving job quality for all, that seek to mainstream gender equality, could help address persistent inequalities between men and women.

"Gender equality in the workplace remains elusive"

ILOSTAT

According to the International Labour Organisation (ILOSTAT), the progress to solve gender equality at work, is needed in many areas and in every region in the labour market.

It shows that while most of us are aware that women are often paid less than men in the same occupation, the gaps are largest. The median gender wage gap for 115 countries with available data is 14% in favor of men. And male-dominated occupations have even higher wage premiums for men.

Women aged between 15 and 24 years old are more likely to be unemployed than men in the same age bracket, with large differences in some parts of the world. In the Arab States, the unemployment rate for young women has been about twice that of young men throughout the last decade.

There are more young women than young men without an employment. In some countries this gap in labour market participation is due to restrictive gender and cultural norms, which leave women more constrained in terms of their options to seek paid employment, according to the ILO’s Trends for Women report.

These figures provide a snapshot of how far women still have to go before achieving equality in the labour market, particularly young women.

https://ilostat.ilo.org/gender-equality-in-the-workplace-remains-elusive/

Statistics of gender inequality at work

Facts about gender inequality in the workplace are clear. To this day, the statistics make for uncomfortable reading. A poll by Young Women’s Trust in 2018 found out that

• 23% of women at work have faced sexual harassment.

• Only 8% of them have reported it.

• 43% of mothers faced maternity discrimination.

• 52% of women face mental health issues at work, compared to 42% of men.

• Women are 47% more likely to suffer severe injuries in car crashes because safety features are designed for men.

• Only 6 countries give women equal legal work rights as men.

• For every female film character, there are 2.24 men.

• In 2018, a woman working full time earned 81.6 cents for every dollar a man working full time earned on average. Additionally, women's median annual earnings were $9,766 less than men's, according to the most recent available data from the Us Center Bureau.

• According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, women earn 49 cents compared to every $1 men earn.

• Women make up 39% of the world’s employed according to ILO estimates, but only 27% of managerial workers and that share of female managers has hardly changed in two decades.

Gender inequality experiences

Gender discrimination can be aggressive or subtle, not all discriminating actions are obvious in the workplace. Hiring, firing, or promoting someone because of their gender or not doing so.

"My sister was told that the job was for a 'man' (preferring men because of their strength) and pregnancy was a very big argument against. She was not pregnant, but she could in the future. Not with this job though".

"Patronizing in different working conditions, accusation one is emotional in situations only because of gender, general not being taken seriously ".

" I have heard several times people saying that women can’t do a certain job, because of her gender (not qualified enough)".

Women/girls responses from our Gender Equality Survey

• A female who works her way up to management, finds out that a newly hired male manager (same position and duties) is getting paid more than she is despite equal qualifications.

• A female employee gets a pay cut, because she can’t put in as much overtime after just having had a baby, while a male employee cuts back on overtime for personal reasons with no changes to his pay.

• Female employees don’t get to add their husbands to their health insurance because it is assumed that the husband has his own healthcare benefits, while male employees can add their wives.

• Not being able to have a job regarding the 'stereotypes of gender' and feelings, saying for example that women are more sensible and likely to cry. You can read about these kind of stereotypes in our `Stereotype´ article.

Experiencing Gender Discrimination at Work?

Consult your Employee Handbook, here you can find some policies as well as some instructions on how to identify and report discrimination.

After you have identified your employer’s policy on gender discrimination, start by documenting the type of discrimination you or a fellow employee has experienced, and its impact on the competitiveness of the career, stability in the workplace, and witnesses.

Write down everything you can remember regarding the incident(s). No detail is too small or inconsequential. Include times, dates, locations, and the names of all involved.

Report the discrimination to a member of your employer’s human resources (HR) department, and

*if you’ve reported the discriminatory act to someone in your company without results, or have faced retaliation for reporting, your wisest move would be to contact an employment lawyer.