Women at work: undervalued, under pressure

Jenifer Johnston

After three decades of feminism and equal opportunities legislation, today's working woman continues to feel discriminated against, overlooked for promotion and torn between the demands of the workplace and the family.

Research from campaign group Opportunity Now which will be presented at the Department of Trade and Industry next week paints a bleak picture of the 21st-century workplace.

Ninety per cent of the working women who took part in the survey said the balance between work and family was the main barrier to them advancing up the company ladder.

Just over 60% worried that they were seen as being less committed to work than their male colleagues because they have a family. Just over half believed they would have to put their career before their family to advance in the organisation.

Stereotyping emerged as the next most important barrier to success at work, although 64% said they had aspirations to being promoted.

The report, Sticky Fingers and Cement Ceilings, states: "Those aspirations are impressive, particularly given that women in non- managerial roles perceive the working environment at more senior levels as uncomfortable and unwelcoming.

"Respondents recognise that they are excluded from informal networks and lack mentors and role models to lead the way."

The report also reveals that significant minorities believed that bullying (14%) and sexual harassment (12%) stopped them getting promoted.

"Employers cannot hope to leverage the full benefits of a diverse workforce if they cannot guarantee basic respect and fairness at work," says the report.

"Allowing this sort of behaviour will incur heavy penalties for organisations in terms of turnover, absenteeism and potential legal costs."

Older women feel more excluded at work than their younger female colleagues and they feel more out of step with networks in their company. "The research indicates that a substantial number of older women, still active in the UK workforce, have never been promoted and have very limited access to the training and development that would enable them to move out of this trap."

Eileen Dinning, the Scottish Women's officer for Unison, believes the government could do more to help women balance their commitments.

"In recent years we've seen progress in legislation and initiatives to help women work, such as increases in maternity leave and pay, and the working families' tax credit. The survey also helps to explain the continued gender pay gap, which is an issue still very much alive."

A spokeswoman for the STUC said the survey findings were further proof that women should have more help advancing in the workplace.

"It is unsurprising that top of the list of barriers to women trying to move up in their organisation is the difficulty in balancing work and family. Management should try and put the skills of women to good use instead of discriminating against them, as often it is only masculine skills that are valued at work."

High-flying women who have to fight for their jobs or miss out on promotions make the headlines because of their high earning power. In 1997 Nicola Horlick, a mother of five, was suspended from her job at Morgan Grenfell Asset Management and had to fight publicly to be reinstated. Often regarded as the original "glass-ceiling" breaker, she commanded a salary of (pounds) 1 million a year, but has since found employment with other companies including Gioma Restaurants, which owns Glasgow's Gaucho Grill.

Another high earner is Isabelle Terrillon who won (pounds) 70,000 from investment bank Nomura International after male colleagues were awarded bonuses of (pounds) 75,000 while she got (pounds) 40,000. Terrillon complained of a culture where she was "frozen out" of day- to-day business and was made redundant on the day she came back from maternity leave.

Andrew Johnson is the co-director of the Equality and Discrimination Centre, University of Strathclyde. He was not surprised by Opportunity Now's findings."When you translate this into real numbers it is frightening - it suggests that hundreds of thousands of female workers are subject to bullying and sexual harassment. These things are very real barriers to women gaining promotion at work."

Johnson believes that institutions have to deal with discrimination against women by accepting that gender is an issue that deserves attention.

"There is an idea of institutional silence around gender in the workplace, which is very similar to racism. If you look at senior management structures there are hardly any women there. These aren't just women's perceptions of failings, but are the real failings of managers in regard to proper training, flexible working and development opportunities for women. Why are we not changing the culture of women who work and then still go home and do 80% of the housework? There's a grimmer picture out there than these statistics present."

Julia's Story For the past six years Julia has lived under the shadow of being bullied at work in an overwhelmingly male environment. She has never been promoted.

"Six years ago I was working as an instructor with two men, one of whom was my line manager," she said. " During one project my other colleague was abusive in front of clients. I was hustled into a meeting with him and my line manager, at which point my colleague became aggressive and called me unprofessional. My line manager, who was very unsupportive, turned out to be my second bully.

"The next day some of the clients said they had clearly seen what had happened and that they would support me if need be. The situation deteriorated and I was not allowed to see their notes of what happened that day or any paperwork about what was going on.

"I just wanted an apology for the way my colleague had acted but eventually had to go to the union. Over time I found myself with double the workload of my colleague. The dispute rumbled on up the company, and at one meeting the managing director and all the other directors and managers were involved. They were all male. They believed I was just, as one of them referred to me, 'a nippy sweetie'.

"I asked for help from my line manager about my workload but he said it was my way of working that meant I couldn't handle it. I had to take a month off because of stress. During another meeting with my colleague he stood so close to me shouting that he was out of focus.

"I've had written warnings and internal proceedings held against me for being 'unprofessional'. Keeping my job this long has cost me (pounds) 17,000 in legal fees. I used to love this job but now I dread Mondays. I've had trouble sleeping and eating because of stress, been on anti-depressants and had panic attacks. There is very little chance of being promoted here. I'm sure this would never have happened if I was a man."

Copyright 2002
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