Almost half of women stated there were times where, due to their gender, they believed that they were not put forward for work opportunities.
New research by Samsung has revealed that there may still be more work to do when it comes to gender equality in the workplace.
Under one in five workers (19 per cent) felt that there is gender equality in their workplace, showing many believe that prejudiced and discriminatory behaviour is still present.
Specific groups which were more likely to feel barred from opportunities included women (42 per cent) -although over a third of men also felt this way (35 per cent) – in addition to Millennials (52 per cent).
This has also prevented almost a fifth of women (17 per cent) from applying for a job due to fear that they would be discriminated against due to their gender.
In addition to this, gender-based stereotypes were found to be prevalent within workplaces.
Men were four times more likely than women to have perceived leadership skills (23 per cent vs 5 per cent). Other traits which were associated with men included assertiveness (28 per cent) and productivity (11 per cent).
Alternatively, women had a higher chance of being linked to qualities such as empathy (45 per cent vs 4 per cent men), listening (39 per cent vs 6 per cent men) and understanding (33 per cent vs 6 per cent men).
However, progress seems to be being made in some areas. Close to two-thirds of respondents (62 per cent) felt the Chief Executive Officer role was gender neutral. In addition, over two-thirds of people said workers who break gender barriers in the workplace were inspiring.
Charlotte Grant, Head of Inclusion & Engagement at Samsung UK and Ireland said:
We are moving in the right direction as shown by this research, which is certainly encouraging. But there is still a long way to go to achieve total gender parity in the workplace. Companies have an active role to play in tackling this, creating a culture where conscious inclusion is a part of everyone’s every day and where actively challenging bias becomes the norm.
Nicole Sahin, Founder and CEO of Globalization Partners, said:
This research reinforces that employers must prioritise equality across every aspect of the organisation, to ensure women’s progress is accelerated. The reality is that while many women and male allies are championing workplace diversity, only 5 of the top Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index companies are steered by women. And at that current rate of growth, it would take more than 80 years for the number to reach 50 per cent.
In order to achieve greater balance sooner, management teams must make equality for everyone a priority – from the recruiting process, through professional development and management training.
All female leaders need to claim their place at the table. Whilst making a commitment to creating a diverse, inclusive culture requires more than a simple step, research shows that diverse companies perform better and are better for society in turn – the return on investment in gender equality efforts are undoubtedly worth it.
*This research was obtained from Samsung UK’s Breaking Bias Research which surveyed 2,000 UK respondents on their opinions towards gender equality at work, including views on if certain jobs, industries, departments and workplace skills are ‘for men’, ‘for women’, or ‘gender neutral’.
Monica Sharma is an English Literature graduate from the University of Warwick. As Editor for HRreview, her particular interests in HR include issues concerning diversity, employment law and wellbeing in the workplace. Alongside this, she has written for student publications in both England and Canada. Monica has also presented her academic work concerning the relationship between legal systems, sexual harassment and racism at a university conference at the University of Western Ontario, Canada.
