Around 1 in 6 women face discrimination at work

Sanne Sant

Results from our global employee survey reveal that more than 15% of women face discrimination at work because of their gender. Additionally, the survey results also reveal that women generally feel that there lacks equal career opportunities for both men and women. 

Around 1 in 6 women face discrimination at work

The latest figures and insights are taken from our global employee survey, which was conducted in 52 countries across the world. Respondents were asked more than 100 questions each in order for Effectory International to gain detailed insights into global work-opinions, including employee engagement and discrimination in the workplace.

Discrimination at work

In comparison to men, 3 % more women reported experiencing discrimination at work because of their gender. Of those surveyed, 85 % of women responded that they have never been discriminated against at work, whereas the percentage of men sits higher at 88%.

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Further analysis reveals that of the 15% of women that have experienced gender discrimination, 12% experienced occasional gender discrimination and 3% experienced discrimination on a more regular basis. When we compare this to the 12% percentage of men that have similarly experienced gender discrimination, we see that 4% less men suffered gender discrimination on an occasional basis. Similarly, the percentage of men that experience regular discrimination is also 3%.

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Career development and opportunities

In addition to facing more discrimination, women also responded that they have less opportunity to develop their career within their organisation. Results show that in response to the statement I have the opportunity to develop my career within the organisation, women responded less positively than their male counterparts.

Alongside this, the results from the survey also reveal that women feel that career opportunities within organisations are unequal. When posed with the statement within your organisation, males and females have equal career opportunities, women again responded less positively. Contrastingly, male respondents were noticeably more positive in answering the same statement.

Coupled with the above, women’s confidence in future opportunities is also less when compared to their male colleagues.  When asked if they have confidence in future opportunities at their organisation, female respondents replied more negatively to the statement than their male colleagues.

Are older employees satisfied?

A worrying trend?

From comparing our past two global employee surveys, there is at first sight good news. Insights reveal that there has been little to no change in the gap between how men and women responded to the above three statements on career development and opportunities. Furthermore, the latest survey reveals that women have in general, become more positive about career development and opportunities within organisations.

Unfortunately, and perhaps worryingly, insights from the last two surveys also reveal that the percentage of women that are regularly discriminated against because of their gender has more than doubled.  Results further show that there was additionally a decrease in the number of women that have never experienced discrimination against at work.

Have employees in the UK become demotivated?

Interestingly, the responses from the two surveys show that both men and women feel that they are the target of more regular discrimination. Is this something we should be concerned about?

We’re interested to hear your views and comments on the matter.

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