Kiwis beating Aussies at workplace gender equality

Kiwis beating Aussies at workplace gender equality – but it’s nothing to be proud of

New Zealand is doing better than Australia at working towards equal pay, flexible working options and career advancement for women, according to a new survey. But we’re still far from achieving workplace gender equality.

That’s one finding from a survey by recruiting experts Hays. Released ahead of International Women’s Day on Wednesday 8th March, Hays also found that, compared to their Australian counterparts, women working in New Zealand are 11% more likely to have received a promotion in the last 12 months, 14% more likely to have the opportunity in their current role to promote themselves and their ambitions and 12% more likely to think that equal career opportunities are open to them.

However we’re falling behind in two key areas: 84% of New Zealand respondents said the most senior person in their organisation was male (higher than Australia’s 80%), while 65% said their line manager was male (also higher than Australia’s 61%).

In addition, 92% of New Zealand’s working women compared to 61% of New Zealand’s working men think women encounter barriers in their career progression.

As for how we can make further gender diversity progress, the survey suggests that de-gendering gender diversity and the offering and acceptance of equal parental leave and flexible working options without career consequences for both men and women could improve female representation in the workplace.

Yet just 22% of those surveyed said their organisation offers parental leave for male employees on equal terms to female employees. In addition, the majority say men in their organisation rarely take (30%) or only take some (37%) of the parental leave they’re entitled to.

Why? 53% said men may be viewed as less committed to their career, 33% said it’s the right and responsibility of the mother and 14% put it down to the financial impact.

Meanwhile respondents said opting to work flexibly is a career-limiting move for women (49%) more so than for men (37%). And while the consensus is that less than 10% of men work flexibly, more than 21% of women do so.

Jason Walker, Managing Director of Hays in New Zealand says, “To help make real and lasting gender equality progress, I believe we need to start talking in terms of ‘family-friendly’ rather than ‘women-friendly’ policies and offer and accept the decision of men to work flexibly and take paternity leave.

“While we’re ahead of the Aussies in this regard, we still have a long way to go before real gender equality is achieved in New Zealand’s workplaces.”

The full findings are:

Career progression

56% of men and 26% of women think that equal career opportunities are open to them regardless of gender (higher than Australia’s 35% and 14% respectively);
Working women in New Zealand were more likely to have been promoted in the last 12 months (46% compared to 35% in Australia), whereas Australian women were more likely to have been promoted two or more years ago (46% versus 33% in New Zealand). A similar percentage (22% New Zealand and 19% Australian) were promoted between one and two years ago;
84% of respondents said the most senior person in their organisation was male (higher than Australia’s 80%);
65% said their line manager was male (also higher than Australia’s 61%);
76% of men compared to 61% of women believe they have the opportunity in their current role to sufficiently promote themselves & communicate their ambitions (higher than Australia’s 65% and 47% respectively;
20% of women compared to 21% of men are not confident that their line manager knows what their career ambitions are. In Australia almost double the percentage of women (38%) are not confident that their line manager knows what their career ambitions are.
92% of women and 61% of men think women encounter barriers in their career progression;
24% of females said they were dissatisfied with their current seniority level, compared to just 7% of males.
Pay & rewards

66% of men and 26% of women think they are paid/rewarded in an equal manner regardless of gender (higher than Australia’s 58% and 19%);
74% of female respondents compared to 54% of men thought women encounter barriers outside their control in regards to getting paid in an equal manner to men.
Gender barriers

60% of female respondents said their organisation has equal opportunity or gender diversity issues that need to be addressed, compared to 43% of male respondents;
Similarly 90% of female respondents believe there are gender barriers in today’s workplace compared to 48% of men.
Flexible working options

59% said flexible working options were available to them in their current organisation, above Australia’s 51%;
54% believe that flexible working options have improved the representation of women in executive and leadership roles;
98% of female respondents thought it was important that agile and flexible working options are available to them in their organisation compared to 80% of men;
22% of organisations in New Zealand offer parental leave for male employees on equal terms to female employees;
The majority of men rarely take (29%) or only take some (37%) of the parental leave they’re entitled to;
The number one reason was men may be viewed as less committed to their career (53%). This is followed by 33% believing it’s the right and responsibility of the mother and 14% nominating the financial impact;
Flexible working is seen as more of a career-limiting move for women (49%) than for men (37%);
Less than 10% of men work flexibly, compared to 21% of women;
84% of respondents said greater gender diversity in the workplace would improve an organisation’s success, with more women (96%) than men (70%) believing this.
Of 173 New Zealand respondents, 53% were female and 47% were male.

International Women’s Day is held every year on 8th March and this year asks for people to #BeBoldForChange.

Hays is the most followed recruitment agency on LinkedIn in the world. Join Hays’ growing network by following Hays Worldwide. You can also get expert advice, insights and the latest recruitment news by following Hays on Twitter @HaysNewZealand.

Hays, the world’s leading recruiting experts in qualified, professional and skilled people.

- Ends -

© Scoop Media