What really happens when women make up more than 50% of the workforce?
Cover of The Economist 2010
Have you noticed that the position of women in the workforce is actually declining, despite all the upbeat news to the contrary?
A major Australian corporation has a reputation of being ‘a bit of a boys’ club’ but, until recently, they’d been able to refute that perception.
No more.
Over the latter part of 2012, just about all the senior women were ‘encouraged’ out of the organisation, or effectively demoted.
Women still get paid less
In the news recently in Australia: women graduates’ starting salary is, on average, $5,000 less than that of male graduates.
You may accept that most of this disparity is due to industry choice. However, this recent post from the Harvard Business Review blog, Six Paradoxes Women Leaders Face in 2013, refutes this old chestnut.
Over the last six months, anecdotal evidence from overseas certainly suggests that women are being targeted unfairly and losing their jobs. Women are describing what’s happening to them as ‘a modern-day witch hunt’.
What have you noticed in your industry? Do you feel that women are being singled out?
I am in a traditionally male field, architecture. After reading a recent book (reviewed on my blog), it gave a beneficial viewpoint of how we haven’t necessarily progressed in terms of representation. We have fought for it, but a paradigm shift may be most beneficial where MEN realize the value of equal partnership in domestic and public realms – in essence, merging the two. It is a bit of a radical theory for our culture at this point, but is seen as more successful in traditional and communal societies.
Thanks for your comment, Meghan. My concern is that women WERE doing reasonably well, even in property and construction, but now it seems it’s all the guys who are being promoted and the women being sidelined. Even with diversity policies that promote the value and contribution of women (not to mention their track record), some companies are still choosing to push women into the background. I appreciate that it may need a paradigm shift…but I thought we’d had that already, with a huge number of ‘house husbands’ because wives/partners had the better-paying job.