Glenda Stone CEO of Aurora, the international organisation working for the economic advancement of women, reports back on revelations by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) that women must wait 200 years to gain equal power.
Almost 80 years after women over 21 got the vote and 30 years after the introduction of the Sex Discrimination Act, women have yet to reach an equal economic footing.
Today, women make up only 10.5% of FTSE 100 company directors, 9% of the senior judiciary, 10% of senior police officers, 22% of councillors, and 13% of national newspaper editors. According to the EOC, it will take another 40 years to achieve an equal number of women among the senior judiciary, 20 years to achieve parity for civil service top jobs and 200 years to achieve an equal number of women in parliament.
This is a disgrace — particularly when added to other current scandals, including a gender pay gap that sees some women being paid 15% less than their male counterparts for doing the same job, and over 1,000 women a year taking legal action against employers who, they believe, have dismissed them for becoming pregnant.
So what can we as a society do about our current state of gender-economic inequality?
The recent EOC report indicated that private sector businesses should be required by law to check whether women employees are paid less than men and be forced to take action to close salary gaps. Many, including the EOC have suggested legal action because in the past this has proved the greatest catalyst for change.
The introduction of the Sex Discrimination Act in December 1975, for example, had prompted the biggest decline in the gender pay gap, which fell almost 10 percentage points from 36.3% to 26.5% between 1971 and 1976. Since then, the gender pay gap has only narrowed by another 10%.
On average, the difference between male and female pay is £566. It is unlawful to pay women less than men for the same or similar work, but the issue is complex and the difference between the average male and female salary has a number of causes.
The commission has called for laws to force private sector employers to promote sex equality starting with “diagnostic equality checks” to identify pay gaps. This would bring private sector employers into line with public sector duties due to come into force in 2007.
In order for us to see a shift in current and past trends and have a stronger representation of female leaders and decision makers we need to see further progressiveness within companies from the ground up. HSBC for example, currently has four female members on the board of HSBC Holdings plc including Baroness Dunn DBE, Deputy Chairman and senior non-executive Director. This equates to approximately 20% female, which is higher than the industry standard.
At Ernst & Young, 57% of partners, are female and women within the organisation have strong role models, both from within the partner population and from the 385 female senior managers and directors. Pricewaterhouse Coopers are also focusing on their recognition as a progressive employer to ensure there is equality in the workplace.
Aurora’s website for women to research companies and apply for careers, www.WhereWomenWantToWork.com, showcases progressive organisations that are taking a proactive role in helping women achieve higher-level positions via development, mentoring and support, as well as fair and transparent employee promotion. It is only by working to retain female talent from the start, that organisations will see more women reach full potential and become the company leaders and advisors of tomorrow, and thus help to close the gender pay gap.
Women also need to take a more proactive stance and research company policies and values before committing themselves to an organisation. Again, www.WhereWomenWantToWork.com is an excellent place to start. As a talented and educated labour pool, women have the collective power to initiate change through their own actions and choices.
If everyone – government, business, and the public work to initiate change, then surely we can close the unsatisfactory gender pay gap and move closer to finally achieving an equal and fair society.
Other articles by this author:
