Women still hitting glass ceiling
Women are being put on the “mummy track”, preventing them from advancing to top jobs in public life, according to a report published today.
The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) report, Sex and Power: who runs Britain?, reveals that women are still under represented in high profile positions. And despite ongoing efforts, the representation of women in top business, political and judicial posts only improved by one per cent in the past 12 months.
The EOC puts this down to the failure of employers to put in place more flexible working practices. In particular, women’s career options narrow when they have children, with 20 per cent facing a cut in pay or dismissal when they become pregnant, and many taking jobs “well below” their abilities.
One in five women have turned down a job because of their role as an unpaid carer or parent.
Deputy chair of the EOC, Jenny Watson, said that the “underlying assumptions” that women with children do not want to work, or cannot get to the top of their profession, must change before we see more women in decision making positions.
She warned: “We can no longer assume that it’s only a matter of time before more women make it to the top.”
Ms Watson said: “There are plenty of talented women in business, politics and other areas of public life. Women now make up over half the workforce and the proportion is growing. Yet our decision makers remain overwhelmingly male.”
The UK also lags behind the rest of Europe, ranking 14th when it comes to the representation of women in Parliament. Only 18 per cent of all MPs are women, compared to 45 per cent in Sweden, and only 27 per cent of Cabinet members are women, compared to 52 per cent in Sweden.
However, Ms Watson welcomed signs that some employers are changing practices. She said that employers are increasingly recognising “the need to provide employment flexibility and judge staff on what they achieve, not on the hours that they work”.
