One in three female bosses say sexist behaviour still exists in their organisation

A YouGov survey for Young Women’s Trust has revealed that a third (33 per cent) of female HR managers agree that sexist behaviour still exists in their organisation and a quarter (25 per cent) of female HR managers agree it is harder for women to progress in their organisation than men.

The new research shows nearly one in ten (9 per cent) HR managers reporting that they were aware of young women (aged 18-30) being patronized or their opinions being overlooked within the last year. 45 per cent reported that their organisation employed more men than women in management or senior roles.

A quarter (25 per cent) of female HR managers disagreed that their organisations take proactive action to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace, compared to 17 per cent of male HR managers, but 56 per cent of all respondents said doing so would help bring about women’s gender equality in the workplace. One in ten (10 per cent) of female respondents were aware of cases of sexual harassment that had not been reported in the past year.

These findings add to earlier research from Young Women’s Trust by Yonder Data solutions in November 2020, which found that in a survey of 2,000 young women in England and Wales aged 18-30, 76 per cent of young women said they thought women faced discrimination in the workplace, and 36 per cent of young women said they would be reluctant to report sexual harassment for fear of losing their job (19 per cent of men), an increase from 25 per cent of women last year.

Young Women’s Trust Communications and Campaigns Director Joe Levenson said: “While working life for many of us has been disrupted this last year due to the pandemic, sexism at work has sadly remained a constant. Within the workplace sexist behaviour and sexual harassment continue to harm women and should not be accepted as inevitable. Employers must do far more to listen to women about their experiences in the workplace, take proactive action to prevent sexual harassment and have a zero tolerance approach to sexism and harassment.  This needs to be backed up by government action, including a renewed focus on gender pay gap reporting and making it easier for employees who have experienced workplace sexism to take action against their employer.”