PA life
PA life

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

A YouGov surveyย for Young Womenโ€™s Trust has revealed thatย a thirdย (33ย per cent)ย ofย femaleย HRย managersย agreeย thatย sexist behaviour still exists in their organisationย andย a quarterย (25ย per cent)ย of female HR managersย agree it is harder for women to progress in their organisation than men.

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

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

These findingsย add toย earlier research from Young Womenโ€™sย Trustย by Yonder Data solutionsย in November 2020, which found that in a survey of 2,000 young women in England and Wales aged 18-30,ย 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 Womenโ€™s Trust Communications and Campaigns Director Joe Levenson said:ย โ€œWhile working life for many of usย hasย been disrupted thisย last year due to the pandemic, sexism at work has sadly remained aย constant.ย Within the workplace sexist behaviourย and sexual harassmentย continue to harm women and should not be accepted as inevitable.ย Employers must do far more to listen to women about their experiences in the workplace,ย take proactive action to prevent sexual harassmentย andย haveย aย zero toleranceย approach to sexismย and harassment.ย ย 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.โ€