Workforce challenges
Living in a rural area is impacting women’s career choices and progression, leading to implications for financial security and independence.
Severe workforce shortages are, ironically, improving women’s participation in work in rural areas, including the Wimmera and Grampians.
However, a culture of ‘gendered’ roles, caregiving responsibilities and a lack of childcare, and the ability and-or consideration to reshape roles for flexible work practices continue to impact people’s ability to choose whether, and how, they participate in work.
Dr Cathy Tischler, Dr Kelsey McDonald, Emma Dallamora and Professor Keir Reeves, of Federation University’s Future Regions Research Centre – Horsham Hub, are researching how living in a rural area impacts people’s choices and their ability to work.
Data shows there is a higher proportion of women working part-time in rural areas, compared to urban centres.
“Our dire workforce shortages are really addressing women’s participation in the workforce in a very fast way – and that’s doing more than any policy change could at the moment,” Dr Tischler said.
“Is gendered part-time work a problem or a perk of rurality?
“We just don’t have the supports in place that would make this a genuine choice for women – or for men. And let’s get to the point when men can make that choice, too.
“The fact we don’t have structures in place to make that choice means there are implications for women’s financial security, for women’s independence and women’s career progression in our region.”
Dr Tischler said women were the ‘default’ caregiver in most cases in the Wimmera and Grampians.
“And it’s not just mothers who are out of work for periods of time to manage children; we also have grandmothers stepping in and managing childcare because of the lack of childcare services in the region – so we are taking two generations out of work,” she said.
The research found women were making choices about career progression based on their own perceptions and experiences, and largely without talking to their employer about their options or aspirations.
“It’s a lesson for us, as women, about speaking up and being able to have honest conversations about what’s going on and what you need to make it work,” Dr Tischler said.
“We also found management turnover could be slow, and that has impacts on people’s career progression and their willingness to stay in the region; it also creates challenges for new ideas.
“If you’re a woman and a more senior position comes up, and you’re not in a position to take it, that might be your only opportunity for your lifetime if you want to live and grow your career within the region.”
The research found living rurally impacted women’s aspiration to leadership roles – which was closely related to ages and stages of life – and that women working full-time were likely to be less satisfied with work.
It found employers’ understanding of work was largely focused on hours, not output or outcomes; and that expectations often did not match the resources available to do the job.
Also, harvest periods have a ‘major’ impact on workforce availability, which was particularly recognised by healthcare services.
Dr Tischler said equity was considered a ‘job’ with a compliance focus, not an opportunity for cultural change.
The research team conducted almost 80 research interviews with executives and employees of public sector organisations including local government and health services – either individually or in a group setting. Most Wimmera and Grampians public sector workplaces, and people of all genders, participated.
The Victorian Gender Equality Commission funded the research. A report will be available in coming months.
An International Women’s Day event in Horsham discussed women in the workforce and the effects of rurality on participation and choice. The Weekly Advertiser editorial director Jessica Grimble was master-of-ceremonies and provides this report.
AWimmera social researcher has encouraged employers to consider their role in innovation and change for the future of work.
Dr Cathy Tischler, of Federation University’s Future Regions Research Centre – Horsham Hub, said cultural and structural challenges facing the Wimmera and Grampians were potentially holding back the region’s people and workplaces from reaching potential.
Dr Tischler and her team are researching how living in a rural area impacts people’s choices and their ability to work.
About 90 people learned about the research, and heard from panellists with lived experiences, at an International Women’s Day event at Federation University in Horsham last week.
A committee comprising representatives of Horsham East Rotary Club, Women’s Health Grampians, Federation University and ACE Radio organised the event.
Dr Tischler said the public sector, with its legislated requirements and responsibilities, was ‘further down the track’ in transforming practices and mindsets than private business.
Gender Equality Commissioner Dr Niki Vincent, whose organisation funded the research, joined the discussion as a panel member.
She said there was ‘no silver bullet’ to systemic change.
“Some of the innovation is being driven by necessity. It’s sad that we had to get to an emergency situation – a workforce shortage – before we started taking women seriously in some roles, including non-traditional roles,” she said.
“The world of work was designed by men, for men, because that is who was in the world of work at the time when this system was developed.
“Now, we’re trying to fit women into a system that doesn’t work for women’s lives, and it doesn’t work for men’s lives that well either anymore.
“If we fixed it for women, it would fix it for men and there would be better wellbeing and we wouldn’t see high suicide rates in construction and emergency services and those sorts of things because of the absolute overwork and the bullying and the negative cultures and so on.
“I don’t have the answer, but I think there are lots of answers and they’re already happening – and they will happen more.”
Growing awareness
Dr Vincent said the Gender Equality Act 2020 required organisations to put a ‘gender lens’ across policy, program or service changes – considering how women might experience it differently, pointing to childcare and afterschool care availability as an example.
“We are going to see change and it’s going to be rapidly increasing now, but it’s still going to take a long time and it’s not going to solve all the problems for the region,” she said.
“We’ve seen big change over the past couple of years. I have hope, otherwise I wouldn’t be in the job, but there aren’t any silver bullets.”
Panellist Onella Cooray moved to the Wimmera in 2019 to work in agricultural research; she now works for a globally-recognised organisation, in the gender equality field, from her Horsham home.
She encouraged people to challenge stereotypes ‘embedded’ in life and work, and recognise their own power in creating change.
“Acknowledging that gender is not a binary and women are not a monolith but, in general, women tend to be less assertive because we’ve learned we have to mask to either protect ourselves from being harassed or assaulted, or to even be taken seriously sometimes. If you’re assertive, you’re bossy or pushy,” she said.
“The differences that we’ve created and applied is just stuff we have made up. If we made it, then we can break it.”
She said people’s expectations of work were changing – encouraged by long periods of working at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Work is not just a job to pay the bills; people are looking at the lifestyle they want to create, what’s my legacy going to be, what am I going to look back on, on my death bed. If workplaces are going to stay relevant to capture the best talent and retain that talent, they’re going to have to change, too,” she said.
“Change doesn’t have to come from the top up – it can come from the grassroots, it can come from one person being really annoying and saying this is important.”
Panellist Ashlea Edwards, a matureaged electrical apprentice and ‘women in trades advocate’ with Women’s Health Grampians’ ‘See What You Can Be’ project, said she was ‘a bit sore’ she didn’t pursue a trades career from a younger age.
She said it was ‘almost easier’ for women to lead a change of ‘gendered roles’ and ‘model diversity’ in workplaces, because women tended to support each other more and it was currently less acceptable for men to pursue flexible work.
International Women’s Day is a global day, celebrated on March 8.
Scheduling of last week’s event came ahead of time, due to the Wimmera Machinery Field Days.