‘Gender equality in workplace benefits men as well as women’
Helen Antoniazzi is strategic lead for policy and communications for charity Chwarae Teg. In the wake of new research about how men perceive equality, she says more has to be done to achieve gender equality...
GENDER equality is often thought of as a “woman’s issue” – an issue that benefits women and women only. But that’s not the case.
There’s a growing body of evidence that shows that gender equality in the workplace generates economic growth and productivity.
The most recent modelling for the UK, carried out by McKinsey and Co. in 2016, estimates that £150bn could be added onto UK GDP forecasts by 2025 by taking steps to close gender gaps.
Furthermore, from our experience of working with businesses to improve gender equality, we know that many of the measures that can be implemented, such as more flexible working practices, improved shared parental leave options, and better workplace communications, benefit male workers as much as they do women.
To effectively tackle inequality in the workplace, we have to change the gendered nature of workplace cultures.
To do so, men have a crucial role to play, particularly in sectors where they make up the majority of the workforce.
Furthermore, as men are more likely to occupy senior decisionmaking positions throughout the labour market, they will often be the ones to decide whether tackling gender inequality is a priority, and which activities will be undertaken.
In light of the important role that men have to play, Chwarae Teg wanted to better understand how men perceive gender equality in the workplace.
This week we publish a report which aims to start a conversation about men’s perceptions and to provide an initial insight into how men working in a number of key sectors in Wales view gender equality and how they experience working with women.
Commissioned as part of Chwarae Teg’s Agile Nation 2 project, which is part-funded by the European Social Fund through the Welsh Government, our research explored the views of men working in the construction, energy and environment, ICT, and advanced materials and manufacturing sectors.
The research shows that men’s views of gender equality are complex.
Many men in Welsh workplaces aren’t as aware of the extent to which inequality still impacts on women’s working lives; 31% of men who responded said that they believe that gender equality has been achieved, compared to 13% of the women. While some men recognise inequality is a problem, they don’t tend to relate it to their own workplaces and experiences.
Stereotypes were also found to be prevalent in Welsh workplaces; with 29% of the men surveyed expressing the view that women with children don’t have the same ambition as women without, as well as negative views about part-time and flexible work in particular.
What men think of gender equality matters – workplace cultures are often reflective of the attitudes and experiences of those who are dominant. In the case of sectors and organisational cultures that employ few women, it is men who shape workplace culture; and so any attempt to change the culture while excluding men will fail to achieve a lasting impact.
By understanding the extent to which men recognise the barriers identified by women and others and by exploring their perception of these barriers, we hope to be able to bring women and men together in pursuit of a common equality agenda with shared benefits: better-quality jobs, a better work-life balance, and opportunities for everyone in the workforce.
What our research demonstrates is that in order to ensure that men, women, our economy and society benefit from gender equality, action is required in a number of areas.
More work needs to be done to demonstrate the importance of gender balance in senior roles to men, and further work needs to be carried out to challenge stereotypes in terms of the roles that men and women undertake.
This should include addressing gender stereotypes in educational institutions, career advice and guidance and in recruitment campaigns.
Considerable efforts are needed to dispel myths around part-time and flexible working, and the dominant view of women as carers.
Gender equality can only be achieved if men and women take a more equal share of caring responsibilities, and part-time and flexible working are available to, and taken up by, men as well as women, in a far wider range of jobs, including those at a senior level.