Breaking the Glass Ceiling: Women's Progress Towards Equality in the Workplace

International Women's Day is on 8th March. In this week's newsletter, I take a brief look at the journey towards workplace equality.

Over the last 100 years, women have made a lot of progress toward being treated equally in the workplace. Women have been able to fight against gender-based discrimination and establish their position in the workforce. These victories include obtaining the right to vote in the majority of countries and breaking the glass ceiling in the workplace.

The race is far from over, however, women still have a long way to go before they are treated equally at work. Women still have to deal with a lot of problems, such as unequal pay, a lack of representation in leadership positions, and harassment at work.

The passage of the Equal Pay Act in 1963 was a significant step forward in the struggle for women's equality in the United States. This was one of the important milestones. Because of this legislation, it became illegal for employers to pay female workers less than they pay male workers for the same job. Laws very similar to this one can be found in other countries, such as the United Kingdom, which in 2010 passed the Equality Act, which replaced or brought up-to-date previous equality legislation. Gender pay disparity has shrunk to some extent in countries that have passed legislation to address the issue, but it is still present. In the year 2020, women in the United States who worked full-time were only expected to make 82 cents for every dollar earned by men. This information comes from a report published by the National Women's Law Center. The gender pay gap is smaller in Europe, where women make 86 cents for every euro earned by men, and it is even smaller in the United Kingdom, where women earn 92.6 pence for every pound earned by men. Obviously, these are just averages, and there can be substantial differences between them.

In Asian countries, things look a little bit different. The gender wage gap in Asia ranges from around 10% in countries like Cambodia, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam, according to data from the International Labor Organization (ILO), to over 30% in countries like Pakistan, India, and South Korea. Countries like Cambodia, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam have a gender wage gap of around 10%. The income disparity is approximately 22% in Japan but only approximately 16% in China.

Anti-discrimination laws have also helped with the struggle towards equality. This includes the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which was passed in the United States of America. This act made it illegal to discriminate against people on the basis of their race, colour, religion, sex, or national origin. The United Kingdom Equality Act, which was mentioned above, was basically the same. It updated several pieces of equality legislation that were already in place. In 2006, the European Union passed the Gender Equality Directive, which contains both work-rllated and social provisions. Because of these laws, women now have the same opportunities as men to advance in their careers and find employment. Women make up nearly half of all employees in the U.S. the United Kingdom, and Europe today. They are employed in most occupations across all sectors of the economy, including those traditionally carried out exclusively be men.

Again, legal protections for equality are not applied consistently across Asia. For instance in India, the constitution ensures that men and women have the same rights and opportunities, and the country also has a number of rules and policeis covering gender equality. However women continue to face huge challenges both in work and at home. The Basic Law for a Gender-Equal Society was established in Japan in 1999, designed to advance gender equality, yet Japan has one of the worst records in the developed world for women board members. South Korea has the Equal Employment Opportunity and Work-Family Balance Assistance Act (2015) was passed into law in South Korea in 2015. Despite that, South Korea elected a president in 2022 who ran on a platform of (amongst other issues) abolishing the country's gender equality ministry, and also blaming feminism for falling birthrates. Equal protection under the law is also guaranteed in Hong Kong and Singapore. Although the implementation and enforcement of these laws can be inconsistent, and the effects can be difficult to measure, other countries in Asia like China, Vietnam, and Indonesia have policies and laws that aim to promote gender equality.

At least in the area of legal protections there have been efforts to create a level playing filed. However, in reality, there are still many challenges for women who want to move up to leadership positions. There are only 29% of senior managerial positions around the world that are held by women, according to a report published by Catalyst. This lack of women in leadership roles can be caused by a number of things, such as unconscious bias, a lack of mentorship opportunities, and the workplace culture. Again, some countries have attempted to address these problems through legislative measures, including the following:

• In Norway in 2003, legislation was changed to stipulate that there must be at least 40% female representation on the boards of directors of publicly traded businesses.
• Since 2011, legislation has existed in France requiring businesses with more than 50 employees to directly tackle gender inequality at work
• Since 2021, German companies with more than 3,000 employees must have at least one female board member.
• In the UK, businesses with more than 250 employees are required to disclose the gender pay gap. This has served to identify areas where there is still work to be done while also increasing the level of transparency surrounding pay.

So, even though legislation can help create a legal framework for promoting gender equality in the workplace, it isn't always enough on its own to make sure that women get to the top.

One reason for this is that legislation is usually limited in scope and may not fully address the challenges that women face at work on a practical level. For example, laws and policies can help with issues like equal pay and non-discrimination, but there is no guarantee that they will also address the complex cultural and social factors that can affect equality and the mindsets that surround it.

Another obstacle is that it can be difficult to enforce legislation, particularly in nations or organisations where there is a lack of political will or resources to guarantee compliance with the law. This is a challenge that is faced by many countries. As a result, enforcement relies on women (or allies) highlighting the issues within their own workplaces and garnering enough support to take them forward. Many women fear this approach for the risk of being labelled "difficult" which would further limit career opportunities. Because of this, it may be hard for women to get the legal protections and opportunities that are available to them in theory.

In addition, the lack of female representation in leadership positions can be a self-perpetuating cycle. This happens when there aren't enough women in positions of power and influence. This can make it harder for other women to move up in their careers and become senior leaders, either due to lack of role models or senior sponsors.

In recent years, the #MeToo movement has brought attention to the problem of sexual harassment in the workplace. As a result, businesses have started to implement policies and training programs to support victims of harassment, to encourage them to report it, and to prevent it from occurring in the first place. However, a significant amount of work remains to be done before a secure and fair working environment can be guaranteed for all employees.

Women have made substantial strides toward attaining equality in the workplace, but there is still a long way to go before it can truly be said that they are fully equal to men. The fight for gender equality needs to go on until all women in the workforce have the same opportunities, privileges, and protections as men do. To promote gender equality in the workplace, it is important to take a comprehensive and multifaceted approach. This includes not only legal and policy changes, but also cultural and social changes, education and training, and support for women's leadership development and mentorship. Men have a role to play as partners and allies in the fight for gender equality, because men are usually in positions of power and influence and could play a big role in making things better.

The road ahead is still bumpy.

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Sources

1. European commission data, 2018
2. Gender pay gap data, UK Office for National Statistics,? 2020
3. Hong Kong, Sex Discrimination Ordinance, 1995.? Singapore, Women's Charter, 1961

Cover photo by Photo by?Omar Lopez?on?Unsplash