Are we really still discussing gender equality in the work place? Seriously? It’s 2017

 As a fresh graduate entering the work place in 2002, care free, ambitious and career hungry, I never expected there to be barriers just because I was a woman. In all fairness it wasn’t until later in my career that I began to experience any prejudice. From being asked at interview based on my age “are you planning on having kids because we wouldn’t want to hire you for you to leave any time soon,” through to it being assumed you want to put your career on hold because you have a child….

Far too often the playing field isn’t equal but it took a while for me to truly understand this.

In our household, my partner is sharing my maternity leave – you could say we have achieved a gender-neutral home life. We are fortunate that he works for a company that embraces the father’s role as much as the mother’s in terms of childcare. However, gender equality goes beyond just offering better childcare options, it extends to the whole business - those with children and those without.

Why do companies have trouble attracting and retaining women in the resources industry? Why can’t we enjoy a gender-neutral workforce? After all it’s proven that diverse companies benefit from increased profits.

Many companies have taken a knee jerk reaction to gender diversity by setting gender quotas and stating, “we only want women for this role” and yet the gender gap issue still remains. The problems are actually way beyond the work place; they are imbedded in our very society that continues to feed the stereotypes for the younger generations not even in the work place as yet.

So what do women want? Do they want to be selected just because they are a woman? Surely that’s not fair on the men applying for the job? It might be positive discrimination, but it’s still discrimination. Surely women, like men, want to be chosen on merit?

To answer these questions we decided we needed to understand what the barriers are for women in the resources sector because although things have changed and improvements have been made, we can still do so much better. It’s more than just hiring more women. It’s more than crèche services. And it’s more than gender quotas.

We want to work in partnership with our clients to drive change. We have spoken with our contractors, clients and candidates to get under the skin of this longstanding debate.

Are you interested in driving change and want to know more? Click the link below to download our white paper on gender diversity. It summarises our findings, includes key questions for companies and women and provides practical advice on how we can work towards a more gender neural workforce.

We’re all in this together.

Claire Woodhouse

Recruitment Manager