Jobs and Careers - Hilary Devey 2013 - (Page 195)

DIVERSITY FAIR GAME It may not all be fair and square in the workplace just yet, but we're certainly getting there... W e’ve come a long way since Emmeline Pankhurst led the fight for equal rights for women. But when it comes to work, there’s still some way to go for the fairer sex to be treated as equals. The most recent legislation is the Equality Act 2010, which is intended to prevent discrimination in employment, whether this be on the grounds of sex, religion, disability, age or sexual orientation. It was established to ensure that people are given equal rights in all aspects of their employment. Changing times WORDS: Georgina Maric | PICTURES: Shutterstock If you go back just 25 years, women were still considered second class citizens in the workplace. They had very few rights, and could be sacked from their jobs simply for being pregnant. Women were primarily simply seen as mothers and housewives, not business professionals. Times have changed considerably since then. Women of today work everywhere men do, including in the army and on oil rigs. The numbers of women chief executive officers (CEOs) in business is on the rise, albeit slowly. In theory, being a woman no longer excludes you from doing any job carried out by a man. Fair pay, Fair play When it comes to salary, in reality women still aren’t getting a fair deal. Despite securing executive and managerial positions, they’re often not paid as well as their male counterparts. In Britain, a female working full-time earns just 82% of her male colleague’s salary, and female managers earn on average £10,000 less than men in the same jobs according to a study by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI). Decisionmaking boards in companies are still predominantly made up of white, middle-class, middle-aged men from the same set of schools and universities. This can lead to complacency with nobody willing to rock the boat. BalanCing Business esses Many busin that ing are discover e their b women could – if they n secret weapo ity and offer flexibil support On the positive side, 72% of companies in the top half of the FTSE-100 now have female directors, compared with only 44% of companies in the lower half. This is hopefully a sign that companies are starting to realise having women on the board is a positive business move. Many businesses are discovering that women could be their secret weapon. If they offer flexibility and support, having women in managerial positions and on boards can not only make businesses more diverse, it can also attract a broader customer base, in turn leading to bigger profits. It is perhaps women themselves, who need to realise their potential and push themselves to thrive in these positions. www.jobsandcareersmag.com 195 http://www.jobsandcareersmag.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Jobs and Careers - Hilary Devey 2013

Ed's letter
Meet Hilary
News
Dress for success
Bags of style
Onwards and upwards
The path to enlightenment
On the job
Under operation
Under assessment
Question time
Rising up the ranks
Law and order
Make your search social
On the books
Getting graphic
Sowing the seeds
Making contact
On the move
Going green
Get the cogs turning
Building it up
On the factory floor
Engineering change
Take it up a gear
A rainy-day career
Bank on it
Full house
Talk shop
A clean slate
Hungry work
Quench your thirst
At your leisure
All's fair and square
Head in the clouds
Online round-up
Jobs & Careers - East Midlands
Jobs & Careers - North West
Jobs & Careers - South East
Jobs & Careers - South East
Jobs & Careers - South West

Jobs and Careers - Hilary Devey 2013