Pia Carnegie is Programme Lead for the MA in Human Resource Management at Bucks and, in the build up to International Women's Day, has written about the current environment for women in the workplace.

What would you say is the current landscape for women in the workplace?

Despite the rise, growth and promise of the #MeToo movement, I would argue that the landscape for women in most sectors hasn’t really changed over the last year and a half. Despite research in to how gender-diverse companies are more productive, few companies are adopting the policy changes needed to create a culture shift to allow for the equal growth and development of their employees. The Women in the Workplace 2018 report recognises how women are making claims on leadership positions however often encounter a workplace culture that makes the challenges severe.

Do women still have obstacles to overcome to thrive in the workplace?

Yes, most definitely. As mentioned, one of the biggest obstacles is culture. This ranges from the cultural expectations and norms of the company, to the cultural expectations and norms of society, and then to that of the individual. The latter is possibly one of the most challenging and often overlooked. It has been highlighted in research that women themselves pose the biggest obstacle, with it being noted that women don’t ask for more, and constantly undervalue their talents. Women don’t always own their power to lead and often shy away from conflict. Statistically women tend to be more flexible in their schedules, often spending fewer hours at work than their male counterparts. It should be noted however there is a growing shift in this trend as more men take up opportunities for paternity and parental leave, as well as flexible working opportunities for a better work-life balance.

Is the workplace now well set up to allow women to pursue career ambitions on a level field with men?

It is recognised that men and women have equal ambitions to pursue a successful career, and when women leave education their results are slightly higher than that of their male counterparts. However, as women move into their work careers, they are generally paid less for similar work, and do not ascend to their desired ambition. As such, women tend to lose their ambition and fail to challenge the obstacles to progress. For those women who do make it, there is research that tends to suggest that women are more competitive against each other, competing for the few top managerial roles available to them, which poses yet another obstacle to overcome.

The Women in Workplace 2018 report suggests that male leaders may not be fully aware of, or even able to recognise, the obstacles that women often face.

In part, there is a culture of trivialising these obstacles, which makes it more difficult for them to be addressed. Whilst some companies are taking the matter seriously, there is still a lot of work to be done.

Do you feel a glass ceiling exists and what evidence is there to support this?

Despite 2018 heralding the news of a increase of women serving at the head of their organisation as CEO, the stark reality is that only 22% of UK companies who installed a new CEO chose a woman, with two thirds of those women replacing male predecessors.

There is a disparity between sectors, with the increase being focused within government and non-profit sectors, whilst Fortune 500 companies saw a slight decline in representation.

The glass ceiling is something that is still being reported on, and for some industries, is still very much in place. The issue of gender equality is hugely important, and contentious, with disparities in pay and opportunity repeatedly brought into sharp focus year on year.

How do you see the future for women in the workplace?

Despite decades passing since the liberation of women, and the various women’s movements since then, equalisation between the sexes in the workplace has not been achieved.

The need for a strong culture shift to overcome slow-moving progress and the entrenchment of barriers to an upward movement for women is required for any real advancement to be made.

Role models and mentors will play a large role as to how the future of the workplace for women will look like, as these are the people who will guide and implement any shift and development of culture.

I believe that progress is being made, as there has been a noticeable rise in the number of prominent women in high-profile roles, however there are still many battles to be won.

What do you think of the landscape for female employees at Bucks?

Bucks has a wealth of female talent at various levels of the organisational hierarchy. Support for their staff overall is forthcoming, and something the University takes pride in. However, like all organisations, there is always room for growth and development or else complacency can arise to the detriment of staff, both male and female alike.