11.03.2020

1 in 5 women have missed out on a promotion to a male colleague

Glassdoor, one of the world’s largest job and recruiting sites, has released research looking at the experiences and challenges of women at work.

Career Progression

In a survey, 20 per cent of women say they have missed out on a promotion at work to a colleague of the opposite sex, rising to 24 per cent of women aged between 16 - 24 and 28 per cent of women aged between 25 - 34 years old. In addition, almost a fifth (18 per cent) believe their gender holds them back at work.

Worryingly, less than half (49 per cent) of women say they are comfortable putting themselves forward for new opportunities at work. Numerous proactive government and company-level efforts are trying to get more women in senior positions and reduce the number of women missing out on promotions. The Hampton-Alexander Review (1) recently announced that FTSE 100 has met the target of 33 per cent women on boards, but also highlighted a lack of women in senior and executive roles. This is supported by 35 per cent of those surveyed believing that their company should do more to promote women into senior positions, with sentiment among men even stronger at 38 per cent.

Pay Equality

According to Glassdoor Economic Research (2), the unadjusted pay gap in the UK means that women earn 82p for every £1 that men earn. There are many reasons at play, such as occupational sorting with women overrepresented in lower paying, flexible jobs, but women are also believed to be less confident when it comes to negotiating higher salaries for themselves. Glassdoor’s research today shows that just over a fifth (22 per cent) of women feel comfortable asking for a pay rise at work, compared to a third (33 per cent) of men.

Jo Cresswell, Careers Expert, at Glassdoor, comments: “While women have traditionally taken on lower paid jobs which provide them with flexibility to start and look after a family, we’ve gone through a step change with women now increasingly prioritising career progression. This means we are seeing more women reaching more senior positions before taking a career break. However, salaries have not kept up with this trend and women are still, on average, paid proportionally less than men.”

Workplace Experience

That being said, employees place a company’s culture and values over salary and compensation when it comes to workplace satisfaction (3). This could be as simple as a sense of belonging and being supported. Glassdoor’s research shows that more than half (51 per cent) of women are working in businesses where they feel comfortable asking for time off work for family reasons, 57 per cent feel comfortable asking for time off work for medical reasons and just under half (47 per cent) feel comfortable speaking with their manager when they have a personal problem.

Jo Cresswell adds: “Employees want to work in an environment in which they feel professionally challenged and personally supported, no matter what they have going on in their lives. It’s encouraging that women in particular feel comfortable raising personal challenges and situations with their managers, this will go a long way towards workplace satisfaction and a feeling of work life balance.”

References:
(1) https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51417469
(2) https://www.glassdoor.com/research/gender-pay-gap-2019/

(3) https://www.glassdoor.com/research/employee-satisfaction-drivers/

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