70% of Females Affected By Workplace Sexual Harassment

The much-lauded employment business Randstad has released a public document named ‘the Gender Equality in the Workplace Report’ which found that more than seventy per cent of working females in the United Kingdom who had either had the misfortune of experiencing sexual-related discriminatory behaviour from male colleagues or had been in a position to closely observe such behaviour first hand in the working environment.

What Did The Joint Report Find?

As part of its process of compiling the Report, Randstad approached some six thousand female colleagues and the organisers of the survey made the following discoveries, it found that:

• over seventy per cent of females had found themselves in the unfortunate position of facing discriminatory conduct from male colleagues or had been in a position to closely observe such behaviour from male members of the workforce towards female members of staff 
• a similar number and just over sixty-five per cent of female members of the workforce had encountered and endured discrimination on the grounds of their gender
• around seventy per cent of female colleagues were of the view that returning to a senior workplace role part-time after giving birth was impossible
• tellingly in the technology industry this appears to have been significantly higher with around three-quarters of the female workforce feeling this way

Which Industry is Discrimination Most Likely?

The results of the Report were not just eye-opening for the reasons provided above. The investigators also examined which industries were most likely to be prone to experiencing sexual harassment. It found that:

• female members of staff were most likely to receive unwanted conduct based on sex in technology and construction-related jobs
• just over forty per cent of female staff members disclosed that this form of behaviour had adversely affected their careers in a negative way
• somewhat remarkably, a few percentage points over five per cent of females employed in technology-related sectors had not endured any form of discriminatory conduct from male members of staff whilst in the workforce

Female Manager Recruitment?

So what industry recruits the most managers? According to the ‘Gender Equality in the Workplace Report,’ the construction industry has fallen into the relegation zone on female management recruitment. The report found that:

• over fifty-per-cent commented that opportunities for training for management positions were non-existent
• just over forty-five per cent claimed there were deficient numbers of female mentors, leaders and managers to inspire them
• around forty-per-cent of females employed in construction-related work had never worked for a female manager.

So what sectors were top of the pop when it comes to female management recruitment? Interestingly, the Report revealed that the education sector was top of the hit parade. On the statistics, those employed in this sector have around three managers who were charged with supervising them. This was apparently in stark contrast to and over the industry median range. Across the board, in the United Kingdom, those who are employed have two female managers.

Our Survey Said…?

The Gender Equality in the Workplace Reportv also investigated ideas and attitudes towards how both genders would take to female managers. There was almost unanimous approval for female managers. The Report elaborated further on the people’s belief that having a woman employed in a line management role it would enhance their working environment daily or preserve it in the same position. 

Employers need to be doing more to enforce anti-discrimination policies, create a positive sentiment amongst female colleagues in the workplace and provide greater opportunities for training so more female managers can be appointed.

Written By Adam Green

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THE ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN USING THE FOLLOWING SOURCES 

[SOURCE 1] Urquart, Jasmine – Third of women’s careers affected by sexual harassment – 12 September 2022 – People Management - Third of women’s careers affected by sexual harassment, study finds (peoplemanagement.co.uk)

[SOURCE 2] Randstad – Gender Equality in the workplace 2022 - Workplace gender equality 2022| Randstad UK

[SOURCE 3] Jackson, Laura -Sexual Harassment: what can HR do? – People Management - 26 July 2022 - Sexual harassment: what can HR do? (peoplemanagement.co.uk)

[SOURCE 4] Aldridge, Catriona and Lane, Melanie – Preventing sexual harassment in the hospitality sector – People Management – 11 July 2022 - MPs criticise the government for refusing to introduce mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting (peoplemanagement.co.uk)

[SOURCE 5] Isaacs, Tomi – It’s time to put a stop to misogyny in business – 30 June 2022 – People Management - It’s time to put a stop to misogyny in business (peoplemanagement.co.uk)