Barriers to promotion for women

Press, 27 January 1988, Page 12

Barriers to promotion for women

By

DEBORAH

MCPHERSON

New Zealand women tend to be better qualified for their jobs than men, but are still markedly absent from senior positions because of discrimination and assumptions about their child care roles, suggests a study on careers in the public service. The study, compiled by the Society For Research on Women, compares the career developments of men and women mainly in the public service, but also shows similar barriers to promotion face women in other professions such as law, the media, teaching and banking. Up to 128 women and 142 men working in executive/clerical classes in the Wellington public service were questioned during the study. Researchers found a significant lack of women at senior levels in the public service and other

professions, even though they were often better qualified, more committed and positive about their jobs than men. They concluded that women were still penalised because of their sex, family responsibilities, and employers’ preconceived assumptions about their capabilities, characteristics, domestic circumstances and lack of mobility.

Prejudice based on women’s traditional roles persists, say the researchers.

“There is a persistent belief that women act differently from men and therefore cannot cope with the demands of a managerial position,” they say.

They also noted that the system of election of directors, the "old boy network,” society’s attitudes and conservatism all work against the appointment of women to senior managerial positions.

While a significant number of women interviewed successfully combined the dual responsibilities of work and family, the absence of women at senior levels suggests family responsibilities are an obstacle to advancement, remark the researchers.

They admit that new provisions for child care and part-time work in the public service should make it easier for both men and women to have a more flexible working life, but they add, more provisions for child care and alternative work options such as job sharing are still needed.

The high quality of the womens’ school and tertiary qualifications also “lends support to the belief that women must be twice as good to get half as far,” comment the researchers.

Significantly, women in

managerial positions are less likely than men to be married or to have children living with them, suggesting that women still have to make choices between marriage, family and a career.

Women also want changes in their work situation that will make the interaction between their paid work and family lives easier, including child care facilities, job sharing, permanent part-time work and more flexible hours.

Women are twice as interested in part-time work as men, which is perhaps a reflection of the men’s stronger conditioning to the 40-hour, 40year career, remark the researchers.

The study found that both men and women in the public service are ambitious, and that careers are important to both sexes. More women than men also said they en-

joyed their jobs. The women said they liked the sense of achievement they felt and the mental stimulation and variety of the work.

Women tend to work in more specialised areas than men, but are just as likely to consider themselves to have managerial potential, says the study. Unlike the men, however, many of them lack confidence in themselves and their ability, and are anxious about how little relevant experience they have for the position.

In summing up, the study suggests public service management could also do with more training in human relations, particularly since management is held responsible by both men and women surveyed for discrimination in the work place. Management is also criticised by staff for providing insufficient •. feedback and being difficult to deal with.