More workers say gender discrimination exists than seven years ago

The Me Too era is upon us, yet discrimination in the workplace is not only persisting but increasing.

The Me Too era is upon us, yet discrimination in the workplace is not only persisting but increasing.

New research from recruiter Robert Walters revealed 82 per cent of professionals believed gender discrimination still existed in today’s workforce, up from 75 per cent in 2012.

Women were more likely than men to hold this view (90 per cent compared to 73 per cent) and more likely to believe they had personally been overlooked or disadvantaged during recruitment processes (29 per cent compared to 14 per cent).

Christopher Campbell, legal director of Aitken Legal, said workplace discrimination cases based on gender were slowly becoming more common.

“One (example) involved a transgender applicant who argued that she was not successful in the advertised teaching role because she was transgender,” he said.

“Another involved a male applicant who challenged the legality of a female gym rejecting his application for employment.”

Women are more likely to feel they have been overlooked at work because of their gender. Picture: iStock.

Robert Walters Queensland director Sinead Hourigan said increasing perceptions of gender discrimination were likely the result of growing awareness, rather than growing employer bias.

“Over the last decade, companies have tried a range of different strategies to hire more females for traditionally male-dominated roles,” she said.

“As the expression goes ‘what you can’t see, you can’t be’ and this lack of female presence in any industry will stymie the gender diversity growth that all employers are looking for.”

One way employers are addressing the issue is with gender-based hiring and quotas, which are legal if an exemption is granted from anti-discrimination laws by the Australian Human Rights Commission or a state anti-discrimination board.

Robert Walters’ Sinead Hourigan says workers are just becoming more aware. Picture: Adam Armstrong

In NSW alone, there were about 30 organisations with current exemptions allowing them to advertise jobs and internships to a specific gender — and all but one was targeting women.

Although some exemptions were based on customer needs, such as a breast screening clinic recruiting female radiographers or a men’s psychology centre recruiting only males, others were based on goals to increase workplace gender balance.

For example, the University of New South Wales planned to recruit only women in senior academic positions in faculties where the percentage of women was below 40 per cent; Strathfield Council designated up to 40 operational “outdoor” roles for women; and Hunter Valley Training Company put aside 35 trade apprenticeships or traineeships specifically for women.

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Although typically used to help counter unconscious bias, gender-based hiring may be inadvertently leading to increased perceptions of discrimination.

Employer Branding Australia chief energy officer Mark Puncher said the debate over quotas was very controversial.

“Many would argue it’s an absolute requirement because until you get more women into your leadership team, the company will struggle to attract women,” he said.

“But naturally, from a gender point of view, it can be problematic.”

Miranda Doughty is one of the women who have helped boost Australian Rail Track Corporation’s gender diversity. Picture: Supplied

WHEN QUOTAS WORK

Three years ago, Australian Rail Track Corporation realised it had a diversity problem.

Fewer than one in five workers were women so the company gained permission from the Anti-Discrimination Board of NSW to begin a women-only recruitment drive for its Hunter Valley rail project.

ARTC group executive for corporate affairs and people Jane Lavender-Baker said the overall workforce was 18 per cent women, and just 12 per cent in the Hunter Valley.

“We recognised that a diverse workforce is fundamental to building a commercially strong, innovative and customer-focused organisation,” she said.

ARTC received more than 900 applications for its track maintenance roles before 11 women were appointed to work with field-based teams.

One of these was Miranda Doughty, who is now project team leader for maintenance services.

She said although it was a one-off female-focused recruitment drive, the portion of women working for ARTC had now reached 22 per cent because of its knock-on effects.

“We do demonstrations at events (and) the public see females in the orange working for the company and doing welding displays and see women can get involved and there are opportunities if they want it,” she said.

“We have seen increased numbers of female applicants, now we always have at least one female applying for a role.”

Mrs Doughty said she was surprised perceptions of discrimination were increasing as she had never personally experienced this in her current role or previous roles.

“I have always been treated equally with equal opportunities and always had equal pay,” she said.

“It’s unfortunate people feel that way.”

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