Over two thousand comments, one hundred and seventy five thousand Facebook shares and thousands of tweets later, the article published in American magazine The Atlantic, ‘Why Women Still Can’t Have It All,’ is still making serious waves around the world. Written by Anne-Marie Slaughter, a mother of two teenage sons who spent two years working in the White House, the story says, “it’s time to stop fooling ourselves, the women who have managed to be both mothers and top professionals are superhuman, rich, or self-employed.”
It’s a bold statement and one that is difficult for any woman to hear but the reality is that raising children means being lenient with your schedule but a top of the ladder full time job does not allow for much flexibility at all.
As much as we wish it weren’t so, women with families simply cannot manage to rise up the ladder as fast as men. But the workforce is changing and as diversity in the workforce becomes a critical business imperative, employers are opening up to the idea of flexible hours which means the playing field will be levelled out and women may be able to finally ‘have it all.’
We asked Nareen Young, the Diversity Council Australia’s CEO, a few questions about women in the workforce, the rights we have when it comes to flexibility and the kind of changes we can expect to see in the coming years…
RESCU: We know we’ve made great strides in terms of equality in the workforce but are there still areas where you feel women are missing out? If so, where?
Nareen Young: Despite more than two decades since the Equal Opportunity for Women Act was first implemented, representation of women in leadership positions in Australian business is stubbornly low.
In 2012, only 14% of directors in the top 200 companies listed on the stock exchange are women, although this is slightly up compared with 13.4% in 2011.
Unfortunately, 64 of these companies do not have a single woman on their board. The gender pay gap is still a major problem.
On average, women working full-time earn 17.6% less than men working full-time and female graduates earn $2,000 per annum less than male graduates on entering the workforce. Flexible working and careers are important for women (and men!) trying to balance their work and caring responsibilities.
But part-time workers often languish in low paid, insecure and low status jobs. More needs to be done to ensure flexible working is seen as a valid and legitimate career choice.
RESCU: If women feel they are the victim of inequality in the workforce, what can they do?
Nareen Young: Every employer, regardless of its size, must take “all reasonable steps” to prevent discrimination and harassment in the workplace if they wish to avoid liability.
If a woman feels she is being treated unequally because of her gender, her first step should be to raise her concerns with her employer.
Many employers have a grievance procedure or a diversity/EEO contact officer who can discuss her concerns. If she is not satisfied with the response, she can complain to the Australian Human Rights Commission or to similar bodies that administer state and territory anti-discrimination laws commission.
RESCU: What rights do we have when it comes to requesting flexibility?
Nareen Young: The Fair Work Act provides employees in the national workplace relations system with a legal right to request a flexible working arrangement.
To be eligible:
– you must be the parent or carer of a child who is under school age or under 18 and has a disability, and
– you have worked for your employer for at least 12 months on a full-time or part-time basis, or
– you have been working as a long-term casual employee, and have a reasonable expectation of ongoing employment.
Employers must seriously consider a request for flexible working arrangements but may refuse on reasonable business grounds.
RESCU: How are you working to influence change in Australia’s working culture and what sort of changes can we expect to see in the next 5-10 years?
Nareen Young: We have recently launched a ‘Get Flexible!’ campaign aimed at encouraging flexible working and careers. Several high profile and influential Australians have joined the campaign as Flexibility Ambassadors to help promote greater understanding of the benefits of making flexible work and careers standard business practice in Australia. For more information about the campaign, visit www.getflexible.dca.org.au.
The way we work is also changing as new technology allows work to be conducted any time and anywhere. I think we will see more and more people teleworking and the boundaries between work and home become increasingly blurred. This is just one of the many reasons why it’s critical that employers adopt new ways of thinking and acting on flexible working to take advantage of the benefits.
Do you think women can, ‘have it all’? Have you ever experience a lack of flexibility in the work place that has left you feeling as though you can’t juggle a family and a full-time job? Tell us about it on Facebook.
