Over 80 per cent of full-time workers in the charity sector think that gender discrimination in the workplace is present, while 48 per cent say they have experienced it, research published today to coincide with International Women’s day has shown.
The ‘Perceptions of Gender Discrimination in the Workplace 2018’ poll was carried out by Investors in People which produce a standard for people management. It looked at gender discrimination across a range of industries.
The report revealed that over 8 in 10 workers in the charity sector believe that workplace gender discrimination exists.
It also found that 27 per cent of workers feel that their gender has impacted their career progression in the charity sector.
Paul Devoy, chief executive of Investors in People, said: “There is clear gender disparity in this sector, with perceptions of ambition, pay and seniority evidencing discriminatory attitudes.”
‘Pushy’ or ‘determined’
The report also looks at perceptions in gender in the workplace, in particular looking into how ambitious men and women in the same organisation might be viewed differently.
The results showed that more than a quarter (26 per cent) of workers in the charity sector said that an ambitious women was most likely to be described as pushy. While 37 per cent said an ambitious man was most likely to be described as determined.
Investors in People say that this is compounded by research compiled by Civil Society Media and Charity Finance magazine, which showed that 71 of the chief executives at the top 100 charities are men, with just 27 women and two vacant positions.
It is also further evidenced by the findings of CharityJob’s research into diversity and discrimination in the charity sector, which found that men were less likely than women to feel that gender would have an impact on their career, with 27 per cent compared to 56 per cent.
Since its last report in 2016, Investors in People say there has only been a 3 per cent reduction in the proportion of women seeing the presence of workplace inequality across all industries, and a 4 per cent drop in the perception across all workers.
A poll of 1,000 men and 1,000 women full-time workers in the UK was launched in January 2018, with data captured via an online survey carried out by research organisation One Poll. This data was then used to inform the findings presented in IIP’s ‘Perceptions of Gender Discrimination in the Workplace 2018’ poll.
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