I am
also both grateful and humbled by the thoughtful and lengthy responses.
A heart
wrenching story was relayed to me about a brother and sister and there being
sufficient funds only for one to receive a tertiary education. As desperate as the
sister was to study at University, the funds were allocated to her brother,
because he was the male.
The
lady in question did achieve an education thanks to the support of an Aunt and
declared that no matter what, all her children would have the opportunity to
study. The person who relayed this story is the daughter of the lady who
received her Aunt’s help and has herself completed 5 degrees while working and
raising a family.
This is
progress and within the space of a lifetime too.
As
controversial as this may sound, little or no real progress has been made towards gender equality in Australia in this century. I therefore ask, "in Australia, is International
Women’s Day part of a cruel hoax where Women are again the victim?
Let us
look at how Australia is tracking in several areas: *
1.
The Gender Pay Gap
The
gender pay gap stands at 15.3% having closed by 3% since 2014.
If you
consider this to be progress, or even a start in the right direction, you would
be wrong.
In
2004, the pay gap was 14.9 so it has actually increased.
The gender pay gap has actually widened, not narrowed these last 14 years.
2.
Female Representation at Senior Levels in
Business
Women
make up 25% of Board Directors in Australia and only 25 of the ASX200 companies
have targets in place to increase female representation.
Further,
top-tier female managers earn $93,000 less than their peers, yes, ninety-three
thousand dollars less.
I guess this is no surprise given the pay gap has widened.
I have
seen no studies suggesting there is less discrimination, sexual harassment or
violence against women than there was 10, 15 or 20 years ago.
So, what is being celebrated?
There does appear to be
progress in some professions.
Take Medicine for example
Certainly, there are no
barriers to entry in to Medical studies. You meet the criteria or you don’t.
In 2016/17, there were more
Women than Men in General Practice in Australia **
On the surface, this is an
encouraging trend however are there other factors to consider.
Why do Women account for
less than one-third of advanced vocational trainees
in general surgery, intensive care and oral and maxillofacial surgery?
Could it be the reported
relative high propensity for allegations of sexual harassment and bullying that
have plagued male-dominated medical professions like surgery and intensive care?
What affect does this have
on Women choosing General Practice and hence the higher percentage of total GP’s?
So what has progress stalled?
In a
male dominated world, it seems the expectation is for Women to be more like “us”.
This must be an unachievable expectation and must be a concept we reject. After
all, it has not worked.
To
support this, I quote the following feedback:
“But the quality
and energy that is being done in now and days like today, is very masculine.
What I mean by that is it feels very hard, women ‘pushing’ an agenda and it
actually feels very imposing. Not only on men, but also other women.”
Further, the following words of historian Mary
Beard were brought to my attention:
"You can’t easily fit women into a structure that is
already coded as male; you have to change the structure.”
Our environment today is one
where we value “disruption” such as Uber, AirBnB and Amazon, all who have
achieved stunning results in a very short space of time.
We need gender equality
disruption and my random list to progress this is:
·
A new energy is needed for a
world where Men and Women meet in the middle where all gender can be true
to themselves and let go past behaviour expectations . The idea that equality will be achieved by Women becoming more
like Men is as failed as it is ludicrous. It is a joint responsibility.
·
Men can demand equality. Male actors in Hollywood have refused to commit to projects unless pay
gaps with their female co-stars were closed. Locally, when their female colleagues
had little or no bargaining power, high profile male AFL players stood up for
AFL Women to get a better deal as part of the new pay and conditions agreement.
Elite male cricketers refused to agree to a new pay deal until conditions for
Women and “less elite” males were improved despite Cricket Australia’s attempt
to divide and conquer. Sporting pay gaps are still huge but in AFL and Cricket,
there was progress.
·
Us Men have a responsibility
and must realise we are activists and beneficiaries and not spectators in the gender equality
challenge.
·
Human Resource areas have a
huge role to play. They are in positions to demand greater parity across their
organisation and to devise and enforce appropriate policies. They must also
hand over their role as being where complaints are made to and where they are
investigated. This must be independent and seen to be so.
·
Women who achieve high
positions in Corporate Life must become activists on behalf of change. Female
CEO’s have been great at addressing women’s forums on women’s issues and
challenges. However, they need to be speaking at far more diverse forums about
gender equality while demanding change within their own organisations. What if
Gail Kelly as CEO of Westpac had decreed that supplies would be sourced only
from organisations that could demonstrate adherence to equal employment and
opportunity practices and to robust complaint handling processes?
In summary, the most
interesting thing for me coming out of International Women’s Day are:
1.
The huge diversity in just
what the day means to Women and Men.
2.
It is a valued opportunity
to take a break and celebrate those who went before and battled for what Women
have today.
3.
There is no correlation with
#metoo
The most concerning thing I
have discovered is just how little progress has been made in Australia in so
many areas and just how much has still to be done.
I also learned that we may
be delusional about what has been achieved in real terms over the last 20
years.
* Article including links to source data quoted
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