Why are women unemployed at a higher rate than men?

For every director-level woman promoted to the next level, two female directors choose to leave the company. This report is based on data and insights from her 333 companies representing over 12 million people and survey responses from over 40,000 employees. .

“Female leaders are at their highest turnover rate ever. I am choosing to go to a company that is good at what I do,” says Sheryl Sandberg, founder of Lean In.

Wage Gap Petition

One potential reason could be the gender pay gap that continues to plague women who are grossly underrepresented despite doing equal work. In New Zealand there is a movement to force change.

Mind the Gap, an advocacy group that advocates for public reporting of the gender and ethnic pay gap, recently released a petition with 8,559 signatures urging the government to incorporate gender and ethnic pay gap reporting into law. handed over.

Oct. 20 marks the 50th anniversary of New Zealand’s passing the Equal Pay Act, which made it illegal for men to be paid more than women for the same work, but Mindthegap co-founder Jo Cribb and Delwyn Stuart say it’s time to pay your respects. Those who fought for law change by promising that New Zealanders would finally get paid fairly in New Zealand.

“We know that if governments make pay gap reporting mandatory, more businesses will become aware of pay gaps and start addressing them, ultimately making New Zealand a fairer place to work,” said Stuart. said Mr.

Salary is the most important

Similar problems persist in Canada. Thirty-three percent of women say they have noticed pay inequity in their organization. A new employee in the same role is offered a higher salary than the current employee.

According to a Robert Half study, this compares to 20% of men reporting the same thing.

And 57% of women say their biggest concern at work is not keeping up with inflation, compared to 45% of men.

According to the Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives (CCPA), nearly two-thirds (64%) of Canadian workers’ wages lag behind rising inflation.

According to an ADP study released in 2021, women earned 23% less than men in 2020 total earnings (pre-tax salary and other compensation).

Closing the gap must address both pay equity and increasing the proportion of women in higher-paying jobs, according to the nonprofit Catalyst.

“The gender pay gap and pay equity are related but not interchangeable. , the gender pay gap will persist,” Catalist said.

toxic environment

Pay inequality is a big issue, but so is a toxic workplace, which for some women can be another major reason for leaving.

Angela Workman-Stark, Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior at Athabasca University (who also served as RCMP’s chief executive),’s research over the past six years has shown clear red flags that something is wrong. It is shown that there are several

She said it starts with the type of culture in which it is practiced.

“A competitive environment? Is it focused on acts of endurance and strength, such as people working long hours to prove their commitment and worth? The idea that work must be prioritized over family? Can you respond to requests for overtime hours such as long working hours and overtime?

This toxic culture is especially evident in male-dominated industries such as law enforcement, military, IT and finance, said Workman-Stark.

“This idea of ​​showing no signs of weakness or appearing to engage in any kind of behavior that could be perceived as a woman and ridiculed as weakness comes up very strongly. ”

Low desire to lead?

One reason for the gender gap in corporate leadership roles may simply be that fewer women want to be leaders, according to new research.

The study was conducted by organizational behaviorist Ekaterina Nechaeva, gender researcher Leah Shepard, and collaborator Tatyana Barshkina.

Shepard told Bloomberg that he had long been baffled by the continuing gender leadership gap in business despite the company’s diversity efforts.

“The conversation about women and leadership has been dominated by stigma and discrimination. Are you going?” said Shepard.