Many women still feel they need to work harder than men to get ahead in the workplace, according to a poll.
The Monster.ca poll finds that 44% of women (and 28% of men) believe that nothing has changed in 25 years, in terms of women still needing to fight harder for opportunities.
The poll also revealed that 81% of female respondents believe that women need to prove they have superior skills and experience to compete with men when applying for jobs.
Similarly, most women regard leadership positions as elusive, with 74% of agreeing that although it is more common for women to be in leadership positions than 25 years ago, they still need to work much harder than men to get ahead.
Seventy-two percent agree with the statement “There are career options for women, but men still dominate the workforce.” Those 55-plus are more likely to agree (82%) compared with those ages 18 to 34 (66%).
When asked which industries are dominated by men, respondents commonly listed the STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) sectors, finance and medicine.
Those who have been in the workforce over the last 25 years may be more pessimistic than generation Y, but change is in the air.
According to Statistics Canada’s 2012 report Changing labour market conditions for young Canadians, women ages 25 to 34 had more favourable employment outcomes in 2012 than did their counterparts in 1981, whereas men ages 25 to 34 living in non-oil-producing provinces had lower employment outcomes in 2012 than in 1981.
Similarly, notwithstanding the perception by some that medicine is a male-dominated sector, women now outnumber men in Canadian medical schools.
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