How do women in the UK feel about gender equality in the workplace?

How do women feel about their participation in the workplace in the UK? Do they feel that they form a critical part of the workforce or do we still have a long way to go in terms of gender equality? This article provides insights into these and more such questions.

Women are a crucial part of any company’s workforce. According to a press release by the UK Government, ‘the number of working women has now reached 15.7 million – a rise of 2 million since 2010 with more women progressing into senior, higher-skilled jobs.’ In such a scenario, it becomes important to make sure that women are not just treated and paid fairly, but that their needs and challenges are understood and addressed timely by companies’ HR departments. In a quest to understand more about the feelings of women who form a part of the workforce regarding their current job and company, we asked them a few questions and have made some interesting observations.

For the purpose of this article, we have asked a set of questions to both men and women and a set of questions exclusively to female respondents in order to understand how different it is for both the genders. Software Advice launched a survey with 1,001 participants (486 male respondents and 515 female respondents), above the age of 18 between 22nd December 2022 and 4th January 2023 from different parts of the UK. For the full methodology, scroll to the bottom of this article.

How satisfied are women with their current salary?

When we asked our respondents about their level of satisfaction with their salary with one being unsatisfied and five being highly satisfied, 38% of women respondents said that they were at level 3 (presumably moderately satisfied). In comparison, the percentage of male respondents who chose the three rating is 36%.

When we asked them the reasons behind their dissatisfaction, the following answers were recorded:

Why are some women not satisfied with their current salaries?

When we asked those women respondents who said that they were not 100% satisfied with their current salary the reasons for their dissatisfaction, 47% said that they were not satisfied because they don't get paid enough for the work they’re doing. Moreover, 36% expressed their dissatisfaction for the reason that they don't get paid enough to have a good living, 20% said that it’s because other companies in the same sector pay more, and 18% stated that other people in the same position get paid more than they do, among other answers.

When the same question was asked to males, the responses weren't statistically too different from the responses recorded from females on most of the parameters in the response options.

Majority of women not comfortable asking for a promotion

When we asked respondents how comfortable they would feel about asking their manager for a promotion, the majority (51%) of women respondents weren't comfortable asking for a promotion with 34% being not very comfortable and 17% being not at all comfortable compared to 35% of male respondents (26% not very comfortable and 9% not at all comfortable). Moreover, 28% of female survey takers said that they are moderately comfortable, 15% said that they are mostly comfortable, and 7% said that they are extremely comfortable.

Out of the overall respondents, it's interesting to note that 17% of males expressed that they were extremely comfortable asking for a raise, while only 7% of female respondents expressed the same view.

Have they received a promotion in their current job?

When we asked our respondents if they had received a promotion in their current job, 46% of total respondents said that they neither asked for nor received a promotion (38% males and 54% females). This is followed by 25% of women stating that they received a promotion without having to ask for it compared to 27% of males who expressed this view, 8% of women stating that although they asked for a promotion, they didn't receive it, compared to 12% males respondents who chose this response and a further 8% of women respondents stating that they received a promotion because they asked multiple times for it compared to 12% of male respondents who expressed this view.

It is interesting to note that while 6% of women said that they received a promotion because they asked once for it, the number was 14% for men choosing the same response. However, on all other occasions, the responses collected from males were close to females.

Is there equity in salary between men and women?

When we asked respondents about their thoughts on whether the equity of salary between men and women is respected in their current company, the following answers were recorded.

What is the representation of women in leadership roles?

When we asked respondents if there are any women in senior leadership (from team managers to C-suite execs) in their company, 50% of women said there are a few women in senior leadership positions. Moreover, 40% of women said that there are many women in senior leadership positions, followed by 8% of women saying that there are no women in senior leadership positions, among other responses.

How many rounds of interviews do women undergo?

When we asked respondents about the number of job interviews they went through before getting hired at their current job, 50% of women respondents said that they underwent one round of interviews compared to 40% of males who expressed this view. This is followed by 20% of women respondents saying that they had to go through two rounds of interviews while 25% of their male counterparts underwent the same.

Most of the responses collected from men and women were overall statistically similar for this question.

How do women feel about various aspects of their job role?

When we specifically asked women respondents about the extent to which they agree or disagree with various aspects of their current job profile, the following responses were collected:

How often are women compared to their male counterparts?

When we asked women respondents how often they feel they are compared to their male colleagues in their current job, interestingly, 40% said that they never feel compared. This is followed by 25% saying they are rarely compared while 20% feel that they are sometimes compared. 10% said often and 5% said that they are very frequently compared.

Do women struggle to make a choice between family and career?

When we asked women survey-takers if they think that women nowadays struggle with deciding between having a family and a career, a combined total of 78% of women respondents said that it is a struggle, with 45% saying that some women struggle while 33% feel that a lot of women struggle to make this decision. Moreover, 15% said that they don’t think women have to struggle to make a decision between career and family, while 7% are not sure.

How does pregnancy impact women in the workplace?

Interestingly, when we asked those women respondents with children under 18 who got pregnant while they were working in a company if they were concerned about their job when they discovered that they were pregnant, 43% said they weren't concerned at all. This is followed by 34% saying that they were a little bit concerned, while 23% said that they were very concerned.

What sort of support was received upon sharing pregnancy news?

When we asked the same subset of women respondents what kind of support they received post sharing their pregnancy news, 38% said that they did not receive any support. This is followed by 31% saying that they were offered more flexible working hours, while 26% said that they were offered reduced working hours. Moreover, 21% said that they got fewer tasks and 16% said that they got the option of the possibility of working from home, among other options.

Does parental status change anything for women?

When we asked those women who have children under the age of 18 who got pregnant while working in a company to what extent they agree or disagree with the following statements about their parental status, the following responses were recorded:

In conclusion

It was interesting to see that while women aren't comfortable/satisfied with some aspects of their job role like current salary, asking for promotions, and the struggles of managing family and career, the responses collected on the same aspects from their male counterparts also mostly express similar sentiments. This is to say that both men and women have similar feelings about some areas of concern.

Overall, a significant proportion of women respondents do not believe that there is gender discrimination at work. As per the responses collected, our female survey-takers believe there is equity in pay and opportunities, and a preponderance of women never or rarely feel compared to their male counterparts. Some women respondents have also expressed receiving some form of support during their pregnancy and said that they weren't majorly concerned about their job upon learning about the news of their pregnancy.