Gender inequality | The women paving their way to the top

One of the biggest issues HR needs to be aware of in the workplace is gender inequality.

Despite the serious strides made by influential female leaders within the past few years, all of which led up to 2018 being dubbed the ‘Year of the Woman’. It’s sadly the reality that in 2019, women still face a barrage of sexism, potential harassment and a very real glass ceiling when trying to climb the career ladder – as evidenced by the now-infamous cases of individuals such as Harvey Weinstein, Peter Williams of Jack Wills and the ongoing fight against the misogynistic actions of Arcadia Group tycoon Philip Green.  

As the shocking cases unfolded in the national press, it became obvious that misogyny at C-suite level is rife. In fact, according to research conducted by Skillcrush, less than five per cent of CEOs at S&P 500 companies are women, despite the fact that women make up a massive 47% of the US workforce. What’s worse is that the small amount that are leading companies is declining at an alarming rate.

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So, what’s stopping them? Well, it’s easy to forget that in the grand scheme of human history, we’re only just outside of the epicentre of the era of women’s suffrage; it was just 101 years ago that women in England earned the right to vote, let alone receive equal rights within the workplace. When considering the fact that many historically significant employers in the UK were thriving before women’s rights were even being discussed, and are still run with largely the same company culture. If this sounds unbelievable, consider the fact that Lloyd’s of London, an employer of over 2,500 people in London alone, was founded over three hundred years ago in 1686 and has still only had one singular female Chief Executive in that time.