APESMA Professional Women's Network

The APESMA 2009-10 Women in the Professions Survey Report has been released and can be accessed through this link: APESMA 2009-10 Women in the Professions Survey Report

The survey asked women in the technical professions a range of questions around working conditions and attitudes, and responses provided some real insight into the difficulties  professional women face in male-dominated professions like engineering and the sciences, where cultural issues are still a real barrier to progression and pay equity.

• Nearly 70% of respondents said that taking maternity/parental leave – including unpaid leave – was likely to be detrimental to their career, despite legally having access to these provisions.
• Disturbingly, nearly 40% of respondents stated that they had been bullied and 38% discriminated against in the course of their employment. Nearly 20% reported that they had been sexually harassed, although only one fifth of those had reported the incident through official channels. Reports of sexual harassment and discrimination were higher in male-dominated industries.
• 47.4% of respondents said that their career progression had been affected by workplace culture.
• And nearly one quarter of respondents expected that they would leave their profession within five years.

We asked respondents to identify the three top priorities for APESMA, governments and industry to address. The responses revealed that professional women were most concerned about:

• Flexible working arrangements and work/life balance (62%)
• Pay equity (41%)
• Career development and training (38%).

Now we are asking APESMA members: how does this tally with your experience? Do you agree that these should be the priority areas for APESMA to address? Please feel free to join the conversation in the comments.

For more information, or to get more involved in your Women’s Network, please get in touch with the National Women’s Coordinator .