EVENTS: Scotland and UK wide

In this post you will find a selection of up and coming events and programmes relating to gender equality and women's participation in the labour market.

Women in Renewable Energy Scotland (WiRES)

WiRES is a network for women working, or who would like to work, in the renewable energy sector in Scotland. Our aim is to support women's participation in the sector through information, education, and networking opportunities. WiRES is currently hosted by Close the Gap.

Edinburgh Meet-up for Women in Renewable Energy

The Newsroom, Edinburgh

January 15, 6.00pm-8.00pm

*No registration necessary*

WiRES members Claire Addison, Sarah Caraher, and Gail Watt are organising a series of meet-ups in Edinburgh. These events will give WiRES members the opportunity to meet and network with other women working in renewable energy on a regular and informal basis.

The next Edinburgh meet-up is being held at The Newsroom in Edinburgh on Thursday 15 January 2015 at 6pm.

The meet-ups are open to women working, or who would like to work, in the renewable industry in Scotland, from all sectors, occupations, and career levels.

Please note that WiRES does not provide any food or drinks at these meet-ups.

If you are interested in starting WiRES meet-ups in your own city or region, do get in touch at info@wirescotland.com.

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EQUATE SCOTLAND

Established in 2006, Equate Scotland is Scotland’s expert in gender equality in the fields of science, engineering, technology and the built environment. Based in the Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Creative Industries at Edinburgh Napier University we work across Scotland in education and employment.

Everybody Needs a Coach

5 February 2015 - 18:30

Equate Scotland

Equate Scotland and the Women's Engineering Society are delighted to invite you to an upbeat event that will explore how coaching and mentoring can help you to develop your career and fulfil your ambitions.

Want to improve your work /life balance?

10 February 2015 - 12:00

Equate Scotland

We understand it’s difficult to make time to attend workshops in person so we hope we can sneak into your work space for 60 minutes to create some ‘me’ time!

CVs, applications and interviews

21 February 2015 - 10:00

Equate Scotland

Thinking about a change of job or looking to get back into a career in SET?

See more at: http://www.equatescotland.org.uk/events#sthash.dpY1V5Mu.dpuf

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WISE - Women in Science and Engineering

A wide range of events across the UK from small workshops through training courses to major conferences. See more information

Career Development Programme for Women in STEM

Four day course spread over 3 months starting in February 2015
Delivered by Skills 4

Support for women in middle management to move on to the next level. The programme equips participants with the tools and confidence to showcase and achieve their potential. Find out more

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Scottish Women's Convention International Women’s Day 2015

The SWC International Women’s Day event

Saturday 7th March 2015 in the Scottish Parliament

12.30pm - registration and lunch

If you wish to register your interest in attending this free event please do so either by emailing: info@scottishwomensconvention.org or telephoning 0141 339 4797

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Older Women in the Workplace seminar

Women in the UK aged between 50 and 59 earn on average 20.5% less than their male counterparts, facing a gender pay gap significantly larger than the UK-wide gap of 14.2%, therefore it is clear that the impact of women’s labour market inequality is compounded over a working lifetime.

Older women face a particular set of barriers to equality in the labour market. Having primary responsibility for caring limits women’s choices and opportunities in the workplace, impacts their earnings and places pressure on both their careers and their health. Older women in particular are impacted as they often balance work whilst being ‘sandwiched’ between caring for older people as well as for children and grandchildren. Older women are also the group least likely to receive training in the workplace. Many women identify confidence as a barrier to accessing learning opportunities in the workplace. However, it is not women’s lack of confidence in their own capabilities, but confidence in the fairness of the system or processes by which training opportunities are accessed. Historically, women have also faced disadvantage in occupational pensions schemes compared with men. Women are less likely to be in work and have access to occupational pension schemes and, when they are in work, they experience lower rates of pay and so are less able to contribute to a pension. As women on average earn less than men, any salary-related pension will also tend to be less. The result of this is that, despite a slight reduction since 1994/95, over two-thirds of pensioners living in poverty are women.

In partnership with One Workplace Equal Rights and the STUC Women’s Committee, last week we held a seminar to explore how trade unions could better support older women in the workplace. During the seminar we heard from three speakers on a range of issues which disproportionately impact older women. Kathleen Bolt from Support@Work Legal spoke about the legal protections and remedies available to support older women in the workplace, and highlighted some useful resources[1] which delegates could use to inform any action they might take. Roshini Sharma Joshi of Trust Housing Association discussed examples of negative assumptions often made about older women, and asked why employers are so quick to focus on perceived negatives of an aging workforce, and ignore the benefits of the experience which comes with it. Delegates also received an insight into how health issues associated with older women might be better dealt with through proactive preventative strategies and simple adjustments in the workplace.

During the round table session, delegates discussed issues they had encountered in their own workplaces. It was agreed that, although a lack of confidence is an issue often highlighted by older women in relation to accessing training, it is not confidence in their own capabilities, but confidence in the fairness of the system or processes by which training opportunities are accessed. Delegates also spoke of the need to raise awareness of the issues faced by older women among the wider trade union movement by including a focus on gender discrimination as part of trade union reps’ training programmes. It was agreed by all delegates that it is essential that women’s equality is at the forefront of the trade union bargaining agenda, as it has long been shown that by tackling women’s inequality we also tackle broader social inequality.

At the seminar we launched a suite of publications containing information and suggested actions which trade union reps can take to tackle the particular barriers faced by older women. The publications cover balancing work with care, access to skills development and training, health and safety issues, and women’s inequality in retirement. You can download a copy of these publications here.

Scotland's gender pay gap remains high at 11.5%

Scotland’s gender pay gap remains high at 11.5%

Close the Gap has calculated the difference in pay between women and men working in Scotland using the latest Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) tables released from the Office of National Statistics.

Despite a decrease of 1.8% between women and men working full-time in Scotland since 2013, the gender pay gap remains stubbornly high at 11.5%.

Women working part-time still earn 32.4% less than men working full-time, as part-time work continues to be concentrated in low-pay, low-skill jobs.

2013

2014

Pay gap in Scotland

Mean

Median

Mean

Median

Comparing women and men’s full-time hourly rates of pay (excluding overtime)

13.3%

7.6%

11.5%

9%

Comparing women’s part-time and men’s full-time hourly rates of pay (excluding overtime)

33.7%

35.5%

32.4%

34.5%

Combined figure (all women/all men)

16.9%

16.9%

15.4%

17.5%

Source ONS (2014) Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings Table 3.6A http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/ashe/annual-survey-of-hours-and-earnings/2014-provisional-results/index.html Accessed Nov 2014.

The gender pay gap: at a glance

The mean average full-time gender pay gap figure is 11.5%

 

• There is still a massive pay gap for women working part-time compared to men working full-time of 32.4%.

• The mean is calculated by adding all employees’ hourly rates of pay together and dividing by the total number of employees. This includes those on the highest and lowest rates of pay. As those with the highest rates of pay tend to be men, and those who receive the lowest pay are more likely to be women, the mean captures a more complete picture of the gender pay gap.

• The median is calculated by finding the midpoint in all employees’ hourly rates of pay and discarding the lowest and highest rates of pay. The median is not skewed by very low hourly rates of pay or very high hourly rates of pay. However, this means that the median can obscure the gendered differences relating to pay.

• Jobs held by women were more likely to be paid less than the National Minimum Wage than jobs held by men (1.0% compared with 0.8%). This is consistent with the fact that a greater proportion of women work part-time than men, and part-time work predominates in low-paid jobs.

 

No Pay Day

Today is No Pay Day in Scotland, which means that women will be effectively working for free for the next 48 days due to the gender pay gap.

Over 40 years since the Equal Pay Act came into force the prevalence of the pay gap illustrates the massive inequality between men and women’s pay.

Three main causes of the gender pay gap have been identified, firstly occupational segregation which describes the clustering of women into stereotypically female roles, which are also associated with low pay. This also accounts for barriers to women’s progression within workplaces. Women are also more likely to have caring responsibilities and so a lack of flexible working within workplaces means they are more likely to work part time. There is also discrimination in pay systems, with many women being paid less for work that is the same or similar, or of the same value as male colleagues’ work.

When comparing women and men’s full time hourly earnings the pay gap currently sits at 13.3%, a slight decrease from last year’s figure of 13.9%. However the increase in hourly pay from 2012 to 2013 for women is greater compared to men for both the mean and median measurements, which explains the slight decrease in Scotland.

The pay gap when comparing women’s part-time and men’s full time hourly pay increases to 33.7%. It is important to note this comparison as women are more likely to work in lower paid part time work.

The gender pay gap varied significantly for women dependant on their occupational group. In the ‘Managers and Senior Officials’ group women earn on average 23.1% less than their male counterparts, showing the persistence of the glass ceiling within Scotland’s workplace culture. Skilled trades saw a similarly high gap of 21.8%.

Figures also show that as women get older they face some of the largest pay gaps with women aged between 50 and 59 in the UK earning on average 21.4% less or a difference of £4.05 per hour. This data is only currently published as a UK wide and does not allow for Scottish specific analysis.

The Scottish Government Economic Strategy aims to achieve economic growth through tackling the causes of inequality and the barriers to economic opportunity. If this is to be achieved it is essential that women’s economic equality is kept firmly on the agenda.

If you would like support in identifying and addressing issues with pay and progression within your organisation or workplace, please contact us on info@closethegap.org.uk.