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New online toolkit helps small businesses grow

Posted on July 22, 2014

Close the Gap are pleased to announce the launch of their pilot project, Think Business, Think Equality. Funded by the Big Lottery Fund, the project’s focus is on helping small and medium sized businesses across Scotland to grow, by realising the business benefits of delivering fairness and equality in the workplace.

Think Business, Think Equality

Having fair and flexible working practices in place makes good business sense. Higher staff morale contributes to reduced absenteeism, enabling businesses to be more productive and innovative. Where staff feel valued, businesses are rewarded with increased loyalty and reduced staff turnover costs.

Businesses that promote gender equality are likely to be more profitable. Evidence shows that having increased in diversity enhances a company’s ability to market effectively to a wider customer base. Having a balance of male and female staff also delivers a positive corporate image, enabling businesses to attract and retain the best staff.

The recent extension to the right to request flexible working to cover all staff with 26 weeks’ service provides businesses with the ideal opportunity to review their current practices, and see how they might be improved.

Close the Gap’s experience has shown that, while many smaller businesses are largely positive about equality, they are concerned that this may be prove to be a complex, time-consuming and costly process. Think Business, Think Equality shows that this is not the case, and that making even a few small changes to your employment practice can allow your business to reap the benefits of gender equality.

Free online self-assessment tool

Think Business, Think Equality offers an easy to use online, self-assessment tool that allows businesses to reflect on their current practice and identify where they might make changes, or simply refresh, their current practice.

The tool focuses on five business topics: workplace culture; women’s jobs, men’s jobs; flexible working; pay and reward; and progression and promotion. Each topic area consists of a series of short questions, guidance, and additional information, and should take no longer than 30 minutes to complete. The guidance is also available to download at the end of each section, allowing employers to refer back to it whenever required. Participating businesses can also access free, confidential support or advice from Close the Gap throughout the duration of the pilot to help them identify where they can benefit from a more diverse workplace.

The toolkit is now available to use here

Further information on the project, and any requests for support can be emailed to: thinkbusiness@closethegap.org.uk

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Right to request flexible working has been extended to all employees

Posted on July 1, 2014

As of yesterday the right to request flexible working has been extended to all employees in the UK.

In Scotland, this means more than 2.5 million workers will now have a right to request flexible working (provided they have worked in their organisation for at least 26 weeks). Prior to this only parents with children under the age of 17 (or 18 if the child is disabled), and those with certain caring responsibilities had the right to request flexible working.

The right to request is only that. Employers can still refuse a request but must have a sound business argument for doing so. Flexible working requests are a permanent change to working conditions and can include part-time working, compressed hours, job sharing, and homeworking etc. Despite many employers having a flexible working policy the uptake of flexible working in many workplaces is low, and is almost non-existent in more senior positions.

Lack of flexible working is one of the key causes of the gender pay gap. Women are more likely to have caring responsibilities for children, sick relatives, disabled people, or older people, and are therefore keen to secure flexible working in order to balance work with caring responsibilities. However, many women are afraid of what will happen to their career path if they try to work part-time, or ask to work flexibly, because they see few role models at senior levels doing this. There is also a perception that part-time workers are seen as uncommitted, unambitious, and unproductive. In many sectors, and for most job roles, it is extremely rare for jobs to be advertised on a part-time basis. This can act as a barrier to women seeking progression and promotion, and to applying for jobs in specific fields for which they are skilled.

However, for employers there are a number of benefits to providing good flexible working practices. Recent research from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) found that when employers adopted flexible working practices there was a ‘positive impact on staff motivation and morale’ and importantly it helped to retain valuable skills and talent that would otherwise be lost to the business.

Perhaps the new regulation will support a change in attitude towards flexible working and challenge the rigid orthodox 9-5 working culture in Scotland and the UK. However, the extension to this statutory right must be administered and monitored effectively in the workplace so as not to have a detrimental impact on any individuals or groups of workers.

Acas have produced a code of practice to help employers administer flexible working requests and to make sure they consider the business benefits to supporting individual requests.

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EVENTS: Scotland and UK wide

Posted on July 1, 2014

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.

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Scottish Women’s Convention Referendum Conferences

SWC Referendum Conferences

Do you have enough information to make an informed decision?

Have the two campaigns addressed your issues?

Come along to these FREE events:

This is an opportunity for women to engage with YES Scotland and Better Together representatives in their local area.

Thursday 17th July, 10am - 1pm, Inverness

Saturday 2nd August, 10am - 1pm, Greenock

Saturday 16th August, 10am - 1pm, Orkney

Come along and ask your questions to both campaigns.

If you would like to attend any of these events or would like more information please email info@scottishwomensconvention.org.

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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.

Pelamis Wave Power Ltd., Leith, Edinburgh

August 29, 10.00am-1.00pm

Book your place now

We are pleased to organise a site visit for women to Pelamis Wave Power, the world’s most advanced wave energy technology company.

We will hold a presentation/Q&A session, followed by a tour of the facilities, including Control room, Fabrication bay, and Component testing/hydraulics bay.

Please register your interest below. The agenda will be confirmed in due course.

Networking Event

September 25, 6.00pm-8.00pm - Edinburgh

Book your place now

We are delighted that Judith Patten will attend our September event in Edinburgh which will be an opportunity for networking and information sharing in a relaxed atmosphere.

Judith is the founder of All-Energy, the UK’s largest renewable energy event, and winner of Scottish Renewables' Outstanding Contribution award 2012.

Venue and agenda will be confirmed in due course.

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ENGENDER

Engender hosts a range of conferences, seminars, round-tables and discussions to explore women’s inequality, and share strategies to challenge it.

Some of events are members only, but all are welcome at their public events.

Inspiring Women: Masculinities

September 20, 2014, 11.00 – 13.00

Room 3, STUC, Glasgow

Only members can book this event. If you are a member of Engender, please sign in now to book.

Inspiring Women events bring Engender members together to consider and discuss feminist issues. They are women only spaces, and give women the opportunity to talk about their own ideas and perspectives.

This Inspiring Women will be discussing masculinities.

Masculinities and men are not the same thing. Masculinities refer to gender relations, the position of men and how people engage with that position. It is a commonly held belief that masculinity is innate and cannot be changed but there is significant evidence that there are multiple masculinities and that these change over time and that they are subject to influence.

This session gives Engender members an opportunity to reflect on the predominant masculinities in Scotland to day and how feminists can best engage with theories and practice around masculinities.

Inspiring Women: Pornography and new media

November 15, 2014, 11.00 – 13.00

The Melting Pot, Edinburgh

Only members can book this event. If you are a member of Engender, please sign in now to book.

Inspiring Women events bring Engender members together consider and discuss feminist issues. They are women only spaces, and give women the opportunity to talk about their own ideas and perspectives.

This Inspiring Women will be discussing pornography and new media.

The rise of the Internet and increased use of social media has provided millions of consumers with the opportunity to purchase and view pornography almost anonymously, and to share and abuse personal images.

This session offers an opportunity for Engender members to discuss the implications and consequences of pornography in the digital age.

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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.

Helping female engineers and their employers realise their full potential

This Autumn: A free three–day Career Enhancement Programme designed for women working in engineering and advanced manufacturing.

Teacher Building, 14 St Enoch Square, Glasgow G1 4DB - 10am - 4.30pm

It provides in-depth career development one day a month over three months, focusing on:

  • identifying achievements and strengths
  • building skills for effective communication
  • unlocking leadership potential

The programme provides opportunities that will benefit both employers and employees from the engineering/advanced manufacturing sectors.

Find out more about the programme

Apply for a place

 

 

 

 

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Close the Gap newsround (47)

Posted on June 20, 2014

This edition for June captures articles related to the gender pay gap and its causes, including pay discrimination and occupational segregation.

 

Tags: gender stereotypes International Scotland UK glass ceiling the pay gap women in stem equal pay
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The Wood Commission publishes final report on Developing Scotland's Young Workforce

Posted on June 13, 2014

This week saw the publication of the final report from the Wood Commission, Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce. The core message of the report is to better exploit the relationship between schools, colleges, business and industry to mitigate any mismatch between the supply and demand of skills, and deliver a system which supports young people to make better informed choices about their future.

Currently, youth unemployment in Scotland is 18 per cent, double the average working age population. Young men are more likely to be unemployed than young women, but if we consider economic inactivity, a higher percentage of young women are economically inactive compared to men. 88 per cent of those who are unable to work due to caring for family are young women, compared to 12 percent of young men.

Amidst the backdrop of high unemployment and economic inactivity, there is the perennial issue of occupational segregation in the labour market. The stereotyping of women and men’s capabilities leads to the undervaluing of certain occupations, which are broadly recognised as ‘women’s work.’ Men are over-represented in engineering, construction and IT and women are over-represented in administration, health and social care sectors, all of which is evidenced in the Commission’s report.

Furthermore, the concentration of part-time working in lower paid, female-dominated sectors (43% of women in the labour market work part-time) and the lack of flexible working limits women’s employment opportunities. The ‘sticky floor’ and ‘glass ceiling’ effect causes women to be clustered into a few occupational sectors, and are missing from senior roles within organisations and businesses. Occupational segregation is one of the main causes of the gender pay gap, and part-time working has a long-term scarring effect on women’s wages.

The report is promising in its analysis of education, training and the wider labour market from a gender perspective recognising the impact gender stereotyping and occupational segregation has on limiting young women’s labour market participation, and subsequently economic growth.

Recommendations

Rather than mainstream a gender analysis throughout the report, the Commission has opted to address gender equality within a separate section of the report, albeit a substantial one. There are four recommendations explicitly focusing on gender with an additional cross-cutting recommendation on embedding equalities education across the Curriculum for Excellence (CfE):

1. Schools

Occupational segregation is partly a symptom of girls’ and boys’ early exposure to gender stereotyping impacting on the subject choices they make in pre-school and school education. It is encouraging to see the report highlighting the importance of early intervention to tackle gender stereotyping.

The report calls on schools to monitor the gender balance of subject choices, as part of broad recommendation calling for equalities to be embedded across the CfE. Schools are being encouraged to develop specific measures to counter gender stereotyping and to support this work the report recommends that equality training forms part of initial training for nursery workers, teachers and career advisors, and is offered as part of existing Continuing Professional Development (CPD) opportunities.

2. Vocational Pathways

There is also a focus on establishing a senior phase post-school vocational pathway which would aim to strengthen the case for vocational training as viable alternative to the academic route, and ensure those 50 per cent of school leavers who don’t go to university, can positively transition from school into college, work or work-based training. The Commission envisages the Regional Invest in Youth Groups as a mechanism to showcase the business benefits of gender equality in the workplace to employers.

3. College Education

The Commission also calls on the Scottish Funding Council to develop an action plan to tackle gender segregation within the college education system. Colleges are also encouraged to engage with schools to support early interventions to tackle gender stereotyping, which lead to positive outcomes for young women and men.

4. Modern Apprenticeships

Gendered segregation within the MA programme in Scotland has been the focus of debate and analysis for over 10 years. It is evident the MA programme has particularly failed young women by reinforcing gender occupational segregation and channelling women into Level Two frameworks resulting in lower paid employment opportunities. As the report highlights, Level Three frameworks are more likely to deliver positive outcomes for young people and tend to be concentrated in construction, engineering and other related STEM areas, they take longer to complete and are regarded ‘more highly by employers and command a higher wage premium on completion’.

The report makes an explicit connection between post-school vocational pathway and tackling gender segregation in Modern Apprenticeship Frameworks, and calls on key stakeholders to take significant action. This includes a call for Skills Development Scotland to develop an action plan to tackle the chronic gender segregation in Modern Apprenticeships, which should include ‘realistic stretching improvement targets’ for the most heavily gender segregated frameworks. It is essential therefore those targets focus on attracting women into Level Three Frameworks, such as engineering.

The Commission also wants to see partnerships between schools, training providers, colleges, employers and equalities bodies to help develop support networks for young people in the most heavily segregated MAs. However, this must also include a commitment to provide support to young women with caring responsibilities or those furthest from the labour market to be able to engage with MA opportunities. This should include subsidised childcare and flexible working opportunities. Unless these barriers to participation are addressed then the vast majority of unemployed and economically inactive young women will continue to miss out.

If these recommendations were fully realised, are they likely to result in better outcomes for young women and men? Or perhaps there needs to be more radical changes to the funding, delivery and design of the MA programme to enable stakeholders to improve the outcomes for young women. For example, strategies to support young women into training and employment, must be flexible to accommodate women’s caring responsibilities, and might include direct support for childcare.

The Wood Commission’s report is a welcome step in the right direction, but the mainstreaming of gender specific recommendations across the education, skills and training pipeline will require a concerted effort from skills bodies, funders and, crucially, employers.

Close the Gap’s Be What You Want schools campaign aims to tackle gender stereotyping and help young people make informed decisions around subject choices.

Tags: skills occupational segregation employability scotland
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