Women and work: what next?

After months of campaigning, discussion and debate, what is arguably the biggest political event of a generation is almost upon us. With just over two weeks to go until the referendum, Close the Gap launched a new working paper ‘Women and work: What comes next in a post-referendum Scotland?’ at a Constitutional Café event with Engender, Electoral Reform Society Scotland, and Scottish Women’s Aid on Saturday 30 August 2014.The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the implications for women and work in the context of the independence debate, to describe what needs to happen to effect positive change, and to identify the levers that are available in the event of either outcome.

Whatever the outcome of the referendum on September 18^th, it is essential the women’s movement comes together and uses the momentum of the debate to progress work around women’s equality. With a view to this, there are three main areas for intervention around employment issues: education and skills, employability, and economic development strategy.

The status quo

In the event of a No vote, there are many levers available to capitalise on the desire for change which has characterised both sides of the independence debate, and further women’s equality as a result.

On education and skills, we could call on the Scottish Government to increase its action on gender stereotyping in our education system. Currently, there are only two initiatives, Be What You Want and Careerwise, specifically working on the issue of gender stereotyping and occupational segregation in schools in Scotland. More needs to be done to build girls’ and young women’s capacity and resilience to choose to study non-traditional subjects across the education lifespan.

On employability, we could call on the Scottish Government to meet its commitment to produce an action plan on gender. Employability programmes must be cognisant of the specific barriers faced by women; funding structures should provide support for childcare, and employability pathways must seek to tackle, not reinforce, gendered occupational segregation. Women returning to the workforce after taking a break to have children or deliver care would benefit from particular support to help prevent downward occupational mobility and ensure their skills are effectively utilised.

Across the broad area of economic development, we could call on the Scottish Government to fully mainstream gender across all of its functions, ensuring this translates into effective action to tackle occupational segregation and the gender pay gap. This could include building capacity within key agencies to provide a gender analysis of skills, and key sector development policy addressing the gendered nature of skills shortages. The economic framing of childcare as infrastructure must be further developed to ensure provision continues to be extended, and to contribute to the discourse around recognition of the economic value of domestic labour.

Independence

The structural change that would take place in an independent Scotland offers the opportunity to see gender equality built in from the outset. Scotland’s Future’s proposal for a written constitution would enshrine state obligations on the advancement of equality and see human rights guaranteed.

The Scottish Independence Bill consultation, which provides the constitutional platform for the government of Scotland following a vote for independence, proposes that a permanent written constitution would be drawn up by an ‘inclusive and participative’ Convention. It is essential the process by which this Constitutional Convention would be established is inclusive and participative in itself, and ensures that gender groups are properly represented within it.

There would also be the possibility to effect structural progress within the new institutions and legislation which would be developed and implemented in an independent Scotland, and to develop a new economic measure which counts the unpaid work that women do.

Post September 19th

There are no guarantees under either outcome. What is guaranteed is that in order for women’s inequality in the labour market to be tackled there needs to be action, not simply a commitment to principles.

Whether in an independent Scotland or as part of the UK, what is needed is major structural reform and widespread cultural change, and this can only be achieved through a root and branch review of systems and policies, the engagement of all stakeholders, and long-term adequately resourced action plans.

Measurable and meaningful targets for tackling gendered occupational segregation, policies which reflect the cross-cutting nature of gender issues, and effective gender mainstreaming, are essential to progress true gender equality within the labour market and the wider economy.

Hard copies of our paper ‘Women and work: What comes next in a post-referendum Scotland?’ are available from acallaghan@stuc.org.uk

Gender equality, the referendum and beyond: Constitutional Cafe

Close the Gap are joining forces with our friends at Engender to host a discussion event on women and the referendum. This ‘constitutional café’ will be held at the Scottish Youth Theatre in Glasgow, on 30 August from 10.30-12.30.

Aimed at undecided women and men with an interest in gender equality issues, this event will bring people together to talk about the implications for women's rights and gender issues post-September 18^th. Discussions will be shaped by participants, and focussed around the questions:

• What do we need and want to see as the dust settles?
• How can the women's movement best take action under either outcome?

Close the Gap will be hosting discussions that focus on the theme of women and work, and you’ll be able to pick up a copy of our new paper on constitutional futures and women and work.

There will also be a chance to chat informally to activists from Better Together and Women for Independence, on gender, equality, women's rights and social justice issues, over a cup of tea.

We hope this event will provide an open space for wide-ranging conversation around issues of gender, rights and equality. Anyone with an interest in gender equality is welcome, and you can register for the event here.

We hope to see you there.

Close the Gap newsround (47)

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

 

The Wood Commission publishes final report on Developing Scotland's Young Workforce

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.