Gender Equality

Editor: Justin Healey
ISBN 978 1 920801 96 0
Year 2009

Price: $20.95

  

Gender Equality
Volume 286, Issues in Society

Australia prides itself on being egalitarian, but does this sense of fairness extend to gender roles and equality? Gender inequality still exists in Australia despite the progress achieved over the past 40 years. Many observers claim that efforts to attain equality between men and women have stagnated, and may even be going backwards. How wide is the ‘gender gap’? This book examines a number of issues, including sex discrimination and the law, sexual harassment, women in decison-making roles (e.g. management, government), paid maternity leave, domestic load sharing and work-family responsibilities between men and women, gender stereotypes, equal pay and the ‘glass ceiling’.

Chapter 1  Gender Roles in Society
Gender equality: the big picture, Closing the gender gap a universal goal, Australian women – towards equality, Who shares wins in the battle of the sexes, Men make a meal of household equality, New evidence – women are overworked at home, Domestic activities: how men and women use their time, Dads who think they share the load can’t add up, Media the real villains in battle of the sexes.

Chapter 2  Sex Discrimination and Employment
Sex discrimination: a guide to the Sex Discrimination Act, Women still face sex bias, Battle of the sexes still being waged, Sexual harassment in Australia: latest survey results, Sexual harassment in the workplace, Discover force of Gen F, Beyond the barriers, Women, your armed forces need you, The stained-glass ceiling has been shattered, ‘Doing a man-sized job’, Women’s glacial progress melts away, Equal pay still a battle, Governments can’t close gender pay gap, It’s about time: women, men, work and family, Is Australia a working woman’s paradise?, Give us a break, demand mothers, A roadmap towards gender equality.

Glossary; Fast Facts; Web Links; Index

 



fast facts
FAST FACTS from this volume
  • While ‘sex’ refers to the biological differences between males and females, gender describes the socially-constructed roles, rights and responsibilities that communities and societies consider appropriate for men and women. This set of assumptions, which we construct out of the biological differences between men and women, is what creates gender identities and in turn gender-based discrimination.
  • Despite efforts at local, national, and international levels, women and girls continue to face discrimination. Gender-based discrimination and inequalities violate the human rights of both women and men and affect the wellbeing of all children.
  • Today, women make up just over half of Australia’s total population. More women than men are now educated at secondary schools and universities, and more women than men graduate from university with bachelor degrees. In 2006, women accounted for 54.8% of all tertiary education students and 47.5% of all students enrolled in vocational education and training courses. The majority were enrolled in management and commerce, society and culture, and food, hospitality and personal services courses. Women were not well represented in engineering and related technologies or architecture and building courses (4.6% of all women enrolled).
  • Almost 4.8 million women were in some form of paid employment in January 2008, with a labour force participation rate of 58%, while the unemployment rate was 4.6% (compared with an overall rate of 4.3% for the same month). More than 30% of Australia’s small business operators are women. Women make up more than half of the Australian public service workforce (57%) and hold around 36% of senior executive positions. In the private sector, however, women hold only around 12% of management jobs. Women hold 34% of all seats on federal government-controlled boards and around 23% of chair or deputy chair positions. However, women hold only 9% of private board directorships.
  • In the federal parliament in 2008, 30% of members and senators were women. In the Senate there were 27 women, out of a total of 76 senators, and in the House of Representatives there were 40 women, out of a total of 150 members.
  • The 2007-08 UN Human Development Report ranked Australia second in the world on the gender related development index and eighth in the world on the gender empowerment measure.
  • Australia’s commitment to its international human rights obligations is reflected in domestic legislation, such as the Sex Discrimination Act 1984. Equality between men and women is a principle that lies at the heart of a fair and productive society. It is also the key goal of the Act, which aims to eliminate discrimination and sexual harassment and promote greater equality in all aspects of the Australian community. Under the Act, individuals can lodge complaints of sex discrimination and sexual harassment with the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.
  • For men, the average time per day spent on total domestic activities, at 1 hour 37 minutes in 2006, has not changed since 1992. For women, the average time spent on domestic activities has declined over time, from 3 hours and 2 minutes in 1992 to 2 hours 52 minutes a day in 2006 (12% of the day).
  • Sex discrimination means being treated unfairly because of your sex or marital status or because you are pregnant or potentialy pregnant. It also includes being dismissed from employment because you have family responsibilities. Discrimination also exists where there is a requirement (a rule, policy, practice or procedure) that is the same for everyone, but which has an unfair effect on particular groups.
  • A national telephone survey conducted by the Australian Human Rights Commission in 2008 has found that 22% of females and 5% of males had experienced sexual harassment in the workplace at some time, compared to 28% of females and 7% of males in 2003. Only 16% of those who have been sexually harassed in the last five years in the workplace formally reported or made a complaint, compared to 32% in 2003.
  • Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination that can occur at work, school, uni or in social settings. Sexual harassment in the workplace is any form of unwelcome sexual attention that is, or that you find, offensive, humiliating or intimidating that occurs anywhere you carry out any task for your employment. Sexual harassment can be written, verbal or physical. Both males and females can be the victims of sexual harassment.
  • Figures from the 2006 Labour Force Survey (ABS) show professions dominated by males include train driving (2%), greenkeeping (3%), flying instruction (4%) and air traffic control (4%). On the flipside of the coin, some professions are almost entirely dominated by female workers. Just 3% of vet nurses are men, as are 2% of secretaries and PAs, and 4% of nannies. Men make up 7% of enrolled nurses, 5% of beauty therapists and 9% of florists.
  • Women make up only 13% of the defence forces, a figure unchanged for more than a decade. In the same period more women have joined the wider workforce. Fewer than 200 of the 3500 Australians in the armed forces deployed overseas are women. And allegations of sexual harassment in the past decade have discouraged women from joining up, despite attempts to eradicate the male-orientated culture.
  • The EOWA 2008 Australian Census of Women in Leadership reveals that the number of women on boards and in executive management positions has declined since 2006, and in some cases reverted to pre-2004 levels. Australia now trails the USA, UK, South Africa and New Zealand. The number of women executive managers in the ASX200 has declined to 10.7% from 12% in 2006 and 11.4% in 2004. The number of companies with no women executive managers has risen sharply to 45.5% from 39.5% in 2006. At board director level there were more than 10 men to every one woman and at CEO level there were 49 male CEOs for every female CEO in the ASX200.
  • Women’s average earnings in Australia have dropped from 87 cents for every dollar earned by a man in 2004 to 84 cents in 2008.
  • According to Australian Bureau of Statistics data on average weekly earnings, the gap between the sexes is considerable: the average female employee in late 2007 earned about $690 a week compared with $1060 for the average man. In other words, women, on average, earned just 65% of what men earned, meaning a pay gap of 35 percentage points.