A lot of organisations will put their hand up to progress having stalled in terms of gender equity.
At law firms, for example, the percentage of female partners remains in the low 20%, despite years of initiatives and resources being committed to the problem. There has been progress but it has been glacially slow. I don’t mean to pick on law firms, the figures are the same at the top end of the accounting market and it’s even tougher in industries such as engineering and IT, that don’t attract a lot of women at entry level in the first place.
Now let me make clear that at the vast majority of these firms their heart and intent is in the right place. Managing partners and leaders quite rightly put gender equity as a core principle and goal at the organisation, but the day-to-day practices often put me in mind of that phrase: What’s the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing and expecting a different result.
Take for example the wide-spread practice of advertising all roles as full-time. Now there are two sides to this—at a lot of organisations these roles are full-time but at the same time every organisation offers flexibility to a certain level, it’s just that that flexibility is offered as a retention tool to existing employees, not as a recruitment tool.
I think that advertising all roles as full-time acts as a deterrent to the working mother demographic. There is an automatic assumption that flexibility is not on the table, while actually for the right candidate flexibility in some form could very well be part of the working arrangements. The move to advertising roles as full-time flexible—which you see in organisations that have moved to all roles flex—is not perfect, but at least it’s a step in the right direction. At least it sends a message to prospective recruits that a conversation about flexibility can be had.
For women looking to re-enter the employment market building up a portfolio career can be one way to do it. For me the perfect combination has been a part-time job alongside building up ProfessionalMums.net. There’s a one-day a week role in Brisbane for a project/digital manager that could fit into someone’s existing portfolio or be the launch pad for a portfolio career.
Other flexible roles on the market include this part-time tax accountant role also in Brisbane. It’s listed on LinkedIn for Senex Energy. There is also an interesting looking part-time role for a compliance manager at News Corp in Sydney – also listed on LinkedIn.