Almost two out of three female executives in Galway believe the level of gender equality in Galway is positive, but that more progress is needed.
The finding comes from a Galway Chamber survey of more than 100 Galway based female corporate leaders and executives, which was conducted in advance of International Women’s Day on Tuesday.
The survey also revealed that two thirds of female executives believe that men and women are treated equally in their current workplaces, while seven out of eight are of the opinion that promotions are only based on individual employee performance within the organisation.
However, more than half of the female executives revealed that their gender had played a role in missing out on a chance to get ahead and 45 per cent believe it had influenced being overlooked for a key assignment; while approximately four out of 10 believe they had missed out on a raise due to their gender. The same proportion also believed it was a factor in missing out on a promotion.
Gender equality progress?
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Eveanna Ryan, Connacht Hospitality Group; Fionnuala Corbett, iRadio; Mary Ann Fleming, Penn Engineering; and Cáit Noone, GMIT.
When asked where they have seen progress from a gender equality perspective in their current workplaces, around half indicated they had seen advances when it came to gender balance, equal treatment, and promotional opportunities. Of significant concern however, was that less than a third had seen progress on the issue of equal pay.
Two out of three respondents to the survey said they would like to see improvements made to workplace culture to further encourage gender equality, while 58 per cent believe widely circulated specific salary levels would help to advance that process. Seven out of 10 respondents would like to see the working day restructured to take into account familial commitments.
Ending old practices
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Noel Conroy, MJ Conroy; Mayor Colette Connolly; and Aengus Burns, Chamber President.
The results of the survey were revealed at Galway Chamber’s International Women’s Day event held in the Galmont Hotel. The survey and the International Women’s Day event are part of the ‘Growing in Galway’ pillar of Galway Chamber’s strategic priorities.
“While gender equality may be improving in Galway, there is certainly more work to be done,” Galway Chamber president, Aengus Burns, said during the event. “Thankfully there are positive points such as the number of female corporate leaders seems to be increasing and the vast majority of those surveyed believe men and women are treated equally in their current workplaces.
“However we can’t ignore that a significant number of our local female professionals also believe their gender has been a factor in missing out on opportunities, key assignments, raises, and promotions. This isn’t good enough and it is up to us all in the Galway business community to do more to ensure these practices become a thing of the past.”
