Industry news

Women 'feel sexism is still rife'

Nearly half of women have experienced sexism at the workplace and many feel they are still discriminated against when it comes to promotion and pay rises, according to a study.

A survey for Marie Claire and everywoman found 63% of female workers think age is a more important factor for women than men, while nearly four out of five believe good looks help improve prospects.

Out of more than 2,900 women questioned, 60% believe that they lose out to men over pay rises and 58% think male colleagues stand a better chance of getting a promotion.

More than two in five (44%) have had to endure an inappropriate comment about their appearance from a male colleague, while 60% think overweight female workers are at a disadvantage.

However, 53% of women are not in favour of positive discrimination as a means of getting more female executives into boardrooms.

Mentoring was cited as key to improving women's chances of succeeding by 66% of respondents. But nearly three-quarters (72%) said they had never been mentored and a similar proportion said there was no such scheme at their workplace.

Nearly six in 10 said they would prefer having a woman for boss than a man.

Trish Halpin, editor-in-chief of Marie Claire magazine, said: "The results of our survey with everywoman proves that there is a real need for mentoring in the workplace and demonstrates the important role it plays in helping women to fulfil their full potential, launch the businesses they'd always hoped for and achieve even greater success in their careers."

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