Survey Shows Need for Equality in Workplace

November 1, 2011 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - Findings from Randstad's latest Global Workmonitor survey reveal that 34% of Canada's male employees and 25% of female employees say their employer tends to choose a man for positions even when there are equally suitable male and female candidates.  

The results are similar in many other countries (Belgium, Chile, Denmark, France, India, Italy, and Mexico), as male employees more often than female employees state that even when there are equally suitable male and female candidates, their employer tends to choose a man, regardless of the current ratio of men to women.

According to the report, in Canada, 57% of female employees and 47% of male employees believe that their organization performs best when there is an equal ratio of men to women on the team. Germany, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Sweden, and Turkey, had similar results. The exceptions are in France (58%) and the U.S. (56%) where more male employees believe that an equal ratio of men to women would positively influence performance.

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The results also find that female employees prefer to work with men and male employees say they prefer to work with women. In Greece, India, Japan, and Singapore, male and female employees do not differ in their preference for a male or female colleague. In Canada, working with men is more preferred by female employees (51% vs. 38%), while working with women is preferred by male employees (42% vs. 27%).

Additionally, only 28% of Canadian men and 34% of Canadian women believe that the performance of their organization would improve if they had more women in higher management. In Argentina, Greece, India, Luxembourg, and Slovakia, most female employees share this opinion. While in France, 48% of male employees believe in the positive impact of women in higher management.

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