International Women’s Day 2020: Gender Equality at Work?

Women (32%) Less Likely than Men (54%) to Say Canadian Workplaces Treat Men and Women Equally

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  • Jennifer McLeod Macey Vice President, Canada, Public Affairs
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Toronto, Ontario, March 8, 2020 — On the eve of International Women’s Day, a new global survey released by Ipsos finds that despite significant progress on gender equality, men and women have different views on how it applies to the workplace, including here in Canada. Findings cover more than 20,000 respondents from across 27 countries around the world.

Equal Treatment Not a Done Deal

The concept of equal treatment in the workplace is not seen as a done deal in Canada, with only 43% of Canadians agreeing that Canadian workplaces treat men and women equally – on par with 41% globally. In Canada, men (54%) are significantly more likely than women (32%) to hold this view.

Women tend to see equality being achieved through a rise in female leadership in business and government, but not all men agree. While Canada matches the global average (58%) on agreement that equality won’t be achieved unless there are more female leaders, women (68%) are significantly more aligned with this view than men (47%).

Seven in ten Canadians (71%), including most women (77%) and men (66%), think that equality won’t be achieved unless men also take action to support women’s rights – but some think that enough has been done already. Although only 36% of Canadians agree that ‘when it comes to giving women equal rights with men, things have gone far enough’, it is an opinion that is much more prevalent among men (44%) than women (29%).

Agreement with statements on gender equality in Canada

[CANADA]

 

Agree (strongly/somewhat)

 

Women

Men

Gap

Women won’t achieve equality in Canada unless men take actions to support women’s rights too

77%

66%

11%

Women won’t achieve equality with men in Canada unless there are more female leaders in business and government

68%

47%

21%

Workplaces in Canada treat men and women equally

32%

54%

22%

When it comes to giving women equal rights with men, things have gone far enough in my country

29%

44%

15%

 

 

 

What’s Acceptable in the Workplace?

Broadly speaking, men and women in Canada have similar perceptions of which behaviours are appropriate for the workplace: a majority say compliments and hugging a colleague in distress are fine, very few think it’s acceptable to keep pursuing a date or show sexually explicit material. However, there are vital gaps in opinion on specific behaviours.

For instance, women (86%) are more likely than men (76%) to find it acceptable to compliment someone of the same gender on their appearance or dress. Women (78%) are also more likely than men (68%) to find it acceptable to hug someone at work because they are crying. While only a minority of men agree that it’s acceptable to ask a colleague for a date (40%), tell stories or jokes of a sexual nature (18%), or continue to ask for a date even when a colleague has said no (9%), they are nonetheless more likely to think so than women.

Compared to the global average, Canadians are more likely to find these workplace behaviours acceptable:

  • Complimenting someone of the same gender: 81% agree it’s acceptable, vs. 71% globally
  • Complimenting someone of the opposite gender: 73% agree, vs. 67% globally

By contrast, Canadians are less likely to agree that the following are acceptable at work:

  • Asking a colleague for a date: 34% agree it’s acceptable, vs. 46% globally
  • Continuing to ask for a date: 6% agree, vs. 12% globally
  • Telling stories or jokes of a sexual nature: 14%, vs. 22% globally
  • Showing or displaying material of a sexual nature: 6% agree, vs. 10% globally

In your view, how acceptable, if at all, is it to do the following in the workplace?

[CANADA]

 

Acceptable (Completely/Fairly)

 

Women

Men

Gap

Compliment someone of the same gender on their appearance or dress

86%

76%

10%

Hug someone because they are crying

78%

68%

10%

Compliment someone of the opposite gender on their appearance or dress

74%

72%

2%

Ask a colleague for a date

29%

40%

11%

Tell stories or jokes of a sexual nature

10%

18%

8%

Continue to ask a colleague for a date when they have said no before

4%

9%

5%

Show or display material of a sexual nature

4%

8%

4%

 

 

Career Damage

Continuing with the workplace, the survey delves into a range of behaviours and asks whether they are more likely to be career-damaging for women or for men. Many Canadians find that women and men are equally likely to suffer career damage, especially when it comes to being unable or unwilling to work overtime. However, Canadians see all behaviours as being more likely to damage the career of a woman than a man. Behaviours perceived as most damaging to a woman’s career include having childcare responsibilities during the day (38%), rejecting a colleague who wanted a date or a romantic relationship (36%), and prioritizing family over work (29%).

More likely to damage the career of…

[CANADA]

 

A Woman

A Man

Both Equally

Having childcare responsibilities during the working day

38%

7%

29%

Rejecting a colleague who wanted a date or romantic relationship

36%

6%

24%

Prioritizing your family over work

29%

6%

35%

Being unable or unwilling to work beyond your contracted hours

19%

5%

51%

Talking about your family life

18%

3%

20%

Working part-time

15%

5%

25%

Being unable or unwilling to socialize with colleagues outside of working hours

15%

6%

33%

Working from home regularly

13%

5%

20%

Having different interests or hobbies to your colleagues

9%

4%

18%

 

These are behaviours that impact a significant number of Canadian women. Nearly four in ten (37%) say they’ve prioritized their family over work in the past five years, along with one in ten who have juggled childcare responsibilities during the working day (13%) or rejected a colleague who wanted a date or relationship (11%).

While men have also lived through all these experiences to one degree or another over the past five years, in most cases, it’s women who report that it has harmed their career at least a little. In a clear indication that gender equality in the Canadian workplace still has some way to go, women are most likely to say their career was harmed as a result of their childcare and family needs, and an inability to work overtime (likely as a result of family commitments).

 

 

 

And what impact, if any, has each of the following had on your career?

[Among those who have experienced workplace behaviour in past 5 years: CANADA]

 

Acceptable (Completely/Fairly)

 

Women

Men

Having childcare responsibilities during the working day

49%

25%

Being unable or unwilling to work beyond your contracted hours

47%

28%

Prioritizing your family over work

45%

28%

Rejecting a colleague who wanted a date or romantic relationship

38%

8%

Being unable or unwilling to socialize with colleagues outside of working hours

30%

19%

Working part-time

26%

13%

Working from home regularly

15%

15%

Having different interests or hobbies to your colleagues

12%

8%

Talking about your family life

7%

7%

Calling It Out

The survey paints an encouraging portrait of Canadians’ confidence to call out sexism and harassment where they see it, although confidence falters as the stakes get higher: it’s easier to call out a family member than it is to call out your boss. Nonetheless, Canada outpaces the global average when it comes to being confident about:

  • Telling off family or friends who make a sexist comment: 71% vs. 64% globally
  • Telling off a junior colleague who makes a sexist comment: 65% vs. 58% globally
  • Confronting a man who is harassing a woman in a public place: 64% vs. 56% globally
  • Telling off a senior colleague who makes a sexist comment: 54% vs. 50% globally

Equally encouraging is the fact that most women in Canada express confidence in addressing many of these situations (just under half say they’re confident about telling off a senior colleague) – yet here too, a notable gender gap is at play. Men are significantly more likely than women to feel confident confronting a man harassing a woman in public (72% vs. 55% of women), telling off a junior colleague (69% vs. 61%), or telling off someone more senior (60% vs. 48%). Only within their own circle of family and friends do women (71%) feel just as confident as men (71%) to tell someone off who makes a sexist comment.

 

And how confident, if at all, would you feel to do each of the following?

[CANADA]

 

Confident

 

Women

Men

Gap

Tell off family or friends who make a sexist comment

71%

71%

0%

Tell off a junior colleague who makes a sexist comment

61%

69%

8%

Confront a man who is harassing a woman in a public place

55%

72%

17%

Tell off a senior colleague who makes a sexist comment

48%

60%

12%

 

About the Study

These are the findings of an Ipsos survey conducted in 27 countries via Global Advisor, the online survey platform of Ipsos, between January 24 and February 7, 2020. For this survey, Ipsos interviewed a total of 20,204 adults aged:

  • 16-74 in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Peru, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, and Sweden;
  • 18-74 in Canada, South Africa, Turkey, and the United States of America;
  • 19-74 in South Korea;

The sample consists of 1,000+ individuals in each of Australia, Brazil, Canada, China France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, Spain, and the U.S., and of 500+ individuals in each of the other countries surveyed.

The data is weighted so each country’s sample composition best reflects the demographic profile of its adult population according to the most recent census data, and to give each country an equal weight in the total “global” sample. Online surveys can be taken as representative of the general working-age population in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Poland, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, and the United States. Online samples in other countries surveyed are more urban, more educated and/or more affluent than the general population and the results should be viewed as reflecting the views of a more “connected” population.

Sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error. The precision of online surveys conducted on Global Advisor is measured using a Bayesian Credibility Interval. Here, the poll has a credibility interval of +/-3.5 percentage points for countries where the sample is 1,000+ and +/- 4.8 points for countries where the sample is 500+. For more information on the Ipsos use of credibility intervals, please go to: https://www.ipsos.com/sites/default/files/2017-03/IpsosPA_CredibilityIntervals.pdf.   

Where results do not sum to 100, this may be due to computer rounding, multiple responses or the exclusion of don't knows or not stated responses.

 

For more information on this Factum, please contact:

Jennifer McLeod Macey
Vice President, Ipsos Public Affairs
+1 416 324 2108
[email protected]

 

About Ipsos

Ipsos is the world’s third largest market research company, present in 90 markets and employing more than 18,000 people.

Our passionately curious research professionals, analysts and scientists have built unique multi-specialist capabilities that provide true understanding and powerful insights into the actions, opinions and motivations of citizens, consumers, patients, customers or employees. We serve more than 5000 clients across the world with 75 business solutions.

Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos is listed on the Euronext Paris since July 1st, 1999. The company is part of the SBF 120 and the Mid-60 index and is eligible for the Deferred Settlement Service (SRD).

ISIN code FR0000073298, Reuters ISOS.PA, Bloomberg IPS:FP

www.ipsos.com

 

The author(s)
  • Jennifer McLeod Macey Vice President, Canada, Public Affairs

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