Women Managers and Execs Say Managing Work and Family (60%), Outdated Perceptions of Women in the Workplace (51%) Biggest Obstacles in Career Progression

Toronto, ON - Women still face many obstacles to overcome if they want to advance to top-level roles in their careers, according to a new Ipsos Reid poll of 500 female executives commissioned on behalf of Randstad. Specific obstacles providing challenges in career advancement among women were:

• Managing work and family (60%/17% very/43% somewhat). Those with children (77%) still in the household found managing work/personal life more `challenging' compared to those without (56%)
• Outdated perceptions of women in managerial/executive roles (51%/14% very/36% somewhat)
• Limited opportunities in the Canadian market (50%/11% very/39% somewhat)
• Lack of female mentors/training (49%/13% very/36% somewhat)
• External factors like a recession/overall job loss (48%/14% very/33% somewhat)
• Being welcomed into and trusted in the established senior management team (47%/12% very/35% somewhat)

The fact that managing work and family rises to the top of the list of challenges is likely a function that women believe raising a family has the biggest impact on them, opposed to the men in their lives, when it comes to advancing a career in management. Eight in ten (82%) say that raising a family while juggling career progression has greater impact for a woman. Only one in ten (11%) see careers of men and women being equally impacted by the decision to raise a family. Only 4% believe that the decision to raise a family does not impact the career advancement for either a man or a woman, while 2% say it has a greater impact for a man.

Despite the fact that women say managing work and family is a challenge that affects them more than men, they seem to be coping well. More than nine in ten (91%) overall say that they think they balance career and personal/family obligations `well' (29% very/61% fairly). Seven in ten (72%) believe that managing work/personal life was the same (29%) or less difficult (43%) over the past five years, while just three in ten (28%) think it is more difficult than five years ago.

The study also found that most women would not relocate from their current job to another city, province or country, even for a 20% increase in salary. Less than half (46%) say they would relocate to a new city in the same province, while three in ten (34%) would move to a new province for a job with better pay. Only two in ten (23%) say that they would leave Canada to move to a new country for a better paying job.

Among those who would not move to any other location, seven in ten (73%) say they would stay in their current job because they are happy where they currently live and work. Four in ten (40%) are not interested in moving away from family and friends, while three in ten (30%) don't want to relocate their family. One-quarter (25%) maintain that there isn't enough financial compensation to make relocating an option.

Women Perceive Gender Gap...

Female managers and executives are still seeing a divide on a range of factors when it comes to differences between men and women in the workplace, with salary topping the list. Eight in ten (77%) see a noticeable `divide' (37% very large/39% moderate) in salaries between men and women. Less than one in ten (7%) believe that women's workplace salary is perfectly equal with their male equivalent, while 16% only notice a small divide.

Men are more likely to be promoted as well, in the eyes of women in the workforce. Three quarters (72%) believe that there is a considerable `divide' (26% very large/46% moderate) between the sexes when it comes to receiving a promotion at work. Three in ten (28%) see small (20%) to no division between being men and women when it comes to being promoted. Other divisions seen in the workplace are:

• the ability to have influence in making important decisions (70%/19% very large/51% moderate vs. 19% small/11% no divide)
• getting the best jobs/tasks/projects (69%/24% very large/45% moderate vs. 23% small/9% no divide)
• and travel opportunities (53%/15% very large/38% moderate vs. 30% small/17% no divide)

These divisions are likely enhanced by perception of the amount of women that hold key management positions in their organization. When asked what percentage of their organization's executive board comprised women, the mean answer provided was about one in four (25%), which was lowest amongst all managerial levels tested. The mean percentage provided for the proportion of women who made up their organization's senior leadership team equated to 28%, while the female composition of their organization's senior management team was slightly more than one in three (31%). Female executives say that almost half (46%) of their middle management team is comprised of women, completing the trend of more perceived composition further down the corporate ladder, and not at the top echelons.

Just over half (52%) say that they expect to see `more' (6% much/45% somewhat) women in managerial/executive positions in Canada in the next five years. Only 3% say they expect to see `less' (1% much/2% somewhat) women in these roles in the next five years, while almost half (45%) believe the number would probably be about the same.

"Traditional" Fields Still Provide Best Opportunities

Over half of female managers and executives polled believe that the healthcare and education sectors provide the best opportunities for women to move into managerial/executive positions in the next three to five years. Six in ten (58%) think the healthcare sector provided the most room for growth, topping the list, while slightly over half (52%) forsee the education sector providing the best opportunities.

Other fields that were mentioned as providing ample room for advancement were the not-for-profit sector (35%), financial services (32%), hospitality (29%), professional services (23%), the public sector (22%), information technology (11%), engineering and construction (6%), oil and gas (3%), and transportation and logistics (2%). Rounding out the list as the industry least likely to provide advancement opportunities was the manufacturing sector (1%).

Women in the Workplace

Six in ten (62%) indicate that they personally aspire to reach a senior executive level position in their company (21%) or they have already reached this level (41%). Just under four in ten (38%) confess that they had no aspirations of achieving a senior position. Personal goals and passion (37%) topped all other sources of inspiration for wanting to achieve such a high level. One-quarter (24%) cite the desire to be self-sufficient as their biggest motivation, while almost two in ten (15%) say having financial security of being getting access to financial incentives was most inspiring in their pursuit for a managerial/executive role in their organization. Other inspirations noted were an interest in managerial/executive experience (10%), having strong mentors (8%), and their family and friends (7%).

Three in ten (28%) claim that the biggest change in the Canadian business landscape over the past five years that has led to more obtainable managerial/executive roles was more women leaders demanding equal opportunity for promotions in organizations. Two in ten (16%) say that having a better work/life balance or flexible working arrangements has been the biggest change, while one in ten (12%) say more opportunities have become available. Less than one in ten believe that there was more focus by their CEOs and media on women in leadership (9%), there were more/stronger mentors for women (7%), and that there were better incentives for women (4%). More than two in ten (22%) don't think that top-level roles have become more attainable for women.

Strong Leadership Abilities and Rational Decision-Making Best Attributes

Achieving a top managerial/executive role in a company means sharpening several skills needed to survive in the modern workplace and into the future. Almost all (98%) say it is `important' (76% very/21% somewhat) for women to have strong leadership abilities if they want to possess an elite role like manager or executive in the next three to five years. Coinciding with being a strong leader is the ability to make quick rational decisions on the job. Nearly all (96%) say that being rational and having the ability to make decisions quickly is `important' (62% very/34% somewhat).

Over nine in ten (94%) believe that having exceptional results relating to their work performance was `important' (53% very/41% somewhat), and another nine in ten (93%) suggest that effective networking skills would play an `important' (56% very/37% somewhat) role in womens' advancement to top-level positions. Nine in ten (89%) believe that self promotion is `important' (47% very/42% somewhat) to advancement, while eight in ten (79%) believe that having internal sponsors is important (31% very/48% somewhat) to helping women advance in the future.

These skills are important for advancing along the corporate ladder, especially when supportive resources are often not available or offered to women trying to achieve success in their careers. Most (84%) female mangers and execs say that their organization or workplace does not provide them with a sponsor or mentor to help them along in their career path. Just two in ten (16%) claim that their workplace offered such support.

These are some of the findings from an Ipsos Reid survey conducted between June 18 to 25, 2012, on behalf of Randstad. A sample of 500 women who held managerial/executive roles in their organization were interviewed online. Individuals were disqualified if they did not meet management criteria. Weighting was then employed to balance regional composition according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. A survey with an unweighted probability sample of this size and a 100% response rate would have an estimated margin of error of +/- 4.4% percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what the results would have been had the entire population of female managers or executives in Canada been polled. All sample surveys and polls may be subject to other sources of error, including, but not limited to coverage error, and measurement error.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Sean Simpson
Associate Vice President
Ipsos Reid Public Affairs
416.572.4474
[email protected]

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