New research shows Australian organisations still have plenty to do to address gender imbalance in the workforce and also highlights a significant divide between the perceptions of Australian men and women on gender issues in the workplace.

The research, conducted by specialist recruitment & HR services provider Randstad, found when looking for new managers, only 40% of males say their employers take into account the current number of men and women in higher management in their organisation, but even less females (25%) agree this is true.

Randstad CEO, Fred van der Tang, says it is concerning only a quarter of women recognise their employer’s  efforts to address gender imbalance.

“Considering the current debate about female under-representation in leadership roles, I would expect more organisations to be actively taking steps to balance the scales. Clearly there is still plenty of work to be done,” says van der Tang.

“It’s also of concern there is such a large disparity between the perceptions of men and women when it comes to the efforts of their employers to recruit more women into leadership roles.

“Such inconsistency indicates men and women are receiving very different messages about their employer’s approach to gender balance.”

“To me, this highlights the need for organisations to pay better attention to their internal communication strategies. If men believe one thing and women believe another, something is clearly missing,” says van der Tang.

“Whatever the reality of the situation, the perceptions of employees and the wider market are critical. As with any discrimination-based issue, when it comes to gender balance, it’s important to not only be doing the right thing, but to be known for doing the right thing.”

Worryingly, more than a quarter (28%) of Australian employees say, even when there are equally suitable candidates, their employer tends to choose a man, regardless of the current male to female ratio.

“Such a high percentage of employees reporting gender bias in their organisation is alarming – particularly when it comes to hiring leaders.”

Randstad organisational psychologist, Kellie Rigg says, in most cases there is no good reason why, when hiring leaders, an employer should favour a man over a woman, but says the entrenched nature of workplace gender imbalance makes efforts to balance the scales even harder.

Even today, more than a third of employees (38%) say they would rather have a man as their manager than a woman, compared to only 20% who say they prefer to have a woman in charge. And while 44% of females say they prefer to work with men, only 23% of females reported they prefer to work with their own gender.

“Unfortunately, the existing under-representation of women in leadership roles perpetuates the imbalance. The traditional male dominance in leadership positions, combined with the fact women have ongoing pressures of juggling family and work, often preventing them from taking on more senior positions, means many Australians may not be accustomed to, or expect to have, a female leader.”

The report also finds eight in ten male employees (79%) currently have an immediate superior who is a male, but the same could only be said for less than half (47%) of female employees.

“Such a divided response is intriguing. While it appears women are managed equally by men as by other women, men tend to be managed more often by other men. Perhaps more importantly, it also confirms across the board, more Australians have a male leader, as indicated by 63% of respondents.”

Mr van der Tang says although the research could be interpreted in a number of ways, it largely confirms what many commentators are thinking: gender imbalance is still a very real issue for many organisations.

“There has been solid progress towards gender balance in the workplace, and Australia compares favourably to many other countries surveyed by Randstad, but the results suggest there is still a long way to go to completely eradicate gender bias in leadership hiring.”

While van der Tang says it is up to the regulators to decide whether gender quotas should be enforced, he says there are steps all organisations can take to even the scales and that recruitment and HR consultants such as Randstad, have an important role to play.

“When our clients are sourcing employees, it is our policy, and best practice, to source a balance of diverse candidates, both female and male, for each position,” says van der Tang.

“It’s important to emphasise that all hiring decisions should always be based on merit, that is, who is considered to be the best fit and the best person for the job. During the recruitment process, it is our role to ensure a range of candidates are presented, whether gender-based or otherwise, to encourage diversity.”

Global results

The greatest gender imbalances are recorded in Japan, with 83% of managers being male and in Turkey (80%). In China, India, Luxemburg, Switzerland and Argentina, 75% or more of the employees report to a male superior. While Australia rates considerably better, other countries with more gender balanced management are New Zealand, the Nordics, Hungary, US, UK, Canada and Chile.

A complete press report, including detailed country differences, is available here.