Almost one in three bosses wouldn't hire a woman because of this

As it turns out, sexism is still rife in leadership

BY Emily Douglas 01 Aug 2018

Is the fight for workplace equality actually reaching the upper echelons of organizations’ boardrooms, or is it just a case of sound and fury signifying nothing?

A recent report from UK law firm Slater and Gordon found that almost one in three bosses wouldn’t hire a female candidate – in case they became pregnant too soon.

After interviewing over 500 leaders, the study uncovered a worrying trend of gender discrimination, as 15% of those asked freely admitted to having flaunted sex bias laws.

Furthermore, 29% of leaders said they would discount a woman for a role if she had young children, with 28% adding they would reject a married female candidate.

“A huge shift in attitudes still needs to take place before women feel they are not penalized for wanting both a career and children,” explained Remziye Ozcan, employment lawyer at Slater and Gordon.

“Men are never asked to choose between the two.”

A further 37% of bosses said, if the law permitted it, they would advertise purely for male jobseekers – as 40% of them believe men are more committed to their jobs.

“This discrimination also affects women generally,” added Ozcan, “those who don’t plan to have children or already have children as it is about attitudes and stereotypes applied to women generally.”