FIFTY FOUR DEGREES | 9 Professor Valerie Stead is Director of the Academy of Gender, Work and Leadership, and a Professor in Leadership and Management in the Department of Entrepreneurship and Strategy. Dr Lara Pecis is a Lecturer in Organisation Studies in the Department of Organisation, Work and Technology. The Gender Matters project was established in 2018 to reflect and stimulate change on the persistent and complex nature of gender inequalities. More specifically, the project seeks to track progress towards closing the multifaceted gender gaps. Drawing on multiple sources, the project has produced brochures in 2018, 2020 and 2022, alongside a series of events and podcasts that have produced evidence of the range and scope of gender challenges in organisations. Dr Lara Pecis and Dr Anindita Banerjee co-authored the report Inclusive innovation: Sustaining productivity and socio-economic inclusion through innovation centres, hubs and districts for the Productivity Insights Network. v.stead@lancaster.ac.uk; l.pecis@lancaster.ac.uk have increased over the course of the pandemic. Women still disproportionately carry out more caring duties than men. Associated to this is the likelihood for mothers of being in an insecure job; UKmothers of children aged 9 or under were 2.7 times more likely than fathers to experience severely insecure work, according to research led by The Work Foundation. Jo-Ann Robertson, Chief Executive, KetchumUK and Chair of the YoungWomen’s Trust, highlighted how women encounter multiple layers of complexity in managing personal and professional lives with societal expectations to care for the home, children and elderly parents. Simultaneously, they experience pressure to have a stable job, and to succeed as leaders. Jo-Ann advises that unless we have a combination of societal and business intervention into these systemic issues, the gaps are just going to get wider. Taken together, these challenges reveal how inequalities combine to hinder gender equality at work. The insights from our guest speakers illustrate how external factors, such as the cost-of-living crisis and falling real wages, combined with the rise of insecure work in the UK, create destabilising effects that hinder progress in closing gender gaps. Particularly worrying is the real possibility that gaps in terms of participation in the labour market, progression and management of personal and professional spheres will widen further. These effects further put at risk any real progress, especially in addressing the significant negative impact for Black and minority ethnic women. It is therefore more important than ever that policy makers and businesses place gender diversity and inclusion at the forefront of their agenda for change. 198 200 180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 Average time (mins per day) across all days, GreatBriatin 120 53 30 72 63 All childcare Non-developmental childcare Developmental childcare IMPACT OF LOCKDOWNS ON FAMILY RESPONSIBILITIES IN THE UK Women Men
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTI5NzM=