Conclusions and recommendations
In the report conclusions are shown in bold, recommendations
are shown in bold italics. In this list, recommendations
are shown in italics.
Stereotyping of jobs and gender representation
Nature or nurture?
1. We are of the view, based on much of our written
and oral evidence, that the root of the problem of the stereotyping
of jobs come from the cultural context in which career decisions
are made, not from innate differences between men and women.
(Paragraph 17)
Schools and Careers advice
2. Independent, impartial advice from schools,
from parents, and from organisations connected with education
and business is crucial in informing young girls and young boys
of the full range of career opportunities open to them. While
we received evidence highlighting pockets of excellent careers
advice given by individuals and organisations, we are concerned
about the lack of comprehensive careers advice, as highlighted
by the Education Committee's Report on careers guidance for young
people. This lack of advice to young people—both girls and
boys—needs to be addressed head on, and careers advice should
be incorporated in the work of both primary and secondary schools,
in the training of teachers and teaching assistants, and in the
role of governors. At an early age, girls and boys are influenced
by those around them, and all people involved in children's upbringing
should view this influence as highly important. (Paragraph 27)
3. At the heart of the issue of career aspirations
for girls and boys is the need to have a cultural change through
the educational system, at the point when pupils make subject
choices. In this respect, we support the recommendations set out
in the Women's Business Council's recent Report. We recommend
that the Government develops an enhanced careers strategy, based
on partnership working between the National Careers Service, the
Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), the National Apprenticeship
Service, the UK Commission for Employment and Skills, the Department
of Education, and the Department for Business, Innovation and
Skills. Such a strategy must include firm targets and regular
review processes to ensure that progress is maintained and is
consistent across all parts of the country. The Government should
also engage, where appropriate, with the devolved administrations,
so that best practice can be shared. Within this Government-led
strategy, there should be strong business-led engagement with
this process. (Paragraph 28)
Apprenticeships
4. The Government is committed to improving
the representation of women on boards, and has set specific targets
for such an increase, and progress against the Davies Report has
been encouraging. The Government should demonstrate the same commitment
and leadership in the area of Apprenticeships. It should set targets
for encouraging more women into Apprenticeship sectors where they
are currently under-represented, and consider, where appropriate,
how Apprenticeship funding can be used to support such a shift
in gender representation. There should be publically-available
data on the types of available Apprenticeships and funding, and
what successful apprentices should expect in terms of careers
and salaries. We repeat the recommendation in our Report into
Apprenticeships: the National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) should
be given specific responsibility and accountability both to raise
awareness of Apprenticeships among under-represented groups and
to promote positive action measures available to employers when
employing Apprenticeships. (Paragraph 33)
STEM subjects
5. There are many excellent and diverse initiatives
in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics,
such as the Athena SWAN Charter, Project Juno, and Wired for Success.
These programmes encourage and recognise the participation of
women in STEM subjects. The Government Equalities Office should
compile a comprehensive list of such initiatives, with the aim
of sharing best practice. The Government has powerful leverage
in its funding of higher educational institutions, but is not
using that leverage to force change. The Government also needs
to compile specific data that shows the male/female ratio in these
subjects. Data from institutions that have adopted specific initiatives
for female participation should then be compared with data from
institutions that have not adopted such initiatives. (Paragraph
39)
6. The Government should study the strategy
behind the Davies Report, including the setting of targets, and
should aim to tackle the skills shortages in a similar way. Programmes
targeted at increasing participation of women have proved to be
successful. Rather than reinvent the wheel, the Government should
use that knowledge and replicate the measures that have proven
success in delivering an increased take-up by women in certain
professions. Higher educational institutions should demonstrate
a track record in changing the unequal representation of men and
women in these subjects. (Paragraph 40)
7. These specific recommendations are voluntary
measures, but if the percentage figures do not increase within
two years from the start of this initiative, the Government should
look at regulation—either self regulation or Government
regulation—to ensure a greater representative of women in
under-represented professions and sectors. At December 2015, analysis
of the information should be undertaken, and assessed. (Paragraph
41)
Positive Action
8. The positive action provisions in sections
158 and 159 of the Equality Act 2010 could be used more effectively
to rebalance unequal representation of women in certain sectors.
The Government should actively consider how they can promote better
gender representation in their procurement policies, building
on existing best practice as shown in the 'Women in Construction'
project at the Olympic site. The Government should use the opportunities
presented by the procurement of goods and services from the private
sector to advance equality for women. They should produce an annual
statement to illustrate the way in which Government contracts
have been used to achieve this aim. The Government should make
this provision more widely known to employers, with the potential
to enable workforces to become more diverse and more representative
of the communities that they serve. As with the Government targets
for the number of women on Boards, targets should be set by the
Government to encourage women to explore more atypical work sectors,
especially in those sectors that have a skills shortage.
(Paragraph 48)
9. We are concerned that the objectives of
the Women and Work programme—that of supporting women in
the workplace— could well be at risk, following the move
from grant to challenge-based investment funding for Sector Skills
Councils from April 2011. If the Government is serious about tackling
skills shortages and readdressing gender inequality in certain
sectors, it should be prepared to take responsibility for funding
specific 'Women and Work' programmes, should the change in funding
arrangements not deliver its initial aim of promoting employment
for women. (Paragraph 49)
Equality legislation and equal pay
Gender pay gap
10. Published examples of equal pay best practice
in the private sector would provide evidence that equal pay is
good not only for individuals, but for business. We welcome the
Government's Think, Act, Report initiative to improve transparency
on gender equality in the workplace. We urge the Government, through
the Government Equalities Office, to promote the initiative more
widely, and to use the evidence to prove that good employment
practice is good for business. (Paragraph 58)
11. The gender pay gap is stubbornly persistent.
It is unacceptable that women are still systematically paid less
than men, over 40 years since the Equal Pay Act was passed. We
recommend a review of the Think, Act, Report initiative in the
Autumn of 2013, two years after its establishment, including statistical
analysis of pay differentials, to determine whether it is helping
to effect change. (Paragraph 59)
Equal Pay Audits
12. We welcome the Government's proposal to
give tribunals the power to require an employer to undertake an
equal pay audit when discrimination has been proved. However,
there is existing legislation addressing inequality in pay that
has not yet been implemented. The Government should introduce
regulations under Section 78 of the Equality Act 2010, to require
large private sector employers to undertake and publish equal
pay audits. That data could then be used to highlight where pay
gaps exist. (Paragraph 63)
13. The Equality and Human Rights Commission
(EHRC) should make public those businesses that are non-compliant
under Section 78 of the Equality Act 2010 , as well that those
examples of equal pay best practice in the private sector, to
show that equal pay is good for business. (Paragraph 65)
Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED)
14. The Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED)
is a useful tool to ensure that public bodies take steps to secure
parity in pay, and in other terms and conditions of employment.
The Government is nearing the end of a year-long review of the
Public Sector Equality Duty—even though it was only introduced
in 2011—in the interests of removing unnecessary burden
on businesses and organisations. We do not believe that the Public
Sector Equality Duty is an unnecessary burden on employers, but
is a vital tool for the collation of evidence and for ensuring
that steps are taken with the aim of achieving parity. The Government
should send a clear message that the PSED is valued. We urge the
Government to retain the PSED in its current form, unless a full
analysis of its compliance by public bodies has been carried out
by the EHRC, and the results of that analysis point towards the
need for change. Published statistical analysis should be at the
heart of that review. (Paragraph 70)
15. The Equality and Human Rights Commission
needs to improve its performance in relation to the monitoring
and assessment of compliance of the Public Sector Equality Duty.
It should use its powers to issue compliance notices to those
public bodies that have failed to comply with the PSED. The Government
should give a clear statement of support for the EHRC in exercising
these duties. (Paragraph 71)
Equality Impact Assessments
16. Equality Impact Assessments shine a light
on the differing impacts of decisions, policies and practices
adopted by large organisations, identifying those which might
help to advance gender equality as well as those which adversely
impact on particular groups. Given the fact that large companies
have Human Resource departments that hold the relevant data, they
are relatively easy to undertake, and they provide a positive
context in which to work. We urge the Government to reconsider
its decision to 'call time' on the undertaking of Equality Impact
Assessments. This change in policy is in direct contradiction
with the Government's other measures directed at achieving equality
in the workplace. (Paragraph 73)
Changes to the Equality Act
17. Reforms to employment legislation may
make it harder for women to tackle inequality in the workplace.
We urge the Government to remove the fee requirement for pregnancy
discrimination cases. Pregnancy discrimination, by definition,
affects women only and such a financial burden on those women
would be in direct contradiction with the Government's aim of
removing inequality in the workplace. The impact of the new fee
arrangements for other gender-related employment tribunal cases
must be monitored, and kept under review to ensure that genuine
cases of discrimination are not being stalled by the introduction
of fees. We recommend that the questionnaire procedures in discrimination
cases, which gives both employees and employers guidance about
what information will be asked in an employment tribunal, should
be retained. (Paragraph 77)
Data transparency
18. The Government has already done much to
ensure data about women in senior positions is collated, assessed
and acted upon. However, as with the measures in place for increasing
women on boards, the prospect of regulation can be a useful motivation
for intransigent companies which fail to engage with the Think,
Act, Report initiative. Only when there is consistent, reliable
data on equality issues can progress be planned, achieved and
measured. The Government Equalities Office should collate data
on women in the workplace, including figures on part-time employees,
what roles women return to after maternity leave, and specific
ages or periods in the employment lifecycle. (Paragraph 78)
Flexible working
Data transparency and a voluntary code of practice
19. Without reliable, consistent data on the
extent of flexible working—including part-time, job-share,
and compressed hours—the Government, public and private
sector employers, and employees cannot have clear understanding
of who is working in such a way, in what sector, and how well
they are performing. The data needs to be gathered and analysed
by gender, race and disability, and by age and sector. The Government
Equalities Office should oversee the collation of this data by
the Office of National Statistics. (Paragraph 89)
20. The Government should collect and publish
consistent data on the working practices of staff within its own
Departments. This data should be reviewed on an annual basis,
and those Departments with poor records of offering flexible working
should be set achievable targets for improvement. (Paragraph
89)
21. We recommend the establishment of a voluntary
Code of Practice by the Government, through the Government Equalities
Office, to highlight best practice in relation to the provision
of quality part-time and flexible working. The Government should
draw attention to those organisations that encourage flexible
working—for both men and women, at all levels of the workforce,
including at a senior level—in order to dispel the myth
that flexible working is problematic and cannot work. (Paragraph
96)
22. Flexible employment can work,
when it is fully integrated into the workplace structure, with
equal access for training and development opportunities alongside
full-time workers. The voluntary Code of Practice should also
highlight the 'return-to-work' experiences and opportunities for
those many women who are qualified and experienced in their chosen
work, and who wish to return to work after looking after young
children. (Paragraph
97)
23. Currently, employees do not have the right
to ask for flexible or part-time working within six months of
starting a job. Staff should be entitled to ask for flexible working
from the outset, unless there are justifiable reasons to the contrary.
This should be led from the top management level, with the default
position being the right to ask for flexible working, unless justified.
(Paragraph 98)
Small and medium businesses (SMEs)
24. The Equalities and Human Rights Commission
needs to take a more active role in supporting and advising SMEs,
in relation to the issue of flexible working. Many SMEs are exemplars
of flexible working, which benefits both the business and the
staff, but others lack the knowledge to utilise flexible working
successfully. The Government should invest resources in advising
small and medium businesses, of the benefits of recruiting and
retaining flexible workers, and it should highlight the work that
organisations such as the Federation of Small Businesses do to
promote the positive benefits of flexible working. (Paragraph
102)
Maternity leave and Childcare
Parental leave proposals
25. We welcome the reforms to maternity leave,
which are part of the Children and Families Bill, including the
right to shared parental leave, and statutory shared parental
pay. This should lead to parental leave becoming a more gender-neutral
matter. However, we appreciate the fact that for some small businesses,
parent rights are not without occasional, but potentially significant
risk to those businesses. (Paragraph 109)
26. We recommend that the Government collects
data on pregnancy discrimination, in order to monitor its incidence,
from the position of both employees and employers. This should
be done in conjunction with our previous recommendation that women
with pregnancy discrimination cases should not have to pay the
proposed £1,200 tribunal fee. (Paragraph 110)
Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC)
Proposed changes to the EHRC
27. We welcome the fact that the Government
reconsidered its intention to repeal the Equality and Human Rights
Commission's general duty, as set out in Section 3 of the Equality
Act 2006. However, we remain concerned at other Government measures
that are weakening the EHRC's ability to carry out its general
duty. In this Report, we have recommended that the EHRC should
be providing: enhanced information and advice covering career
strategies; equal pay audit and equal pay best practice advice;
the monitoring and assessment of the Public Sector Equality Duty
(PSED); data transparency advice; and support to SMEs. Funding
is tight, but if the EHRC is to carry out all of these activities
effectively, it needs to be better resourced. We welcome initiatives
such as the EHRC's recent work with the meat and poultry industry,
and recommend that that EHRC actively seek funding from other
private business sectors for similar funding. (Paragraph 117)
Women in senior positions
The current position
28. Much has been achieved as a result of
the recommendations in the Davies Report of 2011. There are some
exemplary organisations that have both promoted women to executive
board level, and have ensured that women are progressing throughout
the structure, and tangible results have been achieved. However,
more needs to be done to consolidate that work and to ensure there
are more women on boards, especially those on executive committees,
and those holding executive directorships. The total number of
women on boards can be deceptive, because there has been a drop
in the percentage of women on executive committees, from 18.1%
to 15.3% since 2009. The Government needs to monitor regularly
the proportion of women holding both executive and non-executive
directorships. (Paragraph 125)
Progress
29. We welcome the changes to the UK Corporate
Governance Code and the new policy of 'comply or explain'. Boards
will now report annually on their boardroom diversity policy,
including gender, and on measurable objectives for implementing
the policy. (Paragraph 128)
30. We are encouraged by the increase in the
number of women on boards, and support the continued work of Lord
Davies in his voluntary approach. We recommend that the Government
highlights best practice of mentoring and networking initiatives
run for women, in its Think, Act, Report initiative, in order
to stress the importance of increased opportunities for women
to apply for boardroom appointments. Those companies that are
more successful nurture their potential leaders at all levels
of the workforce. (Paragraph 139)
31. While we support the voluntary approach
of Lord Davies, we are concerned that the number of women appointed
to FTSE 100 boards has decreased since December 2012. The Government
has put on record its intention to take tougher measures, in the
form of quotas, if the voluntary approach does not work. The Government
needs to set out clear figures, and a timescale, to outline to
businesses what will be done if those targets are not achieved.
(Paragraph 140)
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