Feminine, flexible ... and frozen out
Portsmouth News, August 2003

WOMEN who job-share think they have little chance of climbing the promotion ladder, according to a recent survey. Career women fear that by balancing the office with life at home, their prospects are being harmed, the survey showed.

Experts have urged firms to be more positive about women who have commitments at home that mean they don't want to work full-time.

The survey has been published six months after new laws took effect that mean employers must give serious consideration to parents who ask for flexible working.

Despite this legislation, 72 per cent of women polled said they thought taking up flexible working damaged their long-term prospects.

Tracey Carr, managing director of Eve-olution, the London-based training consultancy for women that co-sponsored the survey, said the findings were worrying.

The group wants more women to be encouraged to do well at work by role models such as The Body Shop's Anita Roddick or Camelot boss Dianne Thompson.

Ms Carr said: 'Women need to be encouraged to stay in employment but not to be fearful of the implications of asking for flexible working rights.'

The Women Leaders Speak Out survey was sent to 1,100 female senior managers and directors, of whom 234 replied.

On top of their fears about flexible working, women also said feminine traits were not valued properly by firms, and added that even women working full-time found it harder to get promoted.

More than 80 per cent of women who sent back questionnaires said that men were uncomfortable with influential women.

Eight out of 10 respondents argued that firms were not putting enough emphasis on skills such as team-building and communication, things which Eve-olution claims are traditionally female strengths.

One said: 'For very senior positions, these skills are not deemed important. Only women who show male traits reach these heights.'

Nearly seven out of 10 women answering the questionnaire said they thought their sex held them back in the workplace.

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