U.K. Female Managers Most Likely to Experience Gender Bias

Research from Ciphr finds one in seven female managers report feeling that their gender has made it harder for them to succeed at work. 

By Maggie Mancini

Female employees—particularly those working in management—are twice as likely to see their gender as a barrier to success than their male counterparts, according to research from Ciphr. As many as one in seven (14%) female managers report feeling that their gender has made it harder for them to succeed at work. In stark comparison, just one in 14 (7%) of male managers reported the same.  

Female leaders and senior managers are more likely to be impacted by gender bias. Nearly one-third (32%) of female respondents working in leadership or senior management positions say they have suffered discriminatory experiences at work or been treated unfavourably during recruitment because of their gender. Further, one in six (16%) believe that their gender has made achieving career success more challenging.  

Gender discrimination is also common among those in middle or junior management. Nearly one in four (23%) of all female managers surveyed have faced gender discrimination in their careers, compared to one in seven (14%) male managers surveyed.  

And it’s not just managers that are affected. One in nine (11%) female employees in non-management roles also report experiencing gender discrimination at work or when job hunting, compared to 6.2% of male employees in non-management roles.  

Regardless of seniority, women are more likely than men to be affected by gender biases and prejudice at work, as well as lower pay, as the U.K.’s pay gap currently stands at 13.1% in favour of men. Just 3.2% of male employees in non-management roles and 7% of male managers think their gender has hindered them at work. 

Being self-employed doesn’t appear to negate the challenges associated with gender bias either. Nearly one in five (18%) self-employed women, compared to 0.9% of self-employed men, feel their gender has made it harder to be successful in their work.  

Women in male-dominated industries, especially those where men are overrepresented in senior roles, tend to be among those most likely to report gender bias. Female managers working in law, for example, are four times more likely to say they’ve experienced gender obstacles in their careers than their male peers.