Here at Aspiring to Include, we want to support women at work. Despite making up half of the population, women are still considered a minority or underrepresented group in the workplace.
While the number of women in some form of work has been slowly growing over the last few decades, there are still many challenges to overcome.
For example, women are even more likely to occupy a low-skilled and low-pay role, women are less likely to progress to the highest positions, and the imbalance of childcare responsibilities and the lack of infrastructural support for new mothers means that pregnancy and motherhood can have a distinct impact on a woman’s career.
Please note we use the term ‘women’ to refer to anybody who self-identifies as a woman, including transgender women, non-binary and gender-non-conforming people. For more information, visit our guide to terminology.
In this section, you will find the following information pages:
Your Rights
On this page, you can find helpful legal information about your rights as a woman in the workplace. If you feel that you are being discriminated against at work due to your gender, you may need formal legal action. This kind of discrimination could manifest in different ways, including verbal and emotional bullying or not receiving promotions or pay rises.
Women and Diversity at Work
We recognise that no two women have the same experience; as well as someone’s gender, we have a whole identity and set of experiences which informs who we are in the world at work. This is especially true for women who face racism as well as sexism. BAME women are the least represented group in the UK workforce which means they face even more challenges finding and securing their careers.
Women in STEM
STEM is the acronym for the subjects and industries Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. STEM is an extremely male-dominated area, which means that women have to work harder to earn the same kinds of experiences and opportunities. Only 15% of engineering graduates are women. This guide provides some background to women in STEM, breaks down some of the misconceptions, and offers support to any STEM women who need more guidance.
The Gender Pay Gap
The gender pay gap is the calculation of the average difference between men and women’s pay. This guide breaks down some of the confusing gender pay statistics and explores where the gender pay gap comes from. It can be a challenging and isolating experience to feel like you are being underpaid on the grounds of your gender. On this page, we discuss what to do if that’s you.
Pregnancy and Maternity
One of the significant reasons for gender disparity in the workforce is the old fashioned and outdated views on parenthood which leave women with the majority of the care work, whilst also not supporting her to undertake the job care work. In this guide, we explore pregnant women’s legal rights and maternity leave and discuss some tips for taking a break from your career when having children.
Support and Resources
In our final page, you can find information regarding local and national support, women’s charities, and any useful resources we think might help women at work.
You can also take a look at our jobs for women, care jobs for women, construction jobs for women, or our travelling jobs for women.
