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Women face career gap stigma

Journalist: Elizabeth Howlett, People Management Magazine

ended 06. March 2023

I am covering news today from Applied that found women are facing a career gap stigma.

The data of over 2000 people carried out by unbiased hiring experts Applied found that nearly one in five women (18%) have been asked whether or not they have children (or plan to have children in the future) at some point during a recruitment process. Among senior managers, the number of women who said they’d been asked this question rose to two in five (40%).

It also found 1 in 3 Brits have taken a career break overall. Of these people, 53% would rather not tell prospective employers about their time away from work due to the stigma attached.

Could you comment on how employers and recruiting teams can avoid placing this stigma on candidates, and recruit without bias? Also, is there anything HR can do to promote bias-free recruitment? 

My deadline is 11.30am today

4 responses from the Newspage community

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Kerri-Ann Hargreaves
Director - IronMarket Talent at IronMarket Wealth
As one of that 18% that have been asked in a recruitment process whether I would be having more children, I have made a point of raising this discussing in any business recruitment process should I witness bias since 2011.

Education is the key. HR managers, Directors and Recruiters need to bring this topic into the light and not be afraid to openly review common interview questions and practices with those in the business that are tasked with interviewing.

Recruiters could consider presenting blind CV's therefore removing bias. Businesses should ensure they have a diverse interview panel. Before a Hiring manager asks a question, they need to think 'could I position this differently and would I ask a man this question'.

The view that any woman will have a child is both old-fashioned and sexist.
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Gillian Jones-Williams
Managing Director at Emerge Development Consultancy
This research is shocking but unsurprising. We deliver the RISE Empowered Women's programme and discuss this frequently with women - the majority feel nervous about gaps in their CVs due to maternity leave. Whilst most people have been trained not to ask whether women will be having children, there are still often comments at interview about whether childcare is sufficient - which men would not be asked. Managers should all attend Inclusive Hiring training so that they understand how their bias might come in to play, and to really focus on asking competency based questions. If this is coupled with HR truly challenging adverts, job descriptions that ask for a certain block of time in an industry or role, and finally challenging decisions to ensure that the best person for the role had been selected then progress can be made.
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Sarah Loates
Director at Loates HR Consultancy
Discrimination in recruitment exists; it's a fact. I've attended networking events where a business owner has proudly asserted I don't recruit women of childbearing age. I've observed this more in SMEs, who complain that backfilling an individual on maternity leave disrupts the business.

Legislation is no barrier to this type of employer, as HR I influence using the business case and benefits. If the business case fails, I appeal to values. If that fails, I walk away from the client.
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Cheney Hamilton
CEO at The Find Your Flex Group
So many businesses are hung up on a candidates 'journey', because they are not set up to be outcome focused. 9 time out of 10 a recruiter hasn't asked the question internally of 'What is the business need for this role, what is the output required and where is the potential ROI?', if they had, the conversation at interview becomes about delivery... NOT about how much time you've been at work. Post covid there has been a fundamental shift in workers (of all ages) to have squiggly careers, to embrace life - employers need to be better equipt to handle this wave of talent, or they wont be attracting any!