| Issue 62 (WAIS 2) Contents
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Workshop 3B
Future Science - Family and Career
Julie Evans
Session chair
Our expert panel comprised Juliet Bourke, Wendy Bryant and Erin Wood, who each spoke for about 15 minutes before we opened up the floor for general discussion.
Juliet Bourke, co-director of WORK+LIFE Strategies presented findings from her research into corporate women, children, careers and workplace culture in the legal and financial professions and on flexibility and autonomy in IBM.
The first study looked at women’s increased childlessness, delays and spacing of children, career progression and perceptions of “professionalism”, namely the ability to be constantly available for work. Juliet identified long hours and access to flexible workpractices as key issues for women, especially those with caring responsibilities. Her research in IBM found much greater productivity and satisfaction among workers who had control over their work time and place. Juliet also highlighted legislative supports for employees with caring responsibilities and presented specific case examples relating to changing hours, working from home, working part-time at senior levels, to do with carer requirements. She noted that officially employers were supportive of family-friendly arrangements but there was often a practical lack of assistance for those who wanted to access them.
Juliet pointed out marked differences between federal and state legislation on discrimination. Commonwealth law only applies to cases where dismissal has taken place, whereas legislation in most states identifies discrimination due to carer responsibilities. The best example is the NSW legislation which prohibits discrimination against male or female employees for carer responsibilities and compels employers to improve workplace arrangements for carers.
Erin Wood, national women’s coordinator for the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers Australia (APESMA) presented on two surveys about the impact of work on life and family:
1. APESMA Women in the Professions
Survey Report 2002
(www.apesma.asn.au/women/survey)
2. 50 Families: What Unreasonable Hours are Doing To Australians, Their Families and Their Communities (www.actu.asn.au)
The ACTU 50 Families study highlighted that Australia has a work culture of long hours, which affects women disproportionately and can lead to them having to make a choice between career and family. From the APESMA survey, women scientists appear to consistently earn less than their male counterparts at most levels of responsibility. It also revealed that revealed that only 22% of women scientists hold qualifications other than a Bachelor degree (incl. Hons), as their highest degree, compared to 51% of men. The survey compared women working in pharmacy and the IT industry: respondents from both professions had an average age of 41 but 65% of pharmacy respondents had children compared with 16% of IT responses.
Wendy Bryant from IBM Global Services Australia spoke about the changes IBM had introduced to work practices, made possible by changing technology and globalisation. IBM won the ACCI 2002 National Work and Family Award in the large employer category. Carer responsibilities are not restricted to childbirth and small children. Teens are demanding in different ways and many women now have responsibility for ageing family members. Wendy reported that nearly half of IBM employees now choose to work at home for some part of their regular working hours each week. She said that some young people, both males and females, are now asking prospective employers about flexibility in their work-places.
Successful work/life policies need:
• Active support from top management.
• To identify which jobs are compatible with flexible work practices, including roles that involve management of people.
• To use a performance appraisal system which is outcome orientated, not based on core hours in the office.
• To provide people with the appropriate tools. At the base level this means providing people with the ability for mobile computing.
• To promote real life examples of people taking advantage of the flexible working practises. People need to know what is available and then feel comfortable enough to take advantage of the programs.
Workshop Recommendations:
• The federal government should be lobbied to introduce legislation to protect employees with carer responsibilities along the lines of the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act 1977.
• WISENET revisit its “Science Futures” young scientists, now 5 years on, to discover where they have travelled in their careers.
Encourage initiatives on:
• Gradual return to work after breaks due to carer responsibilities,
• Post maternity grants e.g. Monash University $15,000,
• Changes toward a more work/life friendly
work culture, More cross-disciplinary studies into
workers and their families.
• The promotion of real life examples of people taking advantage of the flexible working practises. People need to know what is available and then feel comfortable enough to take advantage of the programs.
In the report-back to plenary, the debate expanded on creeping non-choice, or putting off having children until it is too late. Despite the advances in reproductive science, some older women are not able to conceive and many younger women do not think that the problem could affect them. Recent figures from the University of New South Wales have shown that women academics are less likely than male academics to have children.
On long hours – the myth and reality of professionalism, it was noted that the more flexibility people have with work, the higher their threshold before they suffer from over-work.
WORKSHOP 3B PANELLISTS
Julie Evans is a Sydney-based Meteorologist working currently as the Coordinator, Public and Marine Weather Services, NSW, for the Bureau of Meteorology. As a mother of two teenagers, Julie has first-hand experience of the range of available family- friendly policies over the past two decades.
Juliet Bourke is co-director of Work+Life Strategies and a lawyer who has worked in litigation and legal/policy, with an emphasis on discrimination law and gender equity. Juliet was involved in the development of legislation in New South Wales to protect employees with caring responsibilities.
Wendy Bryant is an Executive in the Financial Services team within IBM Global Services Australia and a Board Member of the IBM Global Services Superannuation Fund. She has been a member of IBM’s Diversity Council for the last two years with a particular emphasis on enabling people to work part-time and job-share.
Erin Wood is the Director Professional Services with the Association of Professional Engineers Scientists and Managers Australia. Her current responsibilities include national women’s policy and services, professional issues, member recruitment, retention and administration, IT infrastructure and quality accreditation. She is a member of the ACTU Women’s Committee and the ACTU Executive.