What is the impact of the recession on women in science, engineering etc?
Ruth Wilson
Thursday, 02 April 2009 09:25 UTC
Does anyone have any information or examples of how men and women are being affected by the recession – across science, engineering, technology? Its hard to get data on this, and at UKRC we want to learn more about what is going on.
According to the Office for National Statistics , in 2008 more men lost jobs than women. But the Fawcett Society challenges that, saying ‘topline measures of unemployment and redundancy may not be as useful in measuring women’s experience as men’s’. Women register lower unemployment rates and redundancy levels because those with employed partners are less likely to register as unemployed. Also, as they change jobs more regularly and are more likely to be on temporary contracts, women are less likely to be entitled to redundancy pay.
We’ve begun to put together some links. We’ll have more on our website soon. And there’s been some interesting general recession stuff on NN blogs and forums (search under ‘recession’ or ‘economic crisis’). Please share your thoughts and experiences here (men and women welcome of course).
Updated 02 April 2009 09:53 UTC
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Replies
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I don’t know any scientists (female or otherwise) who have lost jobs because of the recession yet, but I do know two lawyers, an investment banker and an architect (all male but one).
I heard an interesting vox on TV the other day that, when there are few jobs available, employers tend to prefer hiring men to women because they see them as the breadwinners. I don’t know whether this is true.
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That’s interesting – that a male wage may be seen as more necessary. In a period of high risk (recession) perhaps the man is also seen as the safer bet in some way. It reminds me of what Jennifer Rohn wrote on her blog the other day – there is evidence that ‘when lacking sufficient information about competence, say when viewing a fictional CV with a man’s or woman’s name on top, both men and women tend to rate the male as more competent’.
Of course there are plenty of women with no other wage-earner in their life. And others with dependants. Their (probably) lower salary has to go further in a recession.
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There was an interesting comment here that got deleted. I hope I’ve got this right – it mentioned a woman in IT who is working longer hours with more responsibility but with no rise in pay as a result of the recession.
A recent report shows that women represent 45% of the UK working population but just 19% of the IT professional workforce. This is worse than many other areas of science/technology. And there is a significant pay gap between male and female IT professionals – ranging from 14% for young professionals (aged 16-29) to 30% for women aged 40-49.
I think its possible in some sectors that the lower paid staff may be retained while some on higher salaries get made redundant. This could mean women (who make up many of lower paid) tend to keep their jobs and that more senior men are more vulnerable to unemployment. The risk is exploitation – the potential is that women move into management and leadership in greater numbers and stay there (hopefully) at the end of the recession.
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