Research Shows U.S. Employers Still Struggle with Gender Equality

Leading recruitment software provider, iCIMS, releases report on gender equality in the workplace

MATAWAN, N.J. [May 24, 2017] – U.S. companies still struggle with gender issues, including the pay gap, parental leave policies, hiring women in science, technology, engineering and mathematic (STEM) industries and promoting women to C-level positions according to a new report from iCIMS, Inc., a leading provider of cloud-based talent acquisition solutions.

“Our research finds that 73% of young working women aspire to be in senior leadership roles, but on average only 32% of high-level leaders are women,” said Susan Vitale, chief marketing officer at iCIMS. “This report dives into the specific ways companies still struggle with gender issues and offers insight from top companies that are committed to gender diversity and helping women grow in their careers.”

Adecco, an enterprise employer and iCIMS customer, was included in the report due to its strength in gender equality. Recognized as a top company for executive women by the National Association for Female Leadership, Adecco attributes the company’s success to its sturdy bench of female talent -- nearly 70% of their senior managers are women and more than 70% of all employees are women.

“We are proud celebrators of women in the workplace, and it’s deeply embedded in our company culture,” said Joyce Russell, president at Adecco. “Our CEO for One Month initiative offers one outstanding person the internship of a lifetime, where he or she will shadow our executives for a month to learn the ins and outs of leading a Fortune 500 company. This year, more than 20,000 candidates applied to become our U.S. 2017 CEO for One Month. What a great way to build a pipeline of talent and further develop our company culture as a place where leadership is valued across all levels of the organization.”

Key findings from the report include:

Career Advancement and Salary

- Among female executives, 62% have been passed up for a promotion in favor of a male.

- Of those who have yet to rise through the ranks, 44% of women doubt their ability to successfully negotiate a raise.

Gender Equality in Senior Leadership

- Among non-executives, 73% of women aspire to be an executive at some point in their career, which means they are equally as aspirational as men (76%), yet on average only 32% of high-level or C-level leaders are women.

- While 94% of workers have at least one female in their leadership team, office professionals say, on average, just 32% of high-level or C-level leaders at their company are women.

Parental Leave and Returning to Work

- Among working men, 91% believe they are less likely than women to take advantage of parental leave, even if they have the option.

- Overall, 45% of office professionals believe parental leave would decrease their opportunities for promotion.

- Overall, 82% of office professionals and 95% of millennials are interested in taking advantage of a “returnship” program in the future.

Gender Equality in the STEM Industry

- Professionals in STEM said it will take approximately 13 years before their industry has as many women as men, while 33% believe this will never happen.

- Women who work in STEM (46%) are significantly more likely than men in STEM (27%) to feel they are underpaid.

To compile the report, iCIMS conducted a survey among 1,000 office professionals.

To view the full report, please visit iCIMS Hiring Insights.

About iCIMS

iCIMS is the leading recruitment software provider for employers to attract, engage and hire great people. iCIMS enables companies to manage and scale their recruiting process through a full product suite and an ecosystem of integrated partners delivered within a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) framework. Established in 2000, iCIMS supports 4,000 customers hiring 4 million people each year and is the largest software provider dedicated to talent acquisition.

About iCIMS

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