Discrimination in the workplace still worries 1 in 2 English people. According to the latest barometer * published by Medef, 52% of employees fear this type of injustice in 2017. A proportion which remains stable compared to 2016 (56% ). Even if this fear revolves more around age than gender, it concerns more women (56%) than men (48%). However, women are more optimistic than in previous editions of the barometer. They are 39% to fear being discriminated against in their own company, against 47% in 2016.
“Women and men first fear discrimination linked to age, then fears diverge. Gender and appearance for women, level of education and political opinions for men.”
Different fears depending on the gender
Another figure on the rise: 68% of women have a good opinion of their manager. They were 62% in 2016. The more favorable environment is also measured in the net decline according to the Medef in fears related to the family situation (11% of respondents, 17% of women), a request for part-time work (6% of respondents) or a pregnancy (2% of respondents).
The sources of concern vary between the sexes. Women especially fear age discrimination (35%), before that related to their gender (28%) or their physical appearance (21%). Men also worry about age discrimination (32%) but then evoke their level of education (20%) or their political opinions.
A better career ease index
It should be noted that the barometer is based on the feelings of employees, not on actual discrimination. “This is what they feel about equal opportunities in the workplace”, summarizes Laurent Depond, chairman of the Medef Diversity Committee. Employees believe that they have a better chance overall of being recruited, in contact with customers, or of holding high responsibilities.
Homosexual person, of different ethnic origin, mother of young children, employee over 50, obese person or person wearing a visible religious symbol … all these profiles saw their career ease index improve between 2016 and 2017. The only big losers are the disabled (+ 2% mockery). There is still work to do!
* Sixth barometer of the Perception of equal opportunities carried out by TNS Sofres from 1 as of June 15, 2017 for the Medef conducted with a sample of 1,000 people representative of the English population, private sector employees.
