Key Points
- A consultation report to the government has highlighted Australia's continuing gender segregation in the workforce.
- Females continue to dominate in the fields of childcare and nursing, as well as reception and general clerk duties.
- The report, released on Tuesday, has called on the government to address the issue for better labour productivity.
Gender segregation in Australia's critical occupations continues to persist, with a new report finding there are "entrenched cultural barriers" in workplaces that must be addressed.
In a submission to the federal government's Employment White Paper, the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) found that more women have joined the workforce in recent decades - but are not employed in male-dominated industries.
The report quoted 2022 data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showing female workplace participation has increased by 41 per cent since 1980 but there's still a low proportion of women in industries such as construction and mining as well as science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
Conversely, there was a low proportion of men in male-dominated industries such as health care and education.
CEDA chief executive Melinda Cilento said gender segregation limited job mobility, labour-market flexibility and productivity.
“While many social, historical and economic factors have driven this segregation, many of the remaining barriers to change are cultural – whether at the government, workplace or individual level,” Ms Cilento said.
“We must tackle these entrenched cultural barriers wherever they exist."
The White Paper consultation, which closed in November last year, was issued by the Treasury. The federal government says the White Paper aims to build on the outcomes of the which was held last September. The White Paper has a focus on full employment and productivity growth and women's economic participation and equality.
Which occupations are getting more segregated for women?
Childcare staff, receptionists and primary school teachers are among some of the key occupations that have become even more female-dominated in 2021-22, compared to 1986-87.
Meanwhile, fewer women over the past three decades have been employed in male-dominated fields as software programmers and construction managers
But female employment has jumped slightly in truck driving, from 2.9 per cent in 1986-87 to 4 per cent in 2021-22.
Source: SBS News
Another issue was the 'motherhood penalty'. The report found that across the first five years of parenting their first child, women's earnings are reduced on average by 55 per cent, while men's earnings are unaffected. Paid parental leave was unequal, with 99.5 per cent of parental leave taken by mothers.
The report also found that skilled migration has contributed to gender segregation, due to a higher number of visa applicants. By contrast, women make up 57 per cent of secondary applications to their partner's visas in 2021-22.
The skills or occupations of secondary applicants are not assessed, placing men in a likelier position to increase employee participation in male-dominated fields.
“In the current tight labour market, gendered workforces contribute to labour shortages in critical occupations such as construction and aged and health care,” Ms Cilento said.
The report recommended the strengthening of family-friendly policies, including making paid parental leave more gender-equal, addressing gender pay gaps and more mentoring for women in STEM.
