While women still take home just 81 cents for every dollar earned by their male counterparts and make up only 5.2 percent of CEOs at S&P 500 companies, women employed in predominantly male workplaces are more likely to face gender discrimination than those in mostly female or evenly mixed workplaces, according to a Pew Research Center survey.
Conducted between July and August 2017, the survey captured the sentiments of America’s female workforce just a couple of months before the #MeToo movement took center stage, empowering women to share their stories of sexual harassment and assault.
Among the most telling findings is the percentage of women who say they are treated fairly in respect to promotions and career advancement opportunities: Only 38 percent at mostly male companies, as compared to 70 percent at mostly female. Similarly, 48 percent of women in majority-male workplaces recall being treated fairly during the hiring process, and 35 percent report earning less than men doing the same work. Those numbers at majority-female workplaces are 79 and 22 percent, respectively.
When women are not equally represented in the workforce, they are more likely to be treated as incompetent (37 percent) and less likely to receive support from senior managers (24 percent). Forty-nine percent say sexual harassment is a problem, and 28 percent have experienced it first-hand.
