Female PAs are of the notion that their male counterparts are on a fast way to the top. Kate Hilpern on if females have a right insight of the gender gap
Imagine, you are a female, working along with a male, who has exactly the same job profile as yours, and that too in the same office. On the day of promotion, you both sit for it. Who according to you will get the promotion? Him, obviously. Nevertheless, this is what females vastly are certain of, according to a survey conducted by OfficeTeam, a recruitment consultancy.
Sarah Thomas, who was part of the research, says “Majority of the female PAs are of the view that their male colleagues will at all times get promoted faster, when compared to them – although it is a female-dominated profession,” However, she maintains, “Our study also established that the fact is that there is no verity in this issue at all. PAs, get promoted on the basis of merit, and their gender does not matter.”
Certainly, studies of similar nature that have been performed from the time males began getting into the occupation have had the similar conclusion, which is that the men are not at all considered as better in the secretarial world. So, what is the reason for the female’s fear?
Author Ambro and image courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net
A careers adviser, Alison Stimpson, states that it comes from the verity that “males more and more make use of support roles as a 1st step on their career ladder. With about twice the number in higher education, when compared to a decade back, graduates are required to look for new means into professions. For men, Secretarial work has showed to be the most prevalent way. It can be said that, though it seems that males are fast at getting promotion, the fact is that they are actually fast at actively looking for roles of higher status.”
Rise of the Male PA
Certainly, a latest report by the TUC established that the number of males in secretarial jobs has increased by 56% in the last 3 years, also most of these males are graduates. Alistair Smith, who is a PA says, “I chose to make use of a PA role in the beginning, as, I apprehended that I would absorb much more about business by working with a top entrepreneur, than from a graduate trainee scheme, in which I may have been one of the 20 individuals competing to get noticed. I had an opportunity to make contact with high-level people and from day one had a target to get his job someday, and I succeeded.
Sarah Eldoori of Office Angels, a recruitment consultancy considers that in it is the women who talk themselves out of the promotion. “I have seen female secretaries say things, such as, ‘Oh, I am not that good in my job,’ while males brag about their accomplishments. This is the actual gender gap amid support staff.” This assertion is supported by a novel study, carried out by Gallup that established that females are far more probable to underestimate their work performance, when compared to men – and this could a reason because of which numerous females are not able to get high-ranking jobs.
“If, it is true that females’ self-assessments are not much positive when compared to those given to them by other individuals, they might not grow as rapidly as males,” clarifies Haihai Yuan, who is a co-author of the a Gallup report on appraisals.
Mick Cooper, senior lecturer in applied social science at Brighton University, considers that females might have all reasons to be concerned about the re-entry of menfolk in the profession. “Research has still not decided if it is the augmented duties as well as position of secretarial work, which has resulted in more males coming in the job, or if the fact that additional males perform the job has resulted to the augmented duties and position,” he says. “In case, is the latter then males are in risk of pushing females back out of the picture.”
Contemplate Russia in the 1920s as well as 1930s, he says. “There was an unexpected incursion of females becoming doctors, as a result, the position of doctors dropped, as men opted out. Unfortunately, it is still probable for gender to have such effect, and this maybe just one side of the coin.”
However, for now, there seems to be no this kind of threat. Certainly, Steven Durham, who is PA to the assistant director at Camden Local Education Authority, states: “In spite of males now taking for 25% of support staff and females freaking that we will take over, the gender gap needs to be eliminated in other occupations, much faster than in the secretarial world. For instance, I have seen that there is a confrontation – mainly amid male employers – to keep male support staff.”
