9 minute read
The Impact of Gender on Career Progression
In a previous edition of Landscape, Romy Rawlings considered the barriers to career progression within the profession – here she responds to two important examples.
The childcare system in the UK is among the most expensive in the world. Full time nursery places can be in excess of £1,000 per month, which leaves many parents questioning whether it’s financially viable to work at all.
Nicola Phillips
Back in 2016, having recently married, my husband and I had sold our house in preparation for a move from Cambridge to Manchester. We’d both accepted new jobs but hadn’t formally started them when we discovered the pregnancy. I was especially concerned how this would be perceived by my new employer and was introduced to a campaign called ‘Pregnant Then Screwed’ lead by Joeli Brearley; I also contacted ACAS for advice.
Nicola Phillips
Nicola Phillips is Director and Principal Landscape Architect at Nicola Jayne Landscape Design Ltd
Fortunately, my new employer was understanding, and while neither I nor my partner was entitled to any maternity pay, my job was secure and they agreed to a 3-day working week upon my return to work after 9 month’s maternity leave. On my return, I didn’t cope well at all and suffered a mental breakdown, for which my employer was supportive. I wasn’t aware that this was going to be so hard, adjusting to a new life balance, being apart from my baby who had been totally dependent on me for the past 9 months, all while trying to build on my career in the profession I love.
Looking back, I don’t know what I was expecting but people would comment about ‘enjoying my time off’ on maternity leave and that coming back to work would be some sort of relief to get my life and freedom back again. It wasn’t. I had my second child eighteen months later and returned to work 3 days a week as I had been previously. Except this time there was the COVID pandemic, I was to be furloughed until further notice. I found this difficult to cope with mentally, having all my projects taken away and then no communication from my employer, as this is what was instructed by the government at the time. During the pandemic, we had a situation where people could go to the pub, yet many partners were unable to be present as their children were born. For parents, not being able to socialise with their new-born babies, it was an extremely lonely time.
Finally, if you’re reading this as an owner/director of a company, have you ever considered how you would feel if your daughter was subjected to discrimination for having a family, or even the thought of wanting a family? Would you be upset if she was overlooked for that director role as it seems you cannot be a director working only part time hours? Because these attitudes and beliefs are forcing someone to decide between their career or having a family. Why can’t it be both? In the past 18 months, I have proved this is possible.
In February 2021, I featured on BBC News, addressing the gender pay gap and discrimination within the construction industry. I have guided peers that have been mistreated and offered support to others who have been discriminated against. Some are unable to speak out due to fears over losing their jobs, while many more who have lost their jobs have been offered a pay-out in return for signing a Non-Disclosure Agreement to avoid any negative Public Relations or legal action against their former employer. I set up my own landscape design studio so I could be around for my two young sons. I wanted to carry on the career that I am so passionate about and be there for the school runs, the first nativity, the sports days and the graduations. Don’t get me wrong, sacrificing a monthly wage, not knowing what might happen, was a risk, but a risk I took for me and my family’s future. Having young children, time moves so quickly, but being around for the milestones and just being present for them was worth more than money.
Carolyn Willitts
“Dear Sirs...” I’ve just received a project enquiry from an architects’ practice. Thank you, that’s great, we’ll take a look. But also, really? We are a company of five women. Around a third of the job applications that we receive begin: Dear Sir or Dear Sir/ Madam. I’ve got a good idea: why don’t you spend thirty seconds Googling the company so you can open with a name? It will make me think you’ve done some research.
Carolyn Willitts
Carolyn Willitts is Director and Landscape Architect at CW Studio Ltd
I’ve been invited to contribute to this article and have been thinking about how I set up CW Studio and that we are all women. This wasn’t planned. As I started to get busier on my own, I looked around for freelancers and found a plethora of brilliant women, all seniors and associates from high profile companies, who had a second child and weren’t allowed to come back to work part time. So, they set up at home as freelancers and I won the prize of being able to work with women who had more experience than I did. Bingo! But how is this a thing? What is everyone thinking?
One of my amazing freelancers became my first employee, and the more women we worked with the more women wanted to join our merry band.
Our USP was flexible and hybrid working, but post-pandemic everyone’s doing it! Well, not quite everyone yet. Maybe soon.
I set up on my own because the architecture practice I worked for closed down in the recession and I didn’t feel I could interview for a new job while undertaking IVF just in case it actually worked. Yes, working for yourself can be more flexible when you have a child. But it can also be less flexible: I’d like to speak to my boss as I need to pick up my child from school, it’s an emergency. Oh, hi me! But now I have an incredible and supportive team I can go on actual holiday and leave my work behind.
So, top three thoughts: Hybrid and flexible working please! More affordable childcare! (If you don’t have retired family nearby it may cost you more than you earn.) And be bold! The older I get, the less cautious I am about playing by the rules, which is a whole lot of fun.
Romy Rawlings
Romy Rawlings
Romy Rawlings is Commercial Director and Landscape Architect at Vestre Ltd
In the past, when I’ve written about issues around gender equality in the landscape profession, it’s been a relatively high-level conversation. I’ve talked about research and surveys, government policies that need to change, and how we could do better by looking to Scandinavian countries and their far superior attitudes to equality, particularly around working parents.
But now, I’m not sure there’s much more I can say about those aspects. They’re all publicly available and it’s easy enough to find out more about them if you’re interested. And that’s one of the issues here. I’m not convinced everyone is interested, or takes the repercussions of what is going on, every day, seriously. Is it unconscious bias in those not directly affected, or is it actually conscious?
There are still many who refute that there’s a gender pay gap. There are many, many men, in senior leadership positions, who clearly don’t understand the issues, never mind know what to do about them. Equally, there are many women who haven’t personally encountered any problems and question whether gender inequity really exists. I should make it clear that I personally have no axe to grind. My son is 22 and, while I remember the challenges and childcare costs of being a full-time working mother, it’s a very distant memory! What saddens and angers me in equal measure is that very little seems to have improved in the two decades since I was struggling in the ways Nicola and Carolyn have described. Of course, some aspects have improved in the 15 years or so since I was in their positions (e.g., paid paternity leave), but it’s nowhere near enough.
For those of you who may still be questioning whether there really is an issue at all; those of you who simply don’t see the need for change; those who wonder why we have a terrible skills shortage in our profession; those who are not sure what needs to be done – look no further.
Both Nicola and Carolyn are running their own successful practices and managing to balance their home and work lives – maybe that’s all for the best. But what’s clear is that neither really felt they had a choice and were almost forced to give up their previous full-time employed roles. There are so many more women making the same ‘choices’. They are giving up security, salaries, pensions, and so much more. But it’s the unsympathetic and unsupportive businesses who are missing out on their expertise, passion and talent, at a time when more landscape professionals are so desperately needed.
I thank them for bravely baring their souls in an attempt to improve the situation for others who will find themselves, now and in the future, in the same position. Please take note of what they have to say and, if you want to know how to be a better employer of women, just ask any of us!
