67% of island youth believe men can grow more at work
Results of the Universia survey. (Credit: www.universia.pr)
With all things being equal in the work place, and despite the milestones women have achieved over the past decades, much remains to be done to achieve true professional gender equality, the results of the latest survey on employment by Universia showed.
In the wake of International Working Women’s Day, Universia’s labor community, Trabajando.com, revealed a survey it conducted to learn the views of young people and students on the standing of women at work.
The survey stretched across Central and South America and the Caribbean, revealing, among other findings, that 67 percent of the 415 participants from Puerto Rico said men were more likely than women to find better professional growth opportunities.
In all, 10,991 people from Puerto Rico, Colombia, Argentina, Spain, Chile, Andorra, Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Portugal, Venezuela, Ecuador, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, Paraguay, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Cuba and Panama completed the survey.
The results mainly showed that 78 percent of young people in those countries believe that men are more likely than women to grow in their jobs.
Moreover, 46 percent said women hold between 10 percent and 40 percent of management positions where they work, while 32 percent believe that these positions are less than 10 percent. Another 22 percent said women occupy more than 40 percent of those jobs.
In Puerto Rico’s case, results showed that an estimated 49 percent of participants believe women hold between 10 percent and 40 percent of decision-making jobs. Likewise, 26 percent thought it is more than 40 percent and another 25 percent estimated that number at less than 10 percent.
On a scale of one to 10 — where one is very little and 10 being best — 20 percent of survey participants thought that women’s positions in the workplace have changed considerably over the last 30 years, giving them an eight, while 19 percent gave a 10 to the social and employment changes achieved.
In Puerto Rico, the views were quite varied and were tied at 18 percent between those who believed change has been moderate and gave it a five, and those who believed it was high enough to earn an eight on the scale.
