Young Women Work
Young Women Work
A campaign to tackle workplace gender inequality and improve workplace progression for young women in Scotland.
This campaign was funded by Rosa’s Voices From the Frontline fund.
- Toolkit
- Work and careers
Over half of young women experienced discrimination at work in 2024. This can take many shapes, such as a gender pay gap, unfair policies and practices, or discrimination related to disability, race, caring responsibilities or health conditions. For young women that are marginalised in multiple ways, these issues are intensified further.
We worked with a group of young women to explore issues that impact young women in the workplace and co-design recommendations to address them.
The issue
Source: Poverty in Scotland 2024
Source: Young Women’s Trust
In 2022, Close The Gap found a 10% pay gap between men and women’s hourly rates, which increases to 27% when adjusted for women’s part-time hourly rates compared to men’s full-time hourly rates, as women are more likely to be on part-time contracts.
In our Status of Young Women in Scotland 2020/21 research, over 90% of the young women we spoke to had experienced imposter syndrome at work, and 43% felt they hadn’t had equal access to work opportunities.
In 2020, Equate Scotland found that 1 in 3 women working in STEM roles did not feel confident in reporting experiences of exclusion or discrimination to their employers, which rose to 50% for disabled women, Black and Minority Ethnic women and LGBT women. Over 90% of disabled women surveyed did not believe enough is being done to create inclusive workplaces or educational institutions.
Recommendations for workplaces
We worked with young women in our movement to develop recommendations for employers and business leaders to tackle gender inequality and improve workplace progression for young women in Scotland. Taking these steps will help to uncover and address gender inequality in your workplace.
Introduce or improve inclusive company policies
on topics such as menstrual leave, childcare, sexual harassment and discrimination, and safe travel provision for late working.
The young women in our workshops told us they can be or feel penalised in the workplace for needing additional time off to deal with their health, such as menstruation, or caring responsibilities like childcare or other family care needs.
Remove financial barriers and pay inequalities
by introducing transparent pay rates to job adverts, and embedding equal pay in your workplace to remove gender pay gaps.
Lack of pay transparency leads to reduced applications and greater pay inequality – one study suggests if addressed, it could reduce the pay gap by as much as 40%.
Introduce support schemes for young women
such as mentorship and buddy systems; bolstering training and development offerings; and creating employee networks and leadership programmes for women.
Young women told us that they are likely to feel imposter syndrome, and in male-dominated workplaces are likely to feel intimidated or lonely. Through our work with women in the tech sector, we have heard that there is a need for mentorship and flexible working opportunities.
What are the benefits for your business?
Introducing inclusive policies such as menstrual leave can increase productivity and improve staff retention, as specific needs and adjustments are being accounted for.
Removing financial barriers such as including transparent pay in job adverts can lead to a greater range and diversity of candidates. Studies suggest the number of applicants can be reduced by between 25-50% if the salary is not advertised.
Implementing support systems such as buddy schemes can lead to faster learning and integration within a new team. It can also boost the confidence of young women employees, who are more likely to experience imposter syndrome in the workplace.
How you can get involved
Spread the word about workplace gender inequality and these recommendations. You can download a poster to print and display in your workplace, or order printed copies to be delivered by post.
Put a meeting in the calendar to consider the recommendations and how you can embed them in your workplace.
Sign the pledge below– commit to being part of the change!
Sign the pledge
Commit to being part of the change by signing our pledge.
I pledge to stand up for young women’s rights in my workplace, using the Young Women Work recommendations to embed fairer, more inclusive policies and practices.
Further reading
- Women’s Inclusion in the Workplace – Parliamentary Briefing
- Young Women Code – one of the key findings from our research with partners in the tech sector was that ‘workplace culture is essential: staff felt that policies and workplace culture have to go hand-in-hand for a truly inclusive workplace.’
- Young Women Lead 2019/20 – identified systemic barriers for young women from ethnic minority backgrounds such as lack of representation in the labour market, unconscious bias in the hiring process, and a lack of cultural knowledge in the workplace.
