Women across New Zealand and Australia perceive their career advancement as a low priority in the organisations they work for, according to research conducted by the Bank of New Zealand and Financial Services Institute of Australasia.
The research, which interviewed more than 1000 financial industry professionals in New Zealand and Australia, found about 69 per cent of women were not convinced about the transparency of their organisation when it came to remuneration systems and pay parity between genders, while 36 per cent of women maintained they were treated differently to their male co-workers.
"Women respondents overwhelmingly reported that their experience of the workforce is different to men in that they are disadvantaged in relation to promotional opportunities, treatment in meetings, training and development opportunities, pay and benefits and inclusion in social and other work-related activities," said Russell Thomas, chief executive at Finsia.
"While this may seem like a trivial point, access to senior managers often takes place in informal settings and unless women are present they miss out on opportunities their male colleagues take for granted."
The research highlighted a disparity between genders, with about 64 per cent of males agreeing that the promotion of women into senior roles was a workplace priority, compared to 48 per cent of females.