Survey found that only 36% of the workforce are female
By William O'Connor
A SURVEY of almost 100 of the biggest companies in Ireland, including many ‘household name’ multinationals, has found that just 36% of the workforce is female, while only 28% of senior management roles in the organisations surveyed are occupied by women.
The research was carried out by Mentor Her, a new women-supporting-women initiative that is seeking to make it easier for Irish businesses to identify and recruit female staff, enable career growth and encourage individuals to pursue leadership positions.
Katie Doyle, 26-year-old from Templeogue
Mentor Her was founded earlier this year by Katie Doyle, a 26-year-old entrepreneur whose first company – a student travel agency – was badly impacted by Covid-19. Doyle, from Templeogue, who was shortlisted in the National Start-Up Awards last year, says she wants to help other women to ‘re-boot’ and explore new business opportunities post-pandemic.
“A lot of women have lost their jobs this year, have seen their careers stall and, like myself, are sitting at home thinking ‘what do I do now?’,” says Doyle.
“Research and professional experience show that it’s harder for women to re-invent themselves and pursue a new career and that’s why I started Mentor Her.
We began with a successful programme this September with 98 women taking part, now we are moving into the corporate sphere to have an even larger impact.
“The corporate world says all the right things but in reality, many organisations are not attracting enough female talent,” she says.
“This is not only bad for business, as companies are depriving themselves of access to a diverse talent pool, it’s also bad for women who need a clearer pathway to career success.”
As part of its research, Mentor Her surveyed 95 companies based in Ireland with a turnover of €1 billion+ and found that 65 of those organisations has a male-dominated workforce.
“Even companies that operate female talent growth programmes are falling short in terms of recruiting and promoting women,” says Doyle.
“Clearly, something in corporate Ireland is not working and we feel that a tailored mentoring programme for women can be a huge win-win for organisations that need to achieve a better balance.”
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