The situation of women in the labour market needs to be constantly improved. The problem is not only about earnings, but also about a wide range of issues arising from, among others, assigned social gender roles and stereotypes that also affect men. Inequalities in the labour market clearly show that women have still not obtained the basic rights to equal treatment and remuneration in the same positions as men, often guaranteed by the constitution.
Evaluation of the work of women and men
Men and women who achieve the same high job performance receive different types of feedback from their superiors. In 2024, Textio, a company specializing in the creation of inclusive and gender-neutral jobs, published a report that shows the differences between the evaluation of women and men in a professional context.
An analysis of the performance ratings of 23,000 people from more than 250 organizations found that 76% of women received negative feedback even though they performed best at work. Men achieving the same high score were much less likely to be criticized — only 2% of them received negative feedback from their superiors.
Kieran Snyder, an analyst at Textio, explains that women are subjected to a social evaluation that focuses on their presence in the environment rather than on their actual skills. The study shows that 88% of women received comments about their personality at work, while only 12% of men received similar opinions. Men are evaluated constructively, in terms of observation of their professional development, while women - mainly in terms of behavior, disposition and personality.
Based on these studies, it is easy to see double standards for the evaluation of women, who are required to behave in accordance with the social requirements assigned to gender. Women are meant to be compassionate, friendly, cooperative, and likable. At the same time, the strength of the stereotype is also detrimental to men, from whom hardness of character, lack of emotional reactions and leadership are expected. However, it is women who are more exposed to the negative effects of stereotypes that affect their evaluation in the workplace.
Pay gap
Women still earn less than men, and their professional activity and career paths are different. The report “Women and Men at Work” (University of Oxford, 2024) presents data on the earnings of women of working age in the UK. In 2019, the average woman earned 40% less than a man there. Although this gap has narrowed by 13 percentage points over 25 years, it is still a significant disparity, contributing to the so-called gender gap.
The report “Women, the labour market and equal pay” (2023), carried out by the Pollster Research Institute, points to factors affecting the situation of women in the labour market, such as the level of education, the performance of unpaid work at home or the difficulty of returning to work after maternity leave. The report draws attention to the incompatibility of wage inequality with the Constitution of the Republic of Poland (Article 33), the Labour Code (Chapter IIa, Article 18) and international agreements that Poland has adopted as part of its membership in the United Nations and the European Union.
Lack of wage transparency and low public awareness contribute to the maintenance of the wage gap. In Poland, as many as 78% of women and men did not encounter the term “wage gap”. Even among people with higher education in larger cities, the term is still little known - as many as 74% of them have not come into contact with it.
Elements that limit the career development of women
One of the challenges for women in the labour market is to perform unpaid care work, which leads to an asymmetry between work responsibilities and private life. This disparity deepened during the pandemic, and in 2022 it further aggravated the situation of women, who felt the crisis more due to lower wages and pensions.
The low employment rate of women in Poland is as follows: the labour force participation rate of women of working age (18—59/64 years) increased from 72.1% to 76%, and men from 80% to 83.5% (Q1 2019 — Q1 2022).
In the last four years, the situation of women in the labor market has worsened compared to that of men. Lower work activity, higher levels of deactivation and lower earnings are the result of family responsibilities, which account for 32% of the causes of inactivity of women, compared to 3% for men.
Proximity effect
The proximity effect (eng. Proximity bias) is a phenomenon described in the article “Watch Out for These 3 Gender Biases in Performance Reviews” in the Harvard Business Review. Research conducted at HAPI Consulting found that women working remotely were rated with a higher dose of skepticism and uncertainty compared to men working in an office. Superiors were more likely to perceive men present in the office as more engaged and effective, which may be due to a sense of control and a belief in the higher value of their work.
Segregation of the labour market
The labor market can be divided in two ways: horizontal and vertical. Horizontal segregation refers to the division into occupations, while vertical segregation refers to positions in the professional hierarchy. Research by the Women's Congressional Association shows that occupations considered “female” tend to be less socially valued, offer fewer opportunities for advancement, and are less well paid. Interestingly, few men are aware of the privileged position of the so-called “male professions” and their traditional embedding in the social structure. As many as 40% of respondents agree with the thesis that “female” professions have a lower prestige than those traditionally attributed to men. This group is dominated by women — more than half (52%) share this view, while among men only about 30% agree with this statement and 54% express a different view.
The impact of politics on women's career development
State policy plays an important role in shaping women's professional opportunities. Current political conditions, such as parental leave, childcare or the tax and benefit system, often reinforce the traditional division of gender roles, even if they seem neutral at first glance. For example, social subsidies taxed together with family income can discourage a second breadwinner, who is most often a woman, from taking up work. At the same time, policies aimed at promoting a fairer division of responsibilities tend to have limited results.
Proposals for action
In order to improve the situation of women in the labour market, pro-equality policies, free from patriarchal beliefs and focused on partnership are recommended. These policies should be detailed, with a defined schedule of activities and sources of funding. In the process of change, business plays a key role, which, by introducing equality strategies, can influence the organizational culture and stimulate change also in smaller companies.
Summary
Despite the multifaceted discrimination against women in the labour market, research and analysis indicate opportunities for improvement in this area. The situation requires not only decisive political action, but also the transformation of the existing social model.
