To mark International Women’s Day, Yettel conducted a nationwide representative survey to find out what gender stereotypes Hungarians face at work. More than a quarter of respondents said that women regularly encounter prejudice in the workplace.
Women who responded to the survey said they regularly encounter negative stereotypes about their appearance (36%), personality (33%), intellectual ability (36%) or parenting (36%). In general, regardless of gender, it’s mainly the younger age group (18-35 years) who feel that women regularly encounter these and similar prejudices in the workplace.
Double standards
Although the survey shows that both sexes face challenges in the labour market, more than half of respondents think it’s easier to succeed in the workplace if you’re a man, and almost half (47%) think the same about finding a job. More than half of respondents (regardless of gender) have been confronted at least once with expectations to perform certain tasks because of their gender. Female workers, however, seem to face more barriers in the workplace: 59% have been expected to be friendly and understanding in all situations, compared with only 31% of men. Significantly more women have been commented on their looks, technical skills or made to feel that they are not good at certain things because of their gender. Interestingly, only 38% of respondents react if their colleague faces a prejudice, while 60% react strongly if a friend or family member is discriminated against.
The research also found that one in two women had experienced at least one instance where their opinions were less relevant or heard because of their gender. Many respondents also said they had been deemed unsuitable for a job (44%) or felt that they could not do something to the same standard as the other gender (41%).
What employers can do
6 out of 10 employees feel that their current employer could do more to promote gender equality. According to respondents, this could be improved through equal pay for men and women, but measures such as maternity and paternity leave were also important. With regard to the latter, almost half of men said that this was something employers could do to achieve equality.
“At the same time with the representative survey, we also asked our own employees about the issue. We have long believed that the issue of equality is just as important for men as it is for women, and our colleagues have confirmed this, assuring us that we have a very low rate of discrimination of any kind. Among other things, two-thirds of respondents said it’s just as easy to be a woman as a man at the company, and more than 80% believe that we do a lot to promote equal opportunities for men and women. One such measure is the paternity leave introduced in 2021, which gives new fathers an additional 20 days of paid leave on top of their statutory leave, but we can also mention our latest university cooperation, which also reinforces this spirit”, said Enikő Szalai, Chief HR Office of Yettel Hungary.
On the occasion of Women’s Day, Yettel announced a scholarship program launched in partnership with the John von Neumann Faculty of Computer Science at Óbuda University, aimed at making the fields of mobile technology and engineering more attractive to young women. The total amount of the scholarship is HUF 5 million per year, which can be won by 4 students in each semester. The winners will be selected by a jury panel of experts from Yettel and Óbuda University. As part of the scholarship, Yettel will help the students implement an existing scientific project in the field of IT or engineering, and will also provide them with professional consultation with company experts during the research period and after graduation. The program will be launched as a pilot project in the first year, and its continuation will be decided based on the evaluation of the results. The details of the program will soon be published on the website of the John von Neumann Faculty of Computer Science at Óbuda University.
The survey was conducted on a sample of 1,044 people using the Ipsos Instant Research platform between 9 and 14 February 2024. The sample is representative of the Hungarian population aged 18-65 by gender, age, region and type of settlement.