Australian workers favour male bosses, but want to work in gender diverse teams

The majority (65%) of Australian employees would prefer working for a male boss but 90% of employees want to work in mixed gender teams, according to the latest Randstad Workmonitor.

Australians claimed gender diverse teams achieve better results than single-sex teams, with 83% claiming mixed gender teams are more results oriented. This was well ahead of the global average, with only 68% of respondents globally believing mixed gender teams achieve better results.

Research showed Australians rank highly in the world on gender diversity, sitting 8th out of 33 countries across Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas, well ahead of our neighbours New Zealand at 27th place.

Australian employees overall don’t perceive a significant difference in the general treatment of women and men in the workplace, with 84% believing both genders are equally supported in their company, and 83% claimed both sexes are equally rewarded in similar positions, ahead of global averages.

However, gender bias was still perceived as an issue in more than 50% of Australian workplaces, with 60% indicating that men are favoured over women when two candidates equally qualify for the same job. 

It is interesting to note that more than half of Australian employees surveyed believe that with job seniority comes an increase in gender equality. This trend could be a potential sign that Australia is on the road to supporting female employees in senior roles. However, we must make sure that women are given equal opportunities to reach these senior roles to begin with.

Randstad Workmonitor Q3 research highlights:

• 65% of Australians (65% globally; 58% New Zealand) say they prefer a male as a direct manager. And 64% of Australians point out their direct manager’s gender is male.
• 90% of Australians (87% globally, 87% New Zealand) prefer to work in a gender diverse team. And 83% of Australians (84% globally; 81% New Zealand) believe gender-diverse teams achieve better results than single sex teams
• 84% of Australians (81% globally; 76% New Zealand) believe men and women are treated equally in their organisation. And 83% of Australians believe at their employer, men and women are rewarded equally in similar positions
• 77% of Australians (70% globally, 65% New Zealand) think women and men are equally supported when applying for a job or when asking for a promotion. Yet 60% of Australians stated men are favoured over women when two candidates equally qualify for a job
• 57% of Australians (61% globally; 46% New Zealand) believe gender equality increases with seniority of the role
• 85% of Australians (75% globally; 80% New Zealand) agree their direct manager plays an important role in setting the team spirit. And 79% of Australians (73% globally; 74% New Zealand) agree their direct manager advocates company culture and sets the example.