Trends abroad: how is gender equality reflected in job interviews?

Gender equality has been talked about around the world for some time now, but sometimes it is still thought that men are more likely to be recruited for senior positions than women. But what is the reality? Are the majority of project managers and board members really from the stronger sex? Professional recruiters say that there are currently no clear advantages for either gender in the labour market. However, they also add certain peculiarities of the work of women and men in serious positions, the first manifestations of which can already be clearly seen in Lithuania.

According to data from the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) last year, 56% of women hold senior positions and only 23% of them are in top-level positions within their companies. Of course, these figures exist in most of the world and do not necessarily apply to Lithuania. However, it is easy to find similarities here and abroad.

This global trend is explained by recruitment specialists as follows: many male managers are seen as reliable employees and base their working relationships on diplomacy, while women are in some cases a bit unreliable in the social aspect of the company. In other words, they sometimes find it difficult to balance between formality at work, as they are overly communicative with some employees, openly sharing all the nuances of the business, thus moving towards a familial relationship. Although this does not mean that men and women are exactly as observed (the reverse can often be the case), it is a trait that is observed and emphasised by a large number of labour market experts when organising or even conducting recruitment and selection exercises.

Recruitment and selection for top management usually focuses specifically on professionals in the field. While it may seem natural that competence and similar work experience are important for such positions, the practice of foreign recruiters shows a slightly different pattern. Because of the aforementioned good diplomatic relations and professional communication skills at work, in many cases the most responsible and well-paid positions are filled by men.

It is true that, like everything else, this area is beginning to change. This is influenced by the continuing issue of gender equality. Thus, it is increasingly common to see a change in the personnel of companies, and also in the gender of top management: nowadays, company or project managers or their deputies are not exclusively male. The notion that the fairer sex, women, can also pursue careers is slowly replacing the well-established idea that any better job title belongs to men. Now, in the selection process for solid positions, it is not the candidate’s name that is first and foremost examined, but his/her competences and experience.

Given the changes in the labour market in the major countries of the world, we can expect changes in Lithuania as well. To be precise, it is already happening. For some time now, managers who are not afraid of innovations in the field of human resources have been focusing on the experience of foreign countries and recruiting truly excellent specialists, ignoring their gender.

And even if the differences of opinion will continue for several years to come, there is no doubt that these changes in the labour market are only an advantage. In the words of recruiters, professionalism and competences for the job have nothing to do with gender today.