74% of women are discriminated against in promotion, and 77% of workers are asked about their marriage and childbearing plans during interviews!
Although Taiwan ranks seventh in the world for gender equality in the latest 2023 Gender Inequality Index (GII) and has remained No. 1 in Asia for five consecutive years, the "2023 Diversity and Inclusion White Paper - Corporate Talent Fair Development and Sustainable Governance Policy" revealed that gender and age discrimination in the workplace still exists.
According to the white paper, 77% of working professionals are asked about their personal marriage and parenthood plans and relationship status during interviews, and such discriminatory inquiries are common in interviews, which violates the provisions of the Employment Services Act, causing job seekers to feel unable to communicate openly about marriage and parenthood plans, and even affecting the right to take leave. In this regard, women fans call on companies to carry out necessary DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) education for management to reduce marriage and childbirth discrimination in the workplace.
Image: Women's Fan 2023 Diversity and Inclusion White Paper: Equitable Development and Sustainable Governance Policy for Enterprise Talents
In addition, 74% of female workers believe that promotion opportunities are unfair, indicating that gender discrimination against women in the workplace still exists. This discrimination manifests itself not only in salary, but also in opportunities for promotion. This finding echoes the 104 Manpower Bank's 2023 report on the low percentage of women in Taiwanese positions at the grassroots and middle levels (30%), suggesting that further action is needed to improve women's representation in the workplace.
Image: Women's Fan 2023 Diversity and Inclusion White Paper: Equitable Development and Sustainable Governance Policy for Enterprise Talents
Male workers also face discrimination, mainly in the unfair distribution of labor work, low recognition in the workplace, and the tendency to be the object of jokes, highlighting the stereotypes of men in the workplace and the need for cultural reform to create a respectful and inclusive workplace.
Image: Women's Fan 2023 Diversity and Inclusion White Paper: Equitable Development and Sustainable Governance Policy for Enterprise Talents
The white paper also exposes the challenges of intergenerational inclusion, with a survey finding that a quarter of employees are dissatisfied with the company's performance in intergenerational inclusion. Employees of all ages face different experiences of discrimination, ranging from junior employees not being taken seriously to middle-aged employees having difficulty in promotion.
Women fans call on business owners and human resources workers to fully understand the negative impact of gender and age discrimination on the workplace by implementing positive DEI strategies, and turn these challenges into opportunities to promote corporate growth and innovation, in order to occupy a place on the global sustainability stage.
Image: Women's Fan 2023 Diversity and Inclusion White Paper: Equitable Development and Sustainable Governance Policy for Enterprise Talents
About the woman fan
Since its inception in 2011, Womany Women Fan has been committed to providing a platform for dialogue from multiple perspectives, and has repeatedly represented Taiwan at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) to deliver on women's economic empowerment issues and share Taiwan's successful experience, and in 2019, she was shortlisted for the WSIS Prizes, a global award created by the United Nations (UN) Geneva Plan, and in 2022, she took the lead in launching the "DEI Vision Award" that combines local and international perspectives, and released Taiwan's first DEI The strategy white paper gathers private and industry data, aiming to gain in-depth insight into talent needs, promote the implementation of enterprise and organization's DEI strategy, and guide organizations to improve their ESG performance and ensure the sustainable development of talent strategies with reference to the United Nations' SDGs sustainability goals.
In 2023, the "2023 Diversity and Inclusion White Paper - Equitable Development and Sustainable Governance Policy for Enterprise Talents" will be launched, which is the first part, and the introductory overview version of the PDF report will be officially released at the end of November, please go to the official website of Women's Fan to download it.