Solving the Mystery Behind the Difference Female & Male Employees Exhibit Companies want to foster gender-balanced teams but these factors prompt the disparity

Gender equality has become a crucial point of conversation inside the boardrooms of global companies. With giants like HSBC, Nestlé, P&G, Wells Fargo and Pearson taking the baton to boast a gender-balanced shareholder structure, more and more companies are trying to build gender-balanced teams by making way for women to enter the ecosystem.

While the corporate world is looking to tap into the full potential of both men and women, there has been hardly any data to determine what deters the inclusive approach of companies looking to create a gender-balanced work environment. The starting point of an employee's journey in an organization determines how inclusive the company is.

With online becoming the medium to network and applying for job opportunities, assimilating data to determine which factors prompt disparity in the enterprise has become easier. Leveraging the opportunity, LinkedIn analyzed billions of interactions between professionals, companies and recruiters that took place on the platform to look at how open women and men are to new opportunities.

How They Select

In comparison to men, women tend to be more selective about the jobs they apply to. Among the sting of interesting facts, the report highlighted that when women do apply for jobs, they are more likely to get hired. As per the data, after reviewing a job profile on LinkedIn, female candidates are 16 per cent less likely to apply due to varied factors and end up losing the opportunity to men.

Women don't ask for favours and that's nothing to do with their ego but a natural instinct. In most organizations, referrals are the only way to being hired at managerial positions and women are, more than often, hesitant to ask for a referral. "Men show 68 per cent likelihood to "Ask for a referral" before applying to a job, compared to women's 32 per cent," the report stated.

How They Reach Out

Female employees harbour a sense of responsibility when given a task which men lack in exhibiting. Despite men holding leadership positions at enterprises, they are more dominant in nature and show restraint in being obedient. Hence, recruiters are more likely to reach out to women for recruitment when they come across a deserving one.

However, the irony - women are 13 per cent less likely to be viewed by recruiters than men. More so, women value knowing how much a job pays more than men when viewing job descriptions. "68 per cent of women say salary range and benefits are the most important part of a job posting." Salary ranges could be an encouraging signal for women that a company is committed to fair pay.

Have a look at the following infographic based on the report by LinkedIn Talent Solutions for further clarification: