Women at Work Scotland Conference

Event Summary

Women make up just 30% of senior leadership roles in the UK ¹. The gender pay gap is narrower in Scotland than in the rest of the UK, but recently increased from 11.6% to 12.2% in 2022². Women over 50 experience the greatest inequality in pay and progression, which is linked to the systematic disadvantage women face in the workplace over their career.³

 Clearly, more action is needed to ensure employees are paid fairly and equally, and to provide the conditions that women need to progress in the workplace.

Join us at the Holyrood Insight’s Women at Work Conference in Edinburgh as we discuss vital next steps to progress gender equality in the workplace. We will be joined by changemakers who are paving the way with solutions to improve support for women and develop representation of women in senior roles.

Chaired by Bayile Adeoti, President of Scottish Women in Business, and Ambassador to Women’s Enterprise Scotland, we will share insights on how to reduce the gender pay gap. Explore what data you need to be collecting and how to scrutinise this.

How do we tackle the barriers that women face at the manager, director, and board-levels? How do you raise buy-in from senior leaders to make gender equality a priority in your organisation? Understand the steps that you can take to ensure gender parity in recruitment, opportunities, and pay. Gender-proof your recruitment and promotion processes and develop clear career pathways for women to succeed.

Gain insight from best practice examples that demonstrate allyship, inclusive cultures. How can you ensure that your workplace culture, including language, does not alienate women? Taking an intersectional approach to gender equality, we will hear from different experiences relating to women’s ethnicity, age, and those with disabilities.

Hear from Hickory Scotland, named the best place to work as a woman at the BWS Women in Hospitality and Tourism Awards.

With 46% of women who were made redundant during the pandemic reporting this was due to inadequate childcare¹, learn how you can support truly flexible working and offer ongoing support to women with caring responsibilities.

How can you make sure women aren’t leaving the workplace prematurely? Hear from Dr Heather Currie MBE, Clinical Advisor to the Scottish Government’s Women’s Health Plan on how your organisation can support women experiencing health conditions such as the menopause and embed reasonable adjustments. Explore the connection to retention of women in the workplace and how you can create a sense of belonging.

Attend face-to-face in Edinburgh to network with colleagues working across all sectors in senior leadership, equality and diversity and HR. You will benefit from hearing lived experience journeys, understanding how you can embed women’s voices within your workplace culture and policies.

_{¹ 2021 Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings}

_{² ONS Jan 2023}

_{³ Fair Work Convention July 19, 2022}

Key Points

• The business case for gender equality: Raising buy-in from senior leadership
• Creating gender inclusive workplace cultures
• Improving the recruitment and progression of women into senior leadership
• Creating authentic flexible working that doesn’t hinder career progression
• Reducing the gender pay gap
• Supporting women’s health in the workplace
• Taking an intersectional approach to gender equality
• Overcoming imposter syndrome
• Making sure women recognise their own value: Addressing the modesty norm at work