The first is that it can be illegal.<\/strong> You can\u2019t just hire someone on gender alone, even if it is to address a gender imbalance in your industry or workplace. Not even just because you want to. There are Federal and State Laws re discrimination and, so no, you cannot hire on gender alone. Unless of course, you have applied for and gained an exemption (for specific gender-based role or team \u2013 think Prison Correctional Officer) under your State Act. So, gender can\u2019t be the deciding factor, and recruitment must be based on merit (you want the best applicant for the role). Not on any of the 22 possible discrimination attributes covered under State and Federal laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They are usually just not female friendly workplaces. Remember, women in the workplace still do the majority of domestic chores and care giving at home. In fact, they carry out about 70% of domestic duties compared to their male counterparts (42%) on average (ABS). Whether that is domestic duties like shopping or childcare, or looking after ageing parents, even ageing in-laws. You can check out the stats here ABS website<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In sociology, this is known as the \"Double Burden<\/a>.\" Many workplaces still fail to offer female-friendly or flexible work environments. We've spoken to several hiring managers who insist that roles cannot be job-shared, must maintain strict 9-to-5 hours, or require a five-day workweek. There are no options for flexible schedules, part-time work, or school-hour shifts, and some jobs involve unsociable hours. Even small details like a lack of female restrooms, absence of parent rooms, or a \"blokey\" culture\u2014where office footy tipping is common but outings to the theatre or ballet are overlooked\u2014contribute to this imbalance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It could be arbitrary requirements like asking for \"15 years of experience\" in an engineering role or counting the number of academic papers published to become a professor\u2014criteria that often put parents, especially mothers, five years behind their male counterparts due to time taken for childcare. Another issue is the lack of affordable or free parking in many city centres after 8:30 a.m. (the early bird parking deals are often gone by then). This timeframe coincides with when most parents, especially those with limited childcare options, are doing school drop-offs. As a result, parking alone can become prohibitively expensive\u2014up to $150 a week\u2014which is particularly burdensome for a single mum\/dad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Or maybe it\u2019s just that \u201cblokey\u201d environment again and the job descriptions and adverts are written in a male language (it\u2019s a thing - check out Textio<\/a> for a more neutral language in your position descriptions and job adverts).<\/p>\n\n\n\n These barriers to hire are real and can mean that someone (women) just can\u2019t take the job with you (even though they are brilliant in your field).<\/p>\n\n\n\n It's time to flex your thinking! To attract more women into your workplace you might just need to take a long hard look at your culture and your facilities. Are you really flex? What could be done differently, and would open the door to so many more great candidate applications? Dads have carer responsibilities too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One client told us that they didn\u2019t have any women in a particular technical team because 1. Women don\u2019t want to work nights! And 2. It was unsafe to walk to the car park after dark (well I say...work it out).<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s not about having a policy: with mixed gender on interview panels, it\u2019s about having a flexible attitude, women friendly culture and benefits and flex in the work environment and mean it. If women can be in the Army, a mine site, a nurse, a doctor, a police officer, I am sure they can work night shifts. Or someone can walk them to their car? To encourage women into the work place you need to live it breath it. And \u2013 maybe even change<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe second is that many employers who wish for more women in their workforce \u2013 often don\u2019t deserve them!!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n