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Background to the Research
- Equal
opportunities within the Private Sector in Northern Ireland has remained
largely unexamined. This is despite the fact the majority of employees
in Northern Ireland work in the private sector, and it is this sector
of the economy which is currently expanding most rapidly.
Research Approach
- The research involved various stages, namely; the collation of documentation
relating to equal opportunities from sampled companies; structured interviews
with employees with designated responsibility for equal opportunities;
semi-structured interviews with a sample of managing directors and representatives
of employers' organisations; focus groups with selected staff in a selection
of companies and, interviews with a sample of trade union representatives
and full-time trade union officials.
Main
Findings
- The research
revealed a consistently low level of awareness of gender and equality
issues across the private sector and most notably within small and medium-sized
companies. The profile of equal opportunities issues in general, and
gender issues in particular, must be raised across the private sector
with senior management playing a leading role in demonstrating their
company's commitment to gender equality.
- Adequate
policies and documentation were only found in a small minority of the
larger companies sampled.
- Many
organisations were characterised by very traditional lines of gender
demarcation.
- In common
with the public sector, there was little evidence of systematic data
collection in relation to gender issues, nor were monitoring returns
commonly relied on as a source of such information.
- Few organisations
had introduced gender or family friendly policies, and there was a general
lack of awareness of understanding of lawful positive
action measures or family friendly policies which could be used to promote
gender equality.
- Harassment
or equality advisors were available in a small minority of companies.
- With
the exception of larger organisations, the extent of training for either
managers, designated staff or general employees was limited.
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