FTTH Council Europe Gender Diversity Survey: overall positive, but work required

The survey was completed by 280 respondents, representing an equal mix of men and women in the industry, and balancing different levels of seniority, tenures and ages. According to the FTTH Council, the results give a generally positive impression of the fibre industry – although experiences are not uniform: the number of women who have experienced barriers is equal to the number who have not.

A majority of respondents:

• would recommend a career in the fibre industry
• think that everybody has equal opportunities for progression in their organisation
• work in organisations that operate diversity and inclusion initiatives
• can use diversity policies to report issues related to gender
• believe they have sufficient flexibility to maintain a work/life balance
• found that work practices during the pandemic had improved their work lives
• feel individuals can be authentic to themselves in the workplace. Being 'authentic to who you are' was defined as; the ability to be honest about personal constraints that impact your work life or having the confidence to voice concerns in the knowledge you will treated fairly, openly and in a respectful way.

However, the Committee have also identified areas of improvement.

• Although most participants believed gender is not a barrier to progression, closer study shows that, in fact, it is. Whilst 60% of women agreed that everybody has the same opportunities to progress, 80 % of men agreed. This effect is visible in later career stages: women are significantly under-represented at higher levels of seniority and over-represented at lower levels.
• There are fewer women than men at senior levels in the industry. At the highest level of seniority (Level 6) the difference is most pronounced. At Levels 3-5 of seniority the disparity between women and men is small but consistently unfavourable to women. Below this level there are more women than men.
• In Europe’s fibre industry, for every 100 senior business directors, executives and experts that assemble, 12 women are missing from that group.
• Only one in four respondents had a female line manager.
• One in three women thought they would not be able to maintain a work/life balance.
• Even in organisations with diversity & inclusion initiatives, 1 in 3 respondents do not know how to report issues related to gender. This number rises to 2 in 3 where D&I initiatives do not exist.
• Women see many more barriers to progression than men, predominantly gender bias.

The Committee has put forward a number of specific improvement steps for the industry:

• Measure and track gender balance in senior leadership roles.
• Measure and track gender balance in training.
• Focus on progression for women towards senior leadership roles mid-career.
• Create gender balance in leadership development pipelines and access for women to male networks of influence.
• Initiate unconscious bias training and opportunities for women to tell their stories in order to raise consciousness.