Women in legal and medical jobs face more ‘bias and bullying’

One in five female hospital doctors have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace over the past two years and almost half delay starting a family for career reasons, a conference has heard.

Slightly more than one-fifth (21 per cent) of female non-consultant hospital doctors (NCHD) said they had experienced sexual harassment in the workplace over the previous two years, while 12 per cent of their male colleagues said the same.

The conference, organised by the Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) and the Bar Council to consider issues affecting women in their professions, also heard that female doctors experience far more gender-based bullying than male doctors. Some 28 per cent of female NCHDs said they had experienced it while the equivalent figure for male respondents was just six per cent.

Only 29 per cent of hospital consultants are female, while only 15 per cent of consultant surgeons are female.

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Grainne Larkin BL, chair of the Bar Council’s Women’s Working Group, said a survey of barristers had revealed that women still feel there was a gender bias against them in terms of getting more lucrative work.

Suited

While the area of commercial law was “male dominated” there was also a view that women were more suited to family law. She said sometimes the entities briefing legal teams for major commercial law cases might themselves be male heavy in terms of their boards and management.

IMO president Dr Ann Hogan said 41 per cent of all doctors were now women, while the figure was 53 per cent when the 25 to 34 year old group was considered. This represented a "sea change in terms of gender balance" but there was still a view that some specialist roles were less suited to women.

Women doctors also experienced discrimination and sexual harassment and said they were concerned about taking time out for family reasons. They also said they tended to understate their achievements.

The conference heard that research carried out for the IMO found that more than four out of five women doctors (83 per cent) said they found it difficult to balance their medical workload with their family commitments. This compared with 73 per cent of male doctors.

The Bar Council research found that there was a low level of women progressing in their careers, with only 16 per cent of senior counsel being women, while 38 per cent of all barristers were women.

Marguerite Bolger SC said women barristers have to struggle with the self-employed nature of their work while challenging institutional discrimination.