Men hold the majority of senior civil service positions, but are more likely than women to have a perception of gender bias in competitions for promotion, according to a new study by the Economic and Social Research Institute published today.
The ESRI also found that women were more likely to avail of flexible working options, but participants in such arrangements feared that doing so would negatively impact their career prospects.
'Gender Balance at Work: A Study of an Irish Civil Service Department' by Shannen Enright and Helen Russell is based on data from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, including responses to a 2018 survey from 904 civil servants.
The study notes that the department "has traditionally been more male dominated than the civil service as a whole".
In relation to the perception of bias, it states: "Although women are significantly more likely to perceive that they had experienced gender bias within the department, men are more likely to believe that there is gender bias in promotional competitions that favours women."
However, an assessment of recent competitions for promotions at Principal Officer and Executive Officer grades found no significant differences in the success rate of man and women who applied for posts.
"This suggests a misperception among employees of how the gender balance initiative is implemented within the Civil Service," the study says.
The report notes "push back" from some male civil servants.
"The response is common to situations where an in-group lose some of their privileged status, and therefore perceive progress towards equality as a loss," it says.
Speaking to RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Ms Russell said that male respondents believed that gender is trumping merit in appointments and this misperception can be damaging for women who are promoted, adding that examination of recent promotion competitions within the department revealed that the success rates of male and female applicants did not differ.
Ms Russell recommended that there is transparency in how the gender initiative in the civil service operates.
She added that initiatives should be framed so that people can see the initiative is to promote diversity, rather than addressing numerical inequality.
The ESRI found that over a third of DAFM staff, or 36%, were currently availing of flexible work options, a figure described as "high".
However, the same proportion feared that availing of such options "negatively impacts their chances of promotion", with higher levels of concern among those who had previously availed of leave schemes or flexible options.
"Increasing the availability and take up of such options by men would normalise this practice and may help to reduce the perception that take up of flexible work options signals reduced work commitment.
"It may also help dispel the view that actions to promote equality only benefit female workers," said Ms Russell.
Women and those with children were more likely to use such arrangements, while specialist and technical grades were less likely to do so.
The ESRI found that participation in training was "highly gendered", with women "significantly less likely" than their male counterparts to have done so in the two years prior to the survey.
There was a similar trend in relation to applications for promotions.
"Although women and men felt equally encouraged to apply for positions in the department, women are significantly less likely to have applied for a promotion in the two years prior to the survey," the ESRI said.
The report calls for transparency with employees around how the gender balance initiative is implemented, in order to address misperceptions around gender bias in promotions.
The authors propose that analysis and dissemination of anonymous competition results could support this, as well as regular surveys to identify barriers to gender equality in the civil service.
The study also advises that women should be encouraged to take part in training, while mentoring and networking opportunities should be developed.
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue welcomed the report, saying: "While the challenges in achieving gender balance are acknowledged, it is heartening to see the work done to combat the challenges."
He pledged that the department would examine the outcome and consider ways of ensuring that work policies could achieve the ambition of gender balance.
The report was commissioned by the Gender Balance Steering group within DAFM and uses survey data gathered by that group.
