Worried being a woman might impact your career? You’re not alone

We asked - you answered.

There’s no denying that a gender gap still exists in working Ireland. Yes, when it comes to professional equality, we have a long way to go. Just 40 years ago, Irish women could expect to be paid nothing more than half the salary of their male counterparts, and that was an improvement from the years previous when they had to leave their jobs after they were married. And while it might seem like we're sitting comfortably in the 21^st century, a level of inequality still exists in this country. While we may have a lot more female representation in managerial positions, the majority of Irish women still fear their gender could negatively impact their career goals. We asked our Her readers to answer this simple question: Do you worry about how your gender might impact your future career aspirations? And we were shocked when nearly 70 percent of you said yes. According to research, women only occupy 34 percent of managerial positions in this country, which could be a major influencing factor in the general attitude of young working women. And there is also still that looming pressure for women to lessen their office hours or even leave the workforce once they’ve had children. Roughly 40 percent of Irish working mothers with two children are on part-time contracts, in comparison to the nine percent of Irish fathers. Statistics have proven that as women have more children, they are more likely to lessen their working hours. And research has shown that it is the complete opposite for men.

“When we talk about gender inequality, there can be a little bit of disinterest and the belief that all is well but that is certainly not the case," Senator Aodhán O'Ríordáin said the Seanad earlier this year. "We had a conference on the issue recently, and still there were men scratching their heads wondering what the big deal was. And it is a big deal. “Gender inequality is a real issue in every workplace and every facet of Irish society – and it needs to be acknowledged.”

The laws and attitudes of our past still pose as obstacles for our generation. However, if there is one thing we've learned it's that laws can be abolished and attitudes can be changed.