With the current rate of progress, full gender parity is estimated to take another 133 years, making the 2025 International Women’s (IWD) theme, For ALL Women and Girls: Equality. Rights. Empowerment, timelier than ever.
In the workplace, the gender gap and other differences are especially prevalent for pregnant and return-to-work mothers, as they balance responsibilities and often find themselves challenging biases in hiring and promotions.
Unconscious bias remains a major barrier to gender equality in the workplace. Women often hesitate to apply for new roles while on maternity leave, fearing that they will be viewed as less committed or capable. Jen Lane recently returned to work at UNSW Canberra after maternity leave, coming into a new role as Head of Impact and Engagement, one she interviewed for at six weeks after the birth of her second child.
"When I applied for my current role with UNSW Canberra, I was early into maternity leave," Jen said.
"If I didn’t at least apply, I would have been doing myself a disservice. If a man had a six-week-old baby at home, we wouldn’t think anything of it if he applied for a new position, so why should we as women?"
Jen believes that organisations should see maternity leave not as a burden, but as an opportunity.
"It can be a time for professional development, for internal staff to step up, and for businesses to identify areas to get fresh perspectives and ideas,." Jen said.
Jen has worked in higher education her whole career, and thinks that it is one of the more progressive sectors when it comes to supporting working parents.
"From a professional staff standpoint, the environment is really set up to support working parents, and UNSW Canberra, in my experience at least, is a very family-first organisation," Jen said.
While Jen was lucky to have a supportive working environment that made it easier for her to decide to apply for a more senior role, this is not the case for everyone.
"As a whole, I don’t think Australian society or workplaces generally support working parents. Some industries are leaps and bounds ahead, but overall, support depends more on the industry than on broad government or societal initiatives," Jen Said.
Jen says Australia should be more like Sweden, which offers progressive parental leave policies, allowing both parents to share 480 days of leave with partial pay.
Although working for a supportive organisation like UNSW Canberra, there are still challenges when it comes to being a working mother.
"The biggest challenge I’ve faced since returning to work full-time is the guilt" Jen said.
"Like so many other women, I am managing motherhood and a career, and sometimes feel like one doesn’t always get 100% of me. At this time in my life and career, I feel guilt that sometimes that might need to be my home life."
Despite these challenges, Jen makes sure to show her children, Evie and Luca, that it is possible to pursue a fulfilling career while being a present and engaged parent.
"It’s good for both Evie and Luca to see that you can do both, and that you can do both well."
For future generations, Jen hopes to see a world where parental leave and workplace expectations are truly equitable including a push for cultural change around fathers and non-primary partners taking on caregiving responsibilities.
"I’d like to see policy in place that supports families to have children without having to sacrifice their careers or question whether they can afford to start a family," Jen Said.
"Workplaces shouldn’t automatically assume that it’s the mother who will take parental leave or care for a sick child. If men felt comfortable asking for carers' leave, and workplaces changed how they viewed dads’ responsibilities, the balance would naturally shift.
For Jen, having a supportive partner has made her family dynamic work in the way it does.
"My husband Joe and I are equals, we wouldn’t function as a family unless we were. Traditional parental roles are flexible; we communicate about work commitments, managing the household, and who is doing what,” Jen said.
“When I accepted my current role, we discussed how it would change our family dynamic. Joe even took on a project in a more flexible workplace to support my job requirements.
"I want my daughter, Evie, to feel empowered to navigate challenges our current society brings to women. I want her to feel strong and empowered and in charge of the direction of her life.”
And for my son, Luca, I want him to understand his privilege as a male and use it to advocate for gender equality. I want them both to challenge social norms and the status quo, for Luca to feel comfortable showing his emotions, and not to feel that, as a man, he isn’t able to access those thoughts and feelings.”
For young women entering the workforce who are considering having children, Jen suggests choosing workplaces carefully.
"Not all women want children, but if you do, it’s important to think about where you’re working. Have conversations with your partner or support people about how you’ll balance career and family,” Jen said.
Most importantly, she encourages women to define success on their own terms.
"Women face a lot of pressure to excel in their careers and do it all. But you don’t need to do everything at once. Your ‘why’ and your purpose are going to be different from someone else’s, and that’s OK."