Businesswomen say gender equality in the workplace has stalled as survey reveals ageism fears

Gender equality in the workplace has stalled as women report experiencing many of the same challenges as they did nearly 30 years ago, a new survey of high-flyers suggests.

The organisation behind the Women of the Year Awards is calling for higher salaries and more effort to tear down the “glass ceiling”, a term used to refer to the invisible barriers that hold women back, saying it is “deeply concerning” that many feel too little has changed since the Nineties.

Significantly, nearly half of those asked – 47 per cent – said that more needs to be done to promote women into senior positions – mirroring the results of a similar survey carried out in 1996.

Nearly 500 women were questioned to mark the 70th anniversary of the Women of the Year Lunch and Awards, founded by Tony Lothian. Lothian was the mother of former Tory minister Michael Ancram, who passed away this week.

Louise Vaughan, the chair of the organisation, said: “It’s deeply concerning that after 30 years, our past guests and winners still feel they face the same workplace challenges as they did in the Nineties. We must remain vigilant in addressing and eliminating entrenched inequalities wherever they persist.”

While the vast majority of those who took part in the survey, 88 per cent, said that conditions for women had improved over the past three decades, many spoke of continuing problems at work.

More than half (57 per cent) called for more to be done to promote gender equality in the workplace. And more than one in three (36 per cent) wanted greater action to pull down the glass ceiling and tackle gender bias.

The survey also highlighted growing concern around the ageism suffered by women. In total, 90 per cent of respondents said more action was needed to tackle the problem. And one in three (37 per cent) of those aged 51 and above reported that they had directly experienced age-related discrimination.

But the issue was not confined to older women alone. The survey also found that one in three (34 per cent) of younger women, those aged between 31 and 50, also said they had encountered ageism.

Last year, an independent report found that sexism was widespread in hospital operating theatres across England.

In a damning verdict on the atmosphere in some teams, Helena Kennedy QC said that the “old boys’ network” of “alpha male” surgeons was stopping some doctors from rising to the top and had fuelled an oppressive environment for women as well as for ethnic minorities.