Still so much to be done to start to close the gap on gender equality - Kerrie Macdonald-Nethercott

I would’ve been about nine when my mum was watching the BBC evening news. The top story that evening was on the widespread outcry after it was revealed that men working for the BBC earned an average of 9.3 per cent more than women.

The difference between the top paid men and women was a real eye-opener for me. Until then, I was an innocent child who thought the world was perfect. But now I realised the world was going to have to change quickly for me not to be affected.

If you were to ask me about a scientist or an engineer, the sort of person that would come to mind is an intimidating, grumpy old man. That’s not my fault, it’s society’s due to how I played as a child. When I would walk into a toy shop, I wouldn’t go to where the doctor’s toys or cars were because they were blue and that was a “boys’ colour” and I had been unknowingly taught to go where the pink toys were. That’s where the kitchen sets and the cleaning sets were.

This is where the idea of gender stereotypes starts. The notion that colour should attract children to different sections of a shop is madness. When companies start designating jobs to genders from childhood what is that teaching children? Sometimes I wonder if I was exposed to different jobs at a younger age would I have different aspirations?

Kerrie Macdonald-Nethercott, Girlguiding Scotland Speak Out champion

At home, women are typically the ones that look after the children and do the housework. So they are less likely to be in a position to go for promotions or work full time jobs that require long hours. A lot of causes of the gender pay gap are to do with misogyny. A common myth is that women never ask for promotions. However, a 2018 online research project found that women and men equally request wage rises and promotions but, due to things such as the glass ceiling that primarily affect women, women often don’t get the promotion or the raise that was requested.

I know it would be beneficial for teenagers to be taught about it in school; for example, in PSE lessons when discussing sexism. I know it's taught in higher modern studies, but I come from a small school where the availability of subjects I can choose is limited. By the time I finish school I may never have been taught about it. I’ve grown up in a rural area where some big issues like mental health are finally being talked about and yet, when it comes to the gender pay gap it is just not spoken about.

In 2017 the UK government enforced legislation where companies have to annually report their gender pay gap. In 2018 the Guardian found that, despite it being law, over 1500 large British companies failed to report on time. I would like to see more publicity, particularly towards young people, about this so that we all talk about the gender pay gap more. I am a member of Girlguiding Scotland and a Speak Out champion, and we are constantly fighting for gender equality. But there is still so much to be done to close the gap. Girlguiding UK released a Girls’ Attitude Survey in October and 33 per cent of girls and young women in Scotland believe gender equality has got worse!

So as a young person entering the workforce, how do I take this evidence and believe everything will be okay? Do I follow what society is telling me and sacrifice earnings for a career? And how do I continue to advocate to UK businesses and believe in them to close the gap?

Kerrie Macdonald-Nethercott, Girlguiding Scotland Speak Out champion