Essential: R-E-S-P-E-C-T sorely lacking for women in the workplace

Women are not as well respected as men in many professions, today’s Essential Report has found.

Those polled said men were more respected in building and construction, the military, politics, sport, finance and banking, law, medicine and journalism. Women are more respected in nursing, according to those polled. The only two professions where half of respondents or more said men and women were respected equally were teaching (50%) and TV presenting (52%). In journalism, 43% said men and women were equally respected, as compared to 37% who said men were more respected and 8% who said the same for women.

For each of the following professions, do you think men are more respected, women are more respected or are both respected equally?

In most fields, female respondents were more likely to think men were more respected than women. For example, among male respondents, 39% thought male doctors were more respected than female doctors, and 41% thought both were respected equally. But among female respondents, 52% thought male doctors were more respected, while 37% thought both were respected equally. The biggest difference came in politics: 54% of male respondents thought men were more respected in politics, but 72% of female respondents thought they were. Some 68% of male respondents thought men were more respected in the construction industry, but 80% of women said they were. And in law, 46% of male respondents thought men were more respected, but 61% of female respondents said male lawyers were more respected than their female counterparts.

Unsurprisingly, given the results above, 61% of those polled said women experienced “a lot” or “some” sexism and discrimination in the workplace, 58% said they experienced discrimination in the media, and 62% said they experienced discrimination in the media. Women were more likely to say women were discriminated against — 66% of female respondents said women experienced discrimination in the workplace, as compared to 54% of male respondents who said women were discriminated against at work.

How much sexism and discrimination against women do you think currently occurs in the following?

In politics, Malcolm Turnbull’s approval rating has dropped from highs at the end of last year, but that has not translated into support for Bill Shorten to lead the nation.

A total of 51% of those polled approve of the job Malcolm Turnbull is doing as Prime Minister, down from a high of 56% in November and December last year. Even 42% of Labor voters approve of the Prime Minister, and just 10% of those who vote for the Coalition disapprove of his job performance.

Do you approve or disapprove of the job Malcolm Turnbull is doing as Prime Minister?

But Turnbull’s falling approval numbers are no cause for celebration for Labor. Just 27% of respondents approve of the job Bill Shorten is doing as Opposition Leader — a six-month nadir, and down a whopping 11 percentage points from a high of 38% in June last year. Exactly half of Labor voters (50%) approve of their leader, with 27% disapproving. Shorten has an 18% approval rating among Coalition voters, and a 65% disapproval rating among this group. Of those who vote Greens, 52% disapprove of Shorten’s performance, while 23% approve.

On voting intention, the Coalition has lost one percentage point to 44% as compared to five weeks ago, with Labor holding steady of 35%. Greens have held on 10%, for a two-party preferred result of 51%-49% in favour of the Coalition. That compares to 52%-48% five weeks ago.