Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
A LACK OF women in leadership roles is a common feature of occupations in the public and private sector. While there has been a significant increase in the number of women in management positions over recent decades, women remain under-represented at the top.
Just under two-thirds of civil servants are female, but just one-fifth of those at Secretary General level and one-third of those at Assistant Secretary level are female.
A large scale mixed-methods study, undertaken at the ESRI, finds that men are actually twice as likely to occupy senior positions, as women with the same level of qualifications and length of service. Women are less likely to apply for promotion to senior positions, and the research tells us why.
Men do better
Women are less likely to occupy the types of roles and gain the types of work experience that are seen as key to promotion. Engaging in policy-type work, interacting with Ministers and stakeholders and getting the opportunity to ‘act up’ in more senior roles are all seen as important in promotion success, and men do better in accessing these sorts of experiences.
Opportunities to engage in flexible work arrangements also decline as people progress in the civil service, so that by Principal Officer grade very few can work part-time, participate in a shorter working year or other flexible work arrangements. Again this has a strong impact on the decision-making of women, in particular.
Civil servants also spoke about the ‘long-hours culture’ and high levels of work intensity at senior levels, impacting particularly on civil servants with childcare or eldercare responsibilities.
Many senior managers reported working 12 to 14 hours per day, working at weekends and in the evenings, and in some cases travel was also an important aspect of their job.
Openness to real flexibility
Achieving gender equity has to be underpinned by a greater openness to real flexibility across grades and departments. This could be done by restructuring jobs not as ‘empty places’ but as sets of tasks and functions that could be configured differently across different members of staff.
Self-confidence also emerged as important in decisions to apply for promotion, women often feeling that they have to excel in all of the promotion criteria before they will take the plunge. As a result women often postpone applying for promotion until they are well over the threshold. Delaying applying has clear implications for short- and long-term career prospects.
Finally, the research also shows a lack of handover when people successfully progress in the civil service. A ‘sink or swim’ approach often applies for those who were newly promoted to senior roles.
This lack of support, as people transition between roles and positions, impacts on decision-making, and women in particular are less likely to apply for promotion particularly if it is outside their own area of expertise or department. The need for more structured induction systems is central, alongside a greater use of mentoring or coaching.
Under the Civil Service Renewal Plan, there is now a target of 50/50 gender balance in senior appointments. Improving gender balance in senior positions is not only important in terms of equity, but also promotes public confidence in the decisions of policy makers.
Selina McCoy is Associate Professor at the Economic and Social Research Institute.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
A bit irish that …
If this goes viral as well, I might spontaneously combust and die of shame.
Add to that the rsa issuing 200k hi-viz bibs….that aren’t hi-viz! Heads should be rolling. Waste of money…buying wrongly spec’d gear, and the wages paid to the plebs who procured them.
In any normal business it is up to the employer to provide safe working conditions. For a fireman these safe working conditions are their clothes. As a tax payer I would not mind paying a few euro extra a year so these brave people can help save lives by putting their own lives on the line. They should not have to buy their clothes and should certainly not be given unsuitable clothing/equipment for their jobs.
they pay for their own clothing? did I just read that right?? if they need special clothing for safety reasons why do they have to pay for it themselves??
this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the sheer stupidity of management in dublin fire brigade, they got in new breathing apparatus and the flash hood that fit the old breathing apparatus obviously was not designed to fit the new set, they did not purchase new flash hoods for the new sets so lads got burned, the radios the lads carry into fires are not supposed to be in temps of more than 50 degrees. the lads on the gnd are amazing and keep a badly run machine running. ambulances with over 250,000 km on them fire engines breaking down day in day out i kid you not
Here here
Where, where?
You need an engineering degree to apply for management positions in the fire brigade.
Actual fire fighting skills and experience are not required.
You couldn’t make it up.
You can only laugh, provided your not a fireman.
It seems to be the general trend in this country. The lunatics are running the asylum!
I think the asylum may be empty :)
OK,
Lets see the international response to this one…
As a serving member of DFB I want to state that John Kidd does not and will never speak for me and the majority of my colleagues. As for the clothing it’s been stated already we have had this blend of t shirts and uniform for a long time now. With proper ppe worn there is no chance of an ember going down your back or anywhere for that matter. It’s just a stupid label get over it.
Is this another Paddy the Irishman joke !!
More shite from the king of the stirring pot! In over 10 years I’ve never had embers go down my back with the danger of igniting the clothing underneath! For a start the amount of sweat you produce when wearing full firefighting kit is beyond belief! And if your in somewhere that embers are falling, either you should be outside throwing water in or decked out in full BA complete with flash hood….with no skin exposed!
That last quote really gets to me. Saying the clothing issued is suitable and won’t be replaced. The lettering in red clearly states it isn’t suitable. Was he the only person available to comment on the situation or something? Maybe he got the job before common sense was made a requirement. It’s the DFB equivalent of Officer Barbrady in South Park saying “move along people; nothing to see here”.
Bart: The ironing is delicious.
Lisa: The word is “irony”.
Bart: Huh?
Should they not be 100% cotton as well ?
RSA issues 200k hi-viz be safe be seen tabards only to recall same as the hi viability strips are not visible enough.
Yep just about to mention that.
That’s shocking no doubt about that……
All public sector clothing is made by the cheapest/lowest tender, far east factories and is of poor quality. It shows what the employer, the government thinks of its workforce.Their no longer a uniform, their now work overalls. #shameontheemployer
My step-dad works as a part time fireman, when they go out the protective gear goes over whatever t-shirt, boxers/briefs/shorts and whatever they’re wearing. The gear they were is incredibly protective, extremely heavy too, and I’d imagine the amount of fire fighters around the country who get an ember falling down their back would be rather low…
True, but not the point. These brave men & women deserve te proper equipment, especially if they contribute to it’s cost.
Christ but the Irish are lazy feckless and sloppy. This, in any other normal country simply would not happen because they have standards to comply with, DIN, TÛV etc. this means things may cost more but the guess work and shambolic nature of what we do is removed.
Its amazing to think that the simple matter of consulting the users of the equipment Was not undertaken. But This sort of stupidity is rife in the public sector. I deal With it all the time in my job. infuriates me.
FDNY clothing is fire resistant nomex and cotton I think. I have personally pulled a burned FF out of a building who’s bunker coat was charcoal. I’m not sure but his fire resistant clothing may have helped him survive third and second degree burns. That label better not list any polyester or poly materials because that stuff is like petrol when set a light! Be safe Dublin Fire Brig. I have met these lads at events in NYC class act!
Lads in journal things must be bad for a story . These lads as well as others play a blinder, photos of their shirt labels shouldn’t feature too highly
All the more reason that their clothing should be up to safety standard !
No harm in highlighting an issue like this …
Lighten up Murphy:)
But don’t light up Murphy ,until you check your clothes label.
Are these clothes worn when extinguishing a fire or walking into a burning building or are they fatigues to be worn around the station? If they’re for operational use the person who ordered them should be dressed in them and chucked into a bonfire. If they’re clothes for duties around the station house and nothing more the DFB should cop on and don’t be embarrassing themselves, again.
Label is from the uniform not PPE. If proper PPE is worn no embers will touch the uniform worn underneath, it’s why we have flashoods. There are bigger issues to be pursued with the latest clothing rather than this. We’ve has 80/20% cotton/polyester jumpers the last 5 years and there was no problems, just this one has a different label. More sabre rattling from IFESA
Thanks that’s what it sounded like. It’s a pity really as it makes them look foolish rather than being under equipped.
Unfortunately it’s not as cut and dry as that. There are issues arising from the latest clothing more important than the label. And we’re not all represented by IFESA.
not all represented by ifesa but a growing number are as they are sick of the sly carry on carried out by siptu who are HAND IN HAND WITH MANAGEMENT because of their own self serving agenda’s, keep putting up nice stuff simon im sure your already noticed and will make your way up the ladder
@ ieoinu just so you know, simon there mentioned flash hoods, dfb bought new breathing appartus and didnt bother to buy the flash hoods that were designed to accompany the new set that they bought, the lads were forced to use the old flash hoods that were not the proper fit, penny saving by management and a few lads got burned, FACT. IFESA are campaigning to form an all ireland fire and ambulance service, 1 chief fire officer country wide standard training, with the current situation there are over 30 chief fire officers prob on 120,000 plus each, there are over 300 assistant chief fire officers prob on 100,000 each, the respective brigades are fighting this as it means their cushy numbers are gone and they will be out of a job, can you imagine the multi millions saved in wages and by buying for an all ireland fire and ambo service, it would be monstrous the saving that could be made and the leaps in quality of equipment being bought. its the lads on the gnd breaking their backs keeping a broken machine still turning not the management!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Actually IFESA’s numbers are in decline in DFB, there numbers reflect those that joined and left but did not submit it in writing, so are shown as a member in arrears. In their tenure IFESA have done absolutely NOTHING for their members in the DFB. Largely due to the fact you may as well be in the local credit union as they have about the same negotiating rights. Siptu made sure my pay and condition were left untouched in the last bout with the government. As for me going up the ladder, that remains to be seen, if the likes of you are my competition there is hope for me yet.
Also, the only difference between the old and new flashoods are they cover more of the shoulders. I’ve worn the old one with the new set and when worn properly encountered no problems. Again this is typical soap box crap from IFESA.
As usual the Journal failed to present all the facts adn provided an half article.
Yes they pay for their own uniforms. the article lists a price of approx 300 euro.
however this is offset againest the Uniform allowance firemen can cliam from the revenue of €272
http://www.revenue.ie/en/tax/it/leaflets/flat-rate-expenses.xls
so there is no cost to them for the uniform.
I know I’m going to get red thumbs but I don’t really care becuase I am deal with facts.
P.s if your occupation is listed and your not claiming your credits you should.
Hi Brian not sure what department you work in but even in my limited knowledge of revenue allowances and tax credits if the uniforms cost 300 and the allowance is 272 then surely it still costs 28 euro to the individual. However i believe the tax credits your talking about are for the cleaning and upkeep of the uniform and not the basic cost of the items that are deducted in our emolument ????
Thr price stated is approx 300, which i’m sure is actual 272. so there coes your 28.
Or approx 300 cud be 304 or somthing and the 28 becomes 32??? However im not sure if tax credits equate to 1 euro per credit
1 tax creidt = 1 euro
Hi Brian as usual some one makes a comment without knowing all the facts!
You are correct that a “uniform allowance” is provided to firefighters however it is not to off set the cost of a uniform it is to off set the cleaning and care of the uniform. Every day firefighters are exposed to dangerous chemicals, blood, vomit and various other contaminants!
What you are saying is that we should stop complaining and be grateful for our uniforms which in reality uniforms in most jobs are provided free of charge to employees! Also I consider our uniforms to be part of our overall health and safety equipment , so using that logic we have to pay for our own safety equipment which is against the law!
Just remember the better our safety clothing is the more layers we have on the longer we can stay in fighting the fires and possibly rescuing some one close and dear to you.
Thanks for taking the time to make a comment regarding our uniforms but I would also appreciate it if you could email Dublin city council and ask why the people who’s wages you pay are not provided with the best of equipment to help save lives and protect property!
Dublin fire brigade management is just another group that needs to be cleansed with immediate sackings and criminal charges.
you cant imagine who incompetent senior management are!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Very hard to understand why firefighters’ pay €300 per year for uniform…………and are issued with functionally-inappropriate items in return. Sounds like amateurism in procurement and a total lack of oversight by senior management.
Presumably these T-shirts will not be worn whilst actually attending fires ? DFB appear to be saying they are fit for purpose; against the formal advice of the manufacturer. Should anyone be injured as a result of wearing one of these garments then I’m pretty sure the courts would find that a most interesting paradox.
I wonder if any other front-line emergency workers have to pay for their uniforms ?
Do the Coastguards’ have to pay for fuel for their helicopters etc ? No, of course not but how long before they do ?
Ireland is becoming a very sad joke.
Duh it’s law to show it’s provide this info.
where do the gob shites that do this get off, if its fire equipment you ask the fire services, just like when they built the port tunnel they never asked a truck driver and yet spent millions on getting it wrong, ass holes
have your say