Gender Roles & Equality in Agriculture: A 2020 Update
By AgCareers.com
Gender roles and equality continue to be critical topics in the workplace. As a follow-up to the 2015 Gender Roles & Equality in Agribusiness survey, AgCareers.com partnered with Women in Agribusiness to conduct a refreshed survey in the fall of 2019.
The survey collected information about the roles men and women play in the agricultural industry as well as examining issues in equality. Questions covered topics such as compensation, benefits, advancement, work/life balance, and advocacy. Analysis of results identifies similarities and discrepancies between genders.
The majority of women felt that there was gender inequality in agriculture (75%), while only 50% of men felt there was gender inequality. In an encouraging note for agribusiness, both men and women felt that there was less gender inequality in agribusiness than in the overall professional world. Interestingly, these figures have improved slightly since our 2015 survey was conducted.
Unfortunately, more than half of women (61%) said they had experienced blunt sexism or discrimination at work based on their gender. This figure has jumped more than 10% from the 2015 survey.
A concerning change from the 2015 survey shows that women feel less confident about their ability to advance in the agricultural industry now – 71% of women felt confident about opportunities for advancement in agriculture in 2019. This is a 17% drop from the number of women that responded in agreement in 2015 (88%). However, women still felt more confident about their ability to advance in agriculture versus an outside industry.
In 2015, we received feedback from women who were solely ag producers, or producers in addition to their career in agribusiness that felt the core questions did not apply to their professional experience. AgCareers.com added a “Production Agriculture” section to shed light on the experience of the female agricultural producer.
Nearly 30% of women producers stated that they were the sole owner and/or primary stakeholder of the farming/ranching/production operation they work for. For those who were not, a non-relative was the most common answer for the owner/primary stakeholder of the operation they worked for (44%).
Approximately 42% of female producers stated that they are landowners; when asked how much, 74% answered that they own less than 250 acres of land. More than half (57%) had at least a stake or partial ownership in the farming/ranching/production operations where they work.
Most women that did not own land hoped to one day or own a stake or share in a production operation. Just 23% stated that they have no aspirations to own land or a stake in a production operation at any point in the future.
For more information on aspirations for advancement, salary, barriers, and more for women in agriculture, download the full AgCareers.com Gender Roles & Equality in Agribusiness Survey Results & Analysis at www.AgCareers.com under “Market Research.”
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