Women strive to be top of their workplace ‘game’ before they turn 40, contradictory to the majority of males who are happy to hold out until after their 40th birthday.
Almost half of women want to have reached career success before the age of 40, with one in three hoping to earn their ideal salary by 35 years old, research has revealed.
This is compared to just 39 percent of men who were happy to hold out for success until after their 40th birthday.
“With addressing the gender pay gap and the glass ceiling high on the political agenda, it’s particularly interesting that women want to hit key milestones earlier on in their career,” said Tom Lovell, managing director at Reed.
According to a survey of 2,000 workers across the UK, conducted by recruitment firm Reed, achieving career success is equally important to both men and women, but what they perceive as indicators of success are very different depending on their gender.
While women are more ambitious at a younger age, men are more likely to strive for independence and responsibility – and the resulting exposure to risk – of leadership positions.
Men and women’s salary expectations also differ, with females believing career success comes with an annual wage of £54,000 compared to £58,000 for men.
The ability to work flexibly was a more important indicator for women than to men, while men associated being their own boss as more important than women; being on the board of their company and owning their own company.
According to research, pay is no longer the sole indicator of success and motivator of good performance, instead a desire for good work-life balance was favoured by 75 percent of all workers.
Both men and women agree that 35 days of paid holiday would be a good definition of career success, while getting your own office is still on the list for almost half of UK workers.
Technology is also playing an ever-growing role as a mark of success, Lovell said with 45 percent of workers expecting to receive a laptop, and 32 percent expecting a company iPhone by the age of 34 if they are going to make it to the top.
Rebecca joined the HRreview editorial team in January 2016. After graduating from the University of Sheffield Hallam in 2013 with a BA in English Literature, Rebecca has spent five years working in print and online journalism in Manchester and London. In the past she has been part of the editorial teams at Sleeper and Dezeen and has founded her own arts collective.
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