IWD 2025: Levelling the playing field with paternity leave

International Women's Day is an opportunity to focus on what needs to be done to continue the work of levelling the playing field for brilliant women out there, especially in male-dominated fields like tech and engineering. I know it may sound a bit rich coming from someone in a more female-led profession such as communications, but OutspokenPR specialises in supporting businesses in tech and med tech and, over the years, we've worked with scores of exceptional women and men. What was glaringly obvious, however, is that, excluding marketing, HR and communications departments, in these STEM sectors, the loftier roles were more likely to be covered by men.

This is not due to some intrinsic sexism in the industry, and no, not even the so-called "dream gap" -that space between what girls think they can achieve and reality- is entirely to blame. In fact, although already at the start the playing field is not great (software engineering jobs typically have 25% fewer female applicants in their applicant pools)  female representation then just gets worse as it tapers off in C-level roles. Globally, representation for senior roles in tech drops to 32.0%, below, for example, asset management (35.5%), and healthcare (37.7%).

So what happens along the way? Anyone with a family can probably make an educated guess. The point where these brilliant women fall back tends to be maternity leave. Nearly 40% of women who left the technology sector cited report that caring responsibilities was a key factor according to the Tech Talent Charter. The report also highlights the salary squeeze, which is felt more keenly by women starting a family: the cost of living, and specifically of childcare, dramatically cuts into their wages making the balancing act between future career investment and cost of chi raising almost impossible. I myself distinctly remember grappling with the unfavourable equation of putting two children through nursery Vs my income: there was no way of making it palatable, other than waiting it out.

So how can we fix this? Personally, I think the solution is to make paternity leave mandatory. I believe that businesses that are truly committed to levelling the playing field should ensure that new fathers are obliged to really take time off. 

I know a number of countries have made paternity pay mandatory, some even make "leave" mandatory but what this does is merely oblige the company to offer that person the time off. It doesn't mean they take it, and in high testosterone environments there is still a very strong social lever not to take time off, or only take leave in part. If all the other senior professionals in the business do not actually fully take paternity leave, or only use a small fraction of it, is it any wonder that the more junior men follow suit? How many men are actually taking emails, on conference calls and basically still working while on paternity leave? Far, far too many. And the reason? They feel the social push to continue to act as "the provider" and can do so, because they are not actually physically breastfeeding and recovering from an exhausting physical experience. This is not a level playing field by any means.

Although I have to admit that I only took very limited time off after the birth of my two children, I had the advantage of an entirely remote job, good health and a very understanding team. This is not an option for everyone: they may be recovering from a C-section, lack the support network or simply want to prioritize the time with the tiny human they have just made. There should not be a penalty for this, but if men continue to stride on ahead while women recover from the onus of populating the planet how can we claim the starting blocks are equal? Clearly they are not. To make them level we need to make sure that paternity leave is actually honoured and taken by everyone. This means creating a culture within a business where it is not shameful to take time off to spend with your new child, whether you are the one giving birth or not.

This is not about ensuring there is paternity pay (which of course is necessary) but about creating a cultural mindset where "the cost" of childbearing is the same for both men and women. In addition to levelling the playing field this will bring huge benefits to both child and father, promoting bonding and setting positive parental examples for future generations. It also sets the trend for future parental involvement. In fact, in those first few weeks there are numerous medical appointments and trips to the chemist that need to be made and if women are the only ones really taking the time off, a trend is set where for the rest of the child's life, most of these care activities tend to fall to the mother.  Breaking a cycle where maternity leave is a bump in the road for women's careers depends on creating not just equal opportunity but on sharing equal responsibility. Businesses that truly want to do something about this, and benefit from the insights, nous and experience of their female colleagues for the entirety of their careers, need to take decisive action and compulsory paternity leave can play a key role.