13 Mar Global Job Satisfaction

Etc.

Happiness at work is not only influenced by what you do but where you live. That’s according to a new study that compares how working women from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia view their professional lives.

Human resources platform HiBob surveyed 3,000 professional women —1,000 each in the US, the UK, and Australia—to get their thoughts on the work environment and their ability to succeed.

While most professional women in the US—86 percent—feel confident in their performance at work, they trail behind the 92 percent of women in the UK who feel confident in their performance. On the other end of the spectrum, only 52 percent of Australian women said they felt confident in their performance at work.

One reason Australian women may feel less certain in their careers: they’re more likely to have experienced gender discrimination.

When asked if a colleague had ever made them feel less qualified because they were a woman:

• 45 percent of women in Australia said yes
• 32 percent of women in the US said yes
• 23 percent of women in the UK said yes

Women in the UK were most likely to feel they have the same work opportunities as men. When asked if they feel women are promoted equally compared with men in their organization:

• 57 percent of women in the UK said yes
• 54 percent of women in the US said yes
• 41 percent of women in Australia said yes

Not surprisingly, Australian women also experience the most angst when it comes to worrying whether their jobs are secure. When asked if they were worried about losing their job in the current economic downturn, more than half of Australian women—57 percent—said yes, compared with 47 percent of women in the UK. American women were the least fazed by the prospect of layoffs, with only 39 percent worried about being let go.