(newsroom.melbourne.edu) Only 38 per cent of Generation X, tertiary qualified women participating in a long-running University of Melbourne study work full-time, compared to 90 per cent of Generation X, tertiary qualified men. The findings are among the latest to emerge from Life Patterns, Australia’s longest running study of the lives of young people. Professor Johanna Wyn, Director of the Melbourne Graduate School of Education’s Youth Research Centre, leads the study. She says Australia’s lack of family-friendly workplace policies is toblame for the low participation rates of highly qualified women in the workforce. “When we started this study in the early 90s, young women who had gained tertiary qualifications were the most likely of any social group to put the highest priority on gaining a career position. “If we fast-forward to 2010, the majority of these same women are no longer participating in the workforce. Indeed, full-time employment for women, 13 years after leaving secondary school, is inversely related to level of educational qualifications. “We have a mis-match between educational and workplace policies. While our young women are encouraged to excel academically, when its time to start a family, there is very little support available from employers and more traditional attitudes to gender roles seem to prevail. So unfortunately, we find our workforce losing huge numbers of talented individuals.” The study shows workplace policies have also taken their toll on the health of Generation X. Comparisons with a similar Canadian study show Australians report much higher levels of poor mental and physical health. Read more.

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Study: 30-something women leave the workplace at an alarming rate