By Rich Bowden:

A study conducted by the University of Melbourne has found a lack of workplace support is forcing professional women with young families to leave the workforce at an alarming rate.

Researchers are blaming a lack of family friendly work environments for the exodus, with only 38 percent of surveyed Gen X  tertiary qualified women working full-time compared to 90 percent of their male counterparts in the same age category.

Professor Johanna Wyn, Director of the Melbourne Graduate School of Education’s Youth Research Centre and research leader, said in a July 5 university news release that opportunities for family orientated tertiary qualified have gone backwards.

“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,” said Prof Wyn.

“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.”

She called for changes to traditional gender attitudes and more support from employers when young professional women look to start a family.

“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 University of Melbourne study linked poor support in the workplace to a Canadian study which showed worsening mental and physical health for young people.

“The newly de-regulated workforce of the 90s meant young Australians were working longer hours with less job security. As a result, the majority were not able to establish long-term partnerships, marry and have children as early as their Canadian counterparts, leading to more stress and less support for the Australians,” explains Professor Wyn.

Tags: family friendly workplace, professional women, women australia, women workforce