Exploration of the pay and career progression experiences of women aged over 50 in Scotland

Appendix B: Interview guides

Discussion Guide Employee over 50

Introduction and consent (3 mins)

Thank you for participating in this interview. My name is _____________ and I am a researcher at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR). We are an independent research organisation and a registered charity. We are conducting a research project on the experiences of women aged over 50 in the workplace in Scotland. This is funded by the Fair Work Convention, an independent body that advises the Scottish Government. For this project, we are interviewing women like yourself to find out more about your experiences of work. We really want to hear about your personal experiences and learn more about how things are – and how things have been – for you at work. The interview will last around 60 minutes.

All the information you provide will be treated in the strictest confidence and will not be shared with anyone outside of the research team at NIESR. All the findings will be analysed and reported anonymously. This means that your name and any other identifiable characteristics, such as your workplace and job title, will be either removed or changed in any reports or publications resulting from the research, so that you cannot be identified in any way. Crucially, we will not tell your employer that you have participated in this research, and we will not reveal to them anything that we discuss in the interview.

Your participation is voluntary, so you are free to withdraw at any stage without giving a reason, and you are free to decline to answer any of the questions. With your permission, interviews will be recorded so that I can listen back and ensure that I have not missed anything you have said. These recordings will be stored on secure servers. Please can you confirm that you are willing to take part in this research? [obtain consent]. Please can you confirm that you are happy for this interview to be recorded? [obtain consent]. [start recorder after consent obtained]. Do you have any questions before we start?

About you and your work (5 mins)

Can you briefly tell me about yourself: your age, living situation and what your current job is?

• [if organisation is unknown] What is the nature of your organisation? How many employees? Do you know how many women work there, and how many of these women are over 50?

How long have you worked in this job?

What contract do you hold? [permanent, fixed, zero hours, etc]

How many hours do you work a week?

• What hours do you work? [if shift work, probe for timings of shifts]
  • Are you happy with these hours?
• How flexible are your hours?
  • Are you happy with this arrangement?
• Where is the job based? [home/office etc]
  • Are you happy with this arrangement?

How have these working arrangements changed since you started the job?

How did you come to work in this job?

Can you tell me about what you were doing before this job?

• Were these jobs full time or part time?

Have you ever had breaks in employment, for example due to sickness, unemployment/redundancy, or caring for others?

Have you ever been in full time or part time study? What did you study?

General experiences at work (10 mins)

Can you describe to me what an average day looks like for you at work?

• What sorts of tasks do you carry out routinely?
• Who do you report to? Do people report to you?

Are there things you particularly like about your work? [probe for more detail on each]

Are there things you dislike or find difficult about your work? [probe for more detail on each]

Is there anything you would like to change in your workplace?

Experiences of pay (15 mins)

Do you think your current pay is fair? Why/why not?

Do you receive any non-pay benefits? [e.g. pension, health]

How do you think your pay compares to your colleagues' pay?

• [If there are differences], why do you think this is?

How has your pay changed over time in this job?

• How does this compare to previous jobs?

How have you felt about your pay in previous jobs?

Have you ever taken steps to try and change your pay?

• Why/why not?
• [If they state a desire to take steps] What would help you to take these steps?

Do you know if your colleagues have taken steps to change their pay?

Has your employer ever taken steps to try and change your pay?

• Why do you think this is?

Experiences of progression (15 mins)

Overall, do you think your current job is a good match to your skill set? [probe for: are skills underutilised? Does role ask for additional skills beyond skillset?]

Are you happy with the amount of responsibility you have in your current job?

• If not, what would you like to change?
• Why do you think this has not happened yet?

How do you think your level of responsibility compares to your colleagues'?

• [If there are differences], why do you think this is?

Would you like a promotion? Now? In the future?

• Has the opportunity arisen for a promotion in your current job? Why/ why not?
• Have there been opportunities that you have chosen not to pursue?

Have you had experiences of successful or unsuccessful promotion in the past?

• How did this come about?
• Why do you think you were successful/unsuccessful?

How do you think your experiences of promotion compare to that of your colleagues?

Are you happy with the amount of training/professional development you receive at work? Why/why not?

• Are there training opportunities that you do not take up?
• What would you like more of, and why?

Are there any other opportunities you would like more of at work?

• What would help you achieve these?

Do you have any other personal goals – things you would like to achieve – in relation to your work?

• What would help you achieve these?

Experiences of age, gender and other identities (10 mins)

Thinking about your experiences at work, do you feel, or have you ever felt, that being a woman has helped you or held you back at work?

• [if hindered] In what ways? How do you feel about this?
• [If helped] Have you ever thought that being a woman could potentially hold you back at work?

Thinking about your experiences at work, do you feel, or have you ever felt, that your age has helped or hindered you at work?

• [if hindered] In what ways? How do you feel about this?
• [If helped] Have you ever thought that your age could potentially hold you back at work?

Are there any other aspects of your identity or your life that you think have helped or hindered you at work? [If unsure, can prompt: for example, ethnicity or disability]

Have you ever experienced bullying or harassment due to your age? Due to your gender?

Are you aware of any initiatives/policies that your organisation has to support women? And to support people over 50?

Do you find your line manager supportive? And the other senior managers?

Life outside work (5 mins)

How easy do you find it to balance your work with your life outside work?

• What has helped with this?
• What would help with this?

Do you have responsibilities outside work that have a significant impact on your life? Has this ever been the case in the past?

• How do these affect your experiences at work?
• What helps you to manage these responsibilities?
• Do you think these have impacted things like your pay or progression at work?

Do you find – or have you ever found – that your health affects your experiences at work?

Many women experience symptoms relating to the menopause that affect their experiences of work. Would you say this applies to you, now or in the past?

Looking forward (5 mins)

What are you looking forward to in the future in your life in general?

Do you have any worries about work specifically and the future in general? [probe for: pensions, health, etc]

Discussion Guide for Employers

Introductions and Consent (3 mins)

My name is_______ and I am a researcher at the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR). We are conducting a research project on behalf of the Fair Work Convention – an independent body that advises the Scottish Ministers. The project aims to understand better the experiences of women aged over 50 in the workplace, particularly in terms of their pay and progression. We are interviewing employers of all sizes in specific sectors across Scotland. The interview will last around 60 mins.

All the information you provide will be treated in the strictest confidence and will not be shared with anyone outside of the research team at NIESR. All the findings will be analysed and reported anonymously. When we write our report for the Fair Work Convention, we will change or remove your name, as well as the name of your organisation, and any other information that could identify you. This means that you and your organisation will not be able to be identified in any way. Your participation is voluntary, so you are free to withdraw at any stage without giving a reason, and you are free to decline to answer any of the questions.

With your permission, interviews will be recorded so that I can listen back and ensure that I have not missed anything you have said. These recordings will be stored on secure servers. Please can you confirm that you are willing to take part in this research? [obtain consent]. Please can you confirm that you are happy for this interview to be recorded? [obtain consent]. [start recorder after consent obtained]. Do you have any questions before we start?

About your organisation (5 mins)

Can you briefly tell me about your organisation?

• What's the nature of your business?
• What is the structure of your organisation? [probe for independent establishment, or one part of larger organisation]
• Where are you based?

What is your role in the organisation?

Can you describe to me the nature of your workforce? [Try to ascertain whether they know or collect data on the number of employees over 50, and on gender]

• Size
• Age composition
• Gender composition
• Ethnic composition
• Disability

How do each of the above vary by grade? [Try to ascertain at least the composition of management team]

What would you estimate is the average tenure of employment for women over 50 in your organisation?

Have there been any significant changes to the profile of your workforce in the past few years?

[Skip these two questions if short on time:]

How does the age profile of your workforce compare to other organisations in the sector?

How does the gender profile of your workforce compare to other organisations in the sector?

Working arrangements (10 mins)

How many of your employees are full-time and how many are part-time?

• Are any of your staff more likely to work part-time or full-time than others? [focus in particular on age/gender/job grades & job roles]
• Are any staff on zero hour contracts?
• Do staff work shift work? How are the timings of shifts organised?

What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of employing part time workers for you as an organisation?

What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of part-time work for your employees?

What is your approach to flexible working? [probe for what 'flexible working' means to them/different types of flexible working]

When was flexible working introduced as an option/policy? Has the policy changed over time?

How many people took up the option of flexible working after its introduction? How has this uptake changed? How many people currently work flexible hours?

• Are any of your staff more likely to work flexible hours than others? Has this changed over time? [probe for age, gender, job role & grade]
• Is flexible working open to senior managers? How many of the senior managers work flexible hours? [probe for policy versus uptake]

What do you see as the advantages and disadvantages of flexible working for you as an organisation?

What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of flexible working for your employees?

Pay (5 mins)

Do you collect data on your gender pay gap? [check for understanding of gender pay gap]

• [If no] why not? [note that it is mandatory for organisations over 250 employees]
• [If yes] What has this data shown?
• [if yes]How did you respond to the data?

Do you collect data on how pay relates to age in your organisation?

• [if no] why not?
• [If yes] What has this data shown?
• [if yes] How did you respond to the data?

Are bonuses offered in your organisation? Who usually receives them? [probe for role, gender, age]

Are your employees unionized? How does this impact your pay policy?

Progression and opportunities (5 mins)

What is the process for promotion in your organisation?

• Are these open to all staff? Only certain roles/pay grades?
• Are these open to part-time staff?

What training or CPD opportunities do you offer your staff?

• Are these open to all staff? Only certain roles/pay grades?
• Are these open to part-time staff?
• Which staff usually take these up?
• Why do some staff not take these up?

Do you monitor promotions by age? By gender? By any other factor?

Do you review promotion procedures to identify indirect discrimination by age? By gender? By caring responsibilities? By any other factor?

Age-related and gender-related practices (15 mins)

What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of employing people over 50 years old in your organisation?

Do you think workers over 50 in your sector face any particular challenges?

Does your organisation have any specific policies or practices that relate to the age of your workers? [probe: recruiting older workers, retaining older workers, promoting older workers]

• Why/why not?
• [If yes] How successful do you think these have been? Why/why not?
• [if yes] Do these policies differ for men and women?
• [if no] Could you imagine developing these in the near future? Why/why not?

What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of employing women in your organisation?

Do you think women in your sector face any particular challenges?

Do you think women over 50 in your sector face any additional challenges?

Do you have any specific policies or practices that relate to the gender of your workers? [probe: recruiting female workers, retaining female workers, promoting female workers].

• Why/why not?
• [If yes] How successful do you think these have been? Why/why not?
• [if yes] Do these policies differ for workers of different ages?
• [if no] Could you imagine developing these in the near future? Why/why not?

Do you have any specific policies or practices relating to other characteristics, such as ethnicity or disability?

What do you think employers in your sector could do to address some of the challenges faced by women over 50 in the workplace? [prompt with list of potential challenges, especially if they haven't listed many in previous questions: e.g. less full-time experience than male colleagues, caring responsibilities for others, health issues, menopause].

• What would help you as an organisation to develop these practices?
• What more could be done by external actors/organisations to help you in developing these practices?

Are you aware of any government or charitable initiatives aimed at improving the experiences of older workers in the workplace? [Prompt: describe initiatives such as 'Carer Positive' or Age Scotland's 'Age Inclusive Matrix'].

• Would you use these initiatives if they were available to you? Why/why not?