Workplace Insights from Young Women & Non-Binary People

“We need more support! Being a young ethnic woman is not always easy. There are so many expectations from society due to our culture and upbringing. I wish I had the opportunity to experience more workshops about workplace culture and safety skills.”

“I don’t think there’s much disclosure about anything other than heterosexuality in my team, and I would feel strange mentioning anything about being pansexual as I feel it would be regarded as ‘woke’ and associated with the cross-generational divide.”

“I have a chronic pain condition and there is no inclusivity for people with invisible conditions and support is limited as managers are often not aware of the impact of certain decisions on my physical wellbeing.”

“We need to feel safe and heard. Young people need to feel comfortable talking to their managers, especially when they’re feeling unsafe. Check in on them! And pay them more, everything is so expensive.”

“Young people are ambitious, we’re full of energy and creative ideas for the future. We live in a world where loyalty to organisations won’t create the future we want - but we’re also hearty and sold out for change. We’re keen to learn, share and contribute to spaces we occupy. The best thing you can do is mahi ALONGSIDE us. We want to learn from you but also feel valued in the process. Listen to our ideas and let us run with some of them. Get to know us and open doors if you can - we will reward you with our kindness, compassion and trust.”

“For example, as a woman, sometimes I get unbearable menstruation pain. However, I don’t believe it’s a comfortable work environment for me to mention that, regardless of how valid it actually is. I’d always have to lie about sickness in order to conceal it and not feel undermined for my gender.”

“I think in order to be perceived favourably and receive opportunities for learning and development, there’s a degree of fitting in I need to do. Both my managers are English whereas I’m of an ethnic minority group. In terms of relatability, it’s rare that they’d learn something about indigenous ways of being and applying it, rather I have to assimilate to a degree.”

“I frequently, if not always, feel I need to hide my age as I immediately get a sense of not being respected despite my professional accomplishments, my own presentation, and body of work in my career. More often than not, there is a change in how I am treated when people learn my age - and I often end up on the receiving end of ‘jokes’ and comments baout being young, a ‘baby’, “Oh, you won’t know this…”, so on and so forth. It is both de-railing to professional work and feels incredibly demeaning.”

“Māori, Pasifika, and ethnic minority staff normally volunteer to provide cultural services, but other staff could pull their weight a lot more. It’s almost a feeling of, if you want to be sure it’s done properly, you volunteer (I’m Pākehā but have noticed this).”

“I am the youngest in my workplace and, at times, I feel like the kaimahi don’t take my whakaaro seriously because I am too young, or they find me annoying when I am trying to be progressive or have positive impact (environmental, attitude, growth-oriented) in projects/work place.”

“1. Being comparatively young sometimes means I’m viewed as inexperienced by senior leaders/engineers.

2. I’m at the age where I’d like to start a family, and I feel like I have to hide that when asking for promotions/big opportunities, etc.”

“I am the only Middle Eastern person at work, and during my first week at work, someone told me that women in the Middle East wearing traditional clothing look scary. There’ve been a few microaggressions like that which made me uncomfortable.”

“There is no outright discrimination - it’s more a sense of being “normal” and “belonging”. It’s quite visible that non-heterosexuals are viewed/treated differently, whether intentional or not.”