Are women paying a higher price for a UN career?

Impactpool sent a survey to former and current United Nations staff members. All candidates had started their career at a junior staff position (P1 or P2) in the past 25 years. With this survey, we wanted to find out what successful UN staff members have in common, and we discovered there is a lot.

The survey was sent out 1672 respondents and had a high response rate 10.2% (172 responses received). As a result, it generated a large data set with high statistical significance. With a confidence level of 95%, the calculated margin of error is 7.08%.

The survey consisted of 58.3% female and 41.7% male respondents. The respondent’s originated from 21 different member states of the United Nations.

The results of the questions confirmed many pre-existing ideas, but it also offered some insights into an unfortunate discrepancy. The survey shows that women and men are equally well prepared when entering the UN, but there was a drastic discrepancy in career progression among men and women. In fact, it was found that women who left the UN progressed further in their career paths than those who stayed.