Women, Work and the Office

Abstract

Providing a future-proof workplace means ensuring a healthy and sustainable
work environment for all. Today women report more stress, health problems and
promotional barriers at work. It is widely known that this ‘leaky pipeline’ stems
from a range of social/cultural factors but to what extent has the workplace—a
physical, designed environment—influenced inequality? The offices we inhabit
may appear to embody a gender neutral mentality, but when we look back at the
history of the office we see that its norms and standards were formed decades ago,
when things weren’t so equal or straightforward.