Racing Home: Working mothers in the horseracing industry
Racing Home – a report highlighting the challenges faced by working mothers in the horseracing industry.
Motherhood and family life are at the heart of employee well-being, and we all felt strongly that those working in the horseracing industry should be given a voice on this subject. Although we have identified pockets of good practice across the industry, there is still much to do. We have recommended a series of short, medium and long-term steps for action that can be taken across the industry to ensure talent is not lost. These steps include creating better support for employees and employers, in particular, better support for mothers around childcare and mentoring. We’d also encourage those working in horseracing to challenge existing inflexibilities in working practices, in order to create more family-friendly environments.
Dr Kate Clayton-Hathway, Research Fellow - Centre for Diversity Policy Research and Practice
The Centre for Diversity Policy Research of Oxford Brookes Business School, Women in Racing and Simply Racing have published a report that aims to address the challenges faced by women working in the highly male-dominated horseracing industry. This year-long project is the first of its type and it is a ground-breaking work that highlights the hardship working mothers face when returning to work. Furthermore, the research looks at working practices and contains recommendations that are based on interviews with both men and women from the horse racing industry. It not only highlights, but challenges outdated attitudes, working practices and gender inequalities towards motherhood.
Read The Guardian article about this research >>