Government statistics demonstrate the glass ceiling that many women in Bermuda face: Women earn a median income of less than $45,000 per year compared to men who rake in almost $50,000.

There are more than 3,500 men on the Island earning over $72,000 per year in personal income compared to just 2,171 women.*

Just 34 percent of the 429 people who owned or managed an incorporated company according to the year 2000 census were female.

And one of Bermuda?s highest-profile female politicians, Renee Webb, claims: ?Bermuda has much growing to do in the area of sexism. It?s a problem, and taking steps to fix it would benefit everyone. I don?t think things are getting better at all.?

So is it true that women still have to fight twice as hard to get to the top? And are they treated with enough respect by their male counterparts once they get there?reporter asked six women who hold key roles in male-dominated career fields what they thought:

*source - The 2004 Employment Survey

THE POLITICIAN

?Men can be very patronising?

Tourism and Telecommunications Minister Renee Webb famously resigned from Cabinet in July, 2004 citing ?irreconcilable differences? with Premier Alex Scott over his leadership style.

More than a year after that row hit the headlines she remains adamant that women are not treated equally in Bermuda.

As we have previously reported, she cites her own experience of having to deal with crude male comments in the kitchen of the House of Assembly as evidence.

?My experience in the PLP on the floor of the House has also been that men can be very patronising when it comes to women,? she said.

?There is still room for improvement in Bermuda both at the executive level, at Government level as well as in the private sector. The boardrooms are still male-dominated and there?s a long way to go. Women are just as well qualified but men are still given preferential treatment and there is a salary differential. I think men are sometimes intimidated by women especially those who are bright. They have not been socialised to see women as equal.?

In her experience, the problem on the Island is worse than elsewhere: ?I?ve worked in Europe and even the Middle East and I have never been harassed sexually in any of those places. In Bermuda it?s constant but it?s never stopped me from getting ahead,? said Ms Webb, who works as a financial consultant.

She believes that the only way for women to address the problem is to continue to fight for top positions.

?Meet the men head on. That was the case with me. I was always confronting the issue and men think I?m a pain in the ass but you cannot let it slide.?

She also feels that women too often do themselves a disservice by accepting discrimination. ?I think Bermudian women too often are accepting of the status quo.

?Women should challenge this type of behaviour and men should not participate in it. Equality is an attitude and Bermuda has a lot of growing to do in this area.?

THE POLICE OFFICER

?It?s about whether you are prepared to make the sacrifice?

Roseanda Young, who became the highest-ranking female officer ever to serve in the Bermuda Police Service when she was promoted to Deputy Commissioner last December, is remarkably candid about some of the struggles she?s faced to make it to the top.

?I didn?t get here easily,? she said. ?It?s not the result of smooth sailing. We?ve had female leaders in so many areas for so long but I think what makes it different is that we really have to work harder to get to the top as we have not traditionally been seen as leaders. Women still have to work harder to show their worth. Bermuda has plenty of opportunities for women but it?s about whether you are prepared to make the sacrifice and commitment to get there.?

Amazingly, this capable woman ? who is now in charge of discipline, finance and technology for the whole service ? was not allowed to join her male colleagues on the shift when she joined in 1978. ?You had to join the Police Women?s Unit ? which these days is called the Juvenile and Domestic Crime Unit ? and that was it. Then you branched out to other departments,? she explained.

?Have I faced discrimination in my career? Absolutely. People who have not experienced discrimination have not lived, but I?m comfortable to challenge it and I would encourage others to do so too. You don?t go very far if you allow that kind of behaviour to continue.?

Listing some of the experiences with male officers that she can now look back upon and laugh, she said: ?The first week that I joined this job I had to go and direct traffic in Flatts. That?s a major junction and it takes about three officers to do the job but I was all alone making such a cock-up of it. Then a male officer came up to me and said: ?I don?t know why they let women do this job.? I told him that one day I would be his boss. And when I became a Sergeant that?s what happened!? She also recalls with amusement the time when, as a new recruit to the cycle squad, an indignant member of the public called to ask ?who is that Policewoman riding a bike in Southampton??

Mrs. Young married Acting Assistant Prison Commissioner Lionel Young last Valentine?s Day and has six children and stepchildren. Her 27-year career has seen her work in uniform, CID, the cycle squad, and narcotics.

?I think one of the strengths I bring to the job is being able to maintain my feminism while being respected as a female working in a high position in a predominately male work environment.

?I think women tend to be very good communicators and that?s one of my strengths. I try to be fair, open to criticism, and to not have a big ego. I see this job as a means to improve myself,? she said. ?It can sometimes be daunting to think of where I am now but I am not finding any major challenges with my colleagues. They are supportive of me and I attribute that to the way I have conducted my own career.?

THE SOLDIER

?I had thought that I couldn?t do it but I did.?

Colour Sergeant Nisbett is currently the only woman in the Bermuda Regiment at Warwick Camp.

?I originally came in 1983 on a dare with one of my girlfriends and I was at Recruit Camp with 13 girls.

?Boot camp was a challenge because I?m on the heavy side, although with the support of the girls and the officers it was better than I thought it would be. I had thought that I couldn?t do it but I did.?

Now, 23 years later and with 21 years? service on the full time staff, she still loves her job as a secretary clerk for the quartermaster. ?It?s OK being the only woman as a lot of the guys have respect for me because I?m a woman and they are very supportive. Some of them treat me as one of the guys as I have been in the Regiment such a long time.

?Some of them have a great deal of respect for me. There are certain things they would say in an all-male presence that they won?t say in my company which is good. If they do anything I don?t like, don?t worry, I tell them!?

THE BANK CEO

?Quite oftemen are assumed to be right when we have to prove that we are right.?

Sarah Farrington, President and Chief Executive Officer of Capital G bank has been helped tremendously in dealing with her high-pressure role by husband Simon, who stays at home to look after their daughters, aged 6, 11, and 16.

Mrs. Farrington, 41, started her working career as a bank teller. After studying for a degree through correspondence courses and night classes at the former US military base on the Island, she joined Ernst & Young where she qualified as a certified accountant, worked at the Bermuda Housing Corporation and then joined Capital G 13 years ago when it had just three full-time staff.

?Because I joined Capital G at the beginning there was no male chauvinist hierarchy above me. It is privately owned, and they are used to having women in managerial roles. However, in my career prior to here I have seen many stereotypes and there is some truth in the notion that women have to work harder than men. Quite often men are assumed to be right when we have to prove that we are right. I?ve seen a lot of that and for me the issue is not within individual companies but how we in society see women?s roles,? she said.

?We make up half of the population but there are so few of us in management positions ? that?s got to tell you something.

?Women are too often disadvantaged from a networking perspective when there are guys in bars at night and you are a lone female. The attitude from them can be: ?Why are you here? Are you interested in one of the guys???

She has also experienced a situation in her career ? although not at Capital G she stresses ? where she found out that a man she was training was earning more than her.

?I was a bit confused and went to a senior person who was a woman and she told me that men were supposed to earn more money,? she recalls.

She is concerned that, although women are reaching high positions in the workplace, they are still seen as the primary caregivers at home.

?They are running out of the workplace at 5p.m to pick up the kids, and until we see more sharing of domestic responsibilities we will not see women on an equal footing with men in the corporate world. My husband, who is a qualified accountant too, is a stay-at-home dad so I don?t have to rush out of my office to pick up the kids and that?s very helpful to me,? she said.

THE CARPENTER

?I had to learn and grow and change my attitudes towards people?

Carpenter Doreen Spence has spent ten years working in the construction industry. Currently the only tradeswoman working on the Berkeley Institute site, Ms Spence told how she had to fight at the start of her career to gain the respect and acceptance of her male co-workers.

?I really enjoy my job but it?s been challenging being the only female on the majority of the sites. It was hard when I started as the men want to challenge you and give you a hard time but I managed to hang in. I really had to fight because the guys would pick on you but I still managed to make it through and make it in the trade,? she said.

Ms Spence, who is from Southampton and has three grown-up daughters, had a varied career prior to being a construction worker. She mainly worked in sales although she also spent a stint working as a journalist on the Bermuda Sun newspaper.

It was while she was working in a sales position at builders merchant SAL that customer and former PLP MP Arthur Pitcher urged her to try construction. After deciding to give it a try she landed her first job on the CedarBridge Academy project.

?I started out in the industry scraping and sweeping but I always wanted to learn more. Whenever I saw someone doing something I would ask them how to do it,? she explained.

Speaking of how she learned how to cope with the hard time she suffered at the hands of some of her male co-workers she said: ?I had to learn and grow and change my attitudes towards people.

?I had to learn to forget about doing things my own way and try to do things the way of those I worked with.

?I also had to learn to keep the peace. There?s nothing wrong with being strong-minded but you have to get on with everybody and meet people on their own terms. That way you learn and grow.

?My personality is the kind where I make fun of the guys and enjoy working with them . I can be myself and have established good friendships with them.?

Currently studying carpentry at Bermuda College and aiming to gain certification in her chosen trade, she added: ?I believe it?s my destiny to work in construction as a carpenter.

I really love it and I would tell other women entering the industry to stick it out because in the long run it will work for them.?

THE FIREFIGHTER

?The guys treat me as one of them?

A fire-fighter since 1988, Miss Maloney, is one of just six female members of uniformed staff in the Bermuda Fire Service, working alongside 87 men.

?The first couple of years were hard,? admits the 43-year-old mother-of-one. ?I felt that I had to show the men I could do the job just like them and I had to work in a lot of areas that I was weak at to get up to their standard.

?Some of the men were encouraging and some said: ?Who does she think she is? She?ll never come to anything.? Well 18 years later, I?m still here!

?Now, the guys look at me as one of them and treat me as one of them. I still love the job too ? it?s so interesting.?

?My advice to other women considering going into this job are to expect hard work and ridicule from the guys. You will have to show them that you can do just the same job as them.?