It’s been said many times before, but there is no harm in reiterating it: the modern day work place is sexist. From shocking stories of sexual harassment or getting mistaken for the secretary rather than the boss, to the fact that one in five men are paid more than £30,000 after their degree, compared to just 8 per cent of women who earn the same – it’s impossible to ignore the issues that we as women will inevitably face as careers become higher up on our agenda.

It’s a common response for defensive employers and workers alike to come up with supposed underlying reasons for these issues that somehow blame women, or at least take the burden of the blame off of them. But if we’re ever going to tackle these problems head on, and eradicate sexism in employment, we need to get rid of the myths that tell us that these problems are predominantly the fault of women.

The gender pay-gap and the glass ceiling are two concepts that have become so familiar they almost seem like myths themselves, recited like gospel to the point that they seem to lose their meaning. But these are very real problems that we, as women, will have to face in the workplace.

For example, despite the fact that there are more women on boards, in parliament and in higher education, there are fewer women in senior management, and the pay gap between men and women has widened. Furthermore, according to the AGR (Association of Graduate Recruiters), less than 42 per cent of graduate jobs are given to women, even though they make up almost 60 per cent of graduates. The gender imbalance evidently exists, and not just in the imagination of “deluded feminists”.

It’s easy to say that women make different “life choices” to men. But this is a cop out on behalf of those who are in a position of power to do something about this inequality. Why is it that women should have to “choose” between having a career and children, when men can seem to balance both so seamlessly? When a man is expecting a child, nobody questions whether or not he will give up his job. Parenting is a responsibility which should fall on both men and women, and so, therefore, should the burden of having to sacrifice some aspects of working life. Rather than putting the pay gap and “glass ceiling” down to women having to choose between children and a career, employers should be making more efforts to accommodate women with better maternity provisions and child care, because procreation isn’t something women do for a nine-month holiday.

Another favourite explanation of those who deny inequality is that women just prefer different areas to men, which is what explains the disappointing lack of women in STEM and finance jobs. Women, they claim, are less likely to choose these highly paid and competitive jobs, which is what helps to explain the gender pay gap. This is, once again, a very lazy explanation. It might be true that fewer women apply for these sorts of jobs, but it’s important to think about the institutional reasons for this. If society tells women that they should be interested in particular subjects, they will sub-consciously be making certain choices. We need to move away from thinking about investment bankers, traders, engineers and researchers as being men in suits, and towards a more inclusive view of these kinds of industries. It’s up to employers to market towards women more, offering encouragement for female graduates. Whilst there are already plenty of employers doing this, efforts need to be increased if we are to ever overcome such systematic inequalities.

 However, there are things that we as women can do to help overcome work-related sexism. Whilst attempting to go into a male dominated industry can make you feel alien, empowerment is key. Although it may be intimidating, we need to assert our presence, take up space and make our voices heard. We are more than capable of rising to the same challenges as men, and it’s important to fight the gender bias that either implicitly or overtly tells us that we aren’t. The only thing more dangerous than employers believing myths about workplace sexism, is for us to believe them too.