Third of women remove wedding rings 'to enhance career prospects'

A third of women remove their wedding rings at work because they fear that being 'taken' could damage their career prospects, a survey shows.

Would you ever remove your wedding ring to improve job prospects? Photo: ALAMY

By Louisa Peacock, Deputy Women's Editor

11:16AM BST 17 Oct 2013

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The study of 1,712 married or engaged women reveals 35 per cent regularly remove their wedding or engagement rings at work, believing that appearing single would increase their chances of getting a job or being promoted. A further third take their rings off when going for a job interview.

The research suggests many women worry that employers or prospective employers interpret a wedding ring as 'about to take time out and start a family', making her an "unattractive hire". Men who wear wedding rings, on the other hand, do not face the same fears.

Ali O’Neill, head of product at comparejewellery.com, which carried out the survey, said: "It seems that a fair few women in the UK are ‘ring removers’, but the reasons why were incredibly interesting – with fear about the connotations that the ring holds when it comes to employment prospects being the most common factor in ‘ring removal.’

“Even in modern times, many women still firmly believe that they are pigeonholed by their relationship status – fearing fewer opportunities should they be viewed as likely to swan off to start a family, and so take their ring off to avoid this happening. Whether this be the case or not, it’s clear that these kind of stereotypes are still a problem in the workplace."

Ms O'Neill points out that many good employers have excellent maternity leave arrangements and are not concerned when their female employees take time out to start a family, offering flexible working along the way. But the perception many women have is that it's best to avoid risking it. "It’s clear from our results that engagement and wedding rings signify so much more than simply a marriage – they’re a signal of our life plan," she said.

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