More than half of women in the printing industry say despite the year being 2014 they still have to deal with sexism from clients, suppliers and co-workers on a daily basis.

Forty-six per cent of 147 female printers responding to a ProPrint poll in the past two weeks say sexism is everywhere and a further 10 per cent say it is getting worse – despite women owning numerous print businesses and the existence of initiatives like Women in Print.

Writing in a ProPrint opinion column, Carolyn Cagney, owner of Adelaide firm 5 Star Print, says the industry has a long way to go before women are treated equally. “It is like we have turned the clock back 40 years,” she says.

“I have caught paper delivery guys taking photos of my jobs in my factory. I have been verbally abused leaving an awards night in Sydney. I think his exact words were ‘What the f&%# would you know about print?’ Would this happen if I was a bloke? I don’t think so.”

In another column, AFI Branding marketing manager Liane Watson writes: “There is a wage gap between what women are paid and what men are paid – that’s not up for debate there just is.”

“There are still vastly more men than women sitting in senior management positions and on boards than women.”

[Related: Women in Print photos]

Stadium Signs director Pamela Hammond recalls one unsavoury experience with a supplier that exemplifies the struggles women face.

It seems to me that as a general rule males are automatically respected until they prove otherwise and females are not respected until they prove they are worthy,” he says.

“We had a male sales representative from a printing supply company come into our office this week – he walked right through the office to the only male and spoke directly to him – not acknowledging me, the owner and director, or our office administrator who places the orders.

“I was so gobsmacked by his behaviour that I rang the company and reported him. What century was this guy born into?”

Worldwide Printing Solutions Chatswood co-owner Kirsten Williams says she is angered by the prejudice towards women, but hopes as they meet with more success things will improve.

“When I'm not listened to by people in senior positions, but the same suggestion or opinion is fully embraced when a male colleague offers it, I know that sexism is alive and well in the printing industry,” she says.

“In the end though, a business run well is the reward, and once it becomes evident how well some women can connect with customers and manage resources and people, the landscape will eventually change. Profits speak louder than sexism, I hope.”

ProPrint’s poll, which is open until next Friday, offered some hope – 28 per cent of poll respondents say they haven’t encountered much sexism and 17 per cent say things are getting better.

Some women think the push for that change may come from outside the industry, from customers and print purchasers – many of which are female – want to be dealing with women more frequently.

Williams says: “It seems to me that often women in top printing roles are there because they've bought or started the business.”

“However, it may not be an accident that my top five clients are women, as I believe there’s a huge demand for women in senior roles by our customers.”

Hammond says despite some bad experiences, her past experience and position as a business owner may mean she has had a better time and has had great support and mentoring from other printers.

“I am a newbie with only five years’ experience in printing and signage and everybody rallied around to teach me,” she says.

“Maybe it is because I came from a male dominated industry (film and TV) and had earned my stripes there for over 35 years so it was easy for me to let the negatives go over my head and concentrate on the positives in this new career.”

[Related: Women in Print Sydney photos]

Highlight Printing owner Lisa Bickford jumped into a ProPrint comment thread all the way from Minneapolis, Minnesota in the USA to lend support to her Australian sisters in print, encouraging them to make their own way.

“Long before I bought the printing company I was in print sales and always felt it was an advantage because most of the print buyers were young women such as myself,” she says.

“The good news now is that I’m an owner and can control my own destiny.” Responding to Cagney she says: “Let them take up their days with negative behaviour and rumour spreading while you keep working hard and ultimately become the winner.”

Watson urges women to band together to help improve the industry sooner rather than later so by the time their daughters enter the industry they ‘don’t have to jump on the same old treadmill of unmet expectations and mediocrity’.

“We need to rally around each other and be our own most vocal and enthusiastic encouragers and mentors,” she says.

“There’s nothing more disarming than when you feel as a female in the workforce, that you have to work harder and achieve more to earn the respect of your female colleagues than your male co-workers. Plus it gives the men around us permission to continue to devalue us as individuals and the contribution we make.

“I continue to hold hope and excitement at the prospect of being part of an industry where the work, effort and contribution of women is recognised for the dynamic, creative, discerning, multi-talented, detail oriented and beautiful addition that it is.”

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