Last year, on average women in America, received 80 cents for every dollar a man earned. The gender pay gap is a real, and significant concern for today’s professionals, and in the UK, it’s hard not to direct our focus towards the tech industry when we’re evaluating inequality.
Females in the UK technology industry receive, on average, 16% less than their male counterparts. On top of that, tech companies inherently struggle to hire and retain female employees.
Today, a survey into 750 organisations across the tech industry found that the sector had the biggest gender pay gap problem in the UK, with most women being paid at least 6% less for the same jobs.
This seems to go against the suggestion that women simply aren’t holding enough senior positions to bridge the divide.
Are Tech Careers Geared Towards Men?
Women make up about half of our UK workforce. In America, they’re the primary “breadwinner” for about 40% of households, and in some families, they’re the only source of consistent income. Yet, despite all this, women are still earning less than men.
Part of the issue in the tech industry may be the fact that most employers are gearing their job posts towards the male population, without realizing it. According to one analytic study of job posts across all industries found that 70% of job posts included “masculine” terms like “dominant”. In the technology sector, the commonality of masculine words rose to 92%.
Although words might not seem powerful enough to make a difference to hiring decisions, the same studies found that job ads using gender-neutral words received 42% more applications. The indication is that women may be less likely to apply to positions with job listings that include masculine words.
Taking Control of the Wage Gap
Another common problem that may be responsible for the perseverance of the pay gap in the technology industry is the unwillingness that women show when it comes to asking for salary rises. According to tech leader, Sheryl Sandberg, it’s time for technology companies to start supporting women’s rights for higher remuneration. She believes that today’s female professionals underestimate their worth, and fail to ask for the income they deserve.
Currently, Forbes estimates that Sandberg is worth about £1.3 million, but even she struggled when first starting out in the tech industry. During her time at Harvard, Sheryl noticed that women were more likely to underestimate themselves than men, meaning that they’re less likely to put themselves forward for a pay rise.
Research supports this concept, as one study revealed that there’s a strong connection between the salaries that job candidates ask for and the income they receive. Unfortunately, negotiations for salary often work against women.
When looking into the roles that males and females are given after an initial offer, the study found that women set their expectations for pay lower than men 68% of the time, and ask for about 4% less than their male counterparts.
On top of that, the same research found that women are under-represented in the interview pool two-thirds of the time, and when women do make it to the next stage of a job interview, they often receive lower salary offers than those given to men for the same job. This difference occurs 63% of the time.
Age and the Income Gap
One interesting thing to note about the wage gap in the technology industry is that as professionals age in the workforce, their salary gap decreases. For women and men that enter the technology field between the ages of 18 and 25, there’s a 29% difference in wages. However, by the time professionals are 50 or older, the gender pay gap is only 5%.
From one perspective, the reducing gap makes sense, as people receive higher salaries the more experience they earn. However, this explanation doesn’t serve to outline why there’s such a significant difference between men and women in the first place. One possible answer may come in the fact that many employers ask their candidates about the wages they received in previous posts.
By asking about past renumeration packages, companies in the technology industry could be unintentionally setting women up for a lifetime of trying to achieve the same income as their male counterpart. Often, the wages of the past are used to determine the income of the future, as hiring managers can make decisions on a candidate’s value based on their past earnings. However, women often earn less than men in their first job, meaning that they start behind, and spend the remainder of their careers trying to catch up.
Bridging the Gap
The key thing to remember about the gender pay gap is that it doesn’t exist because women aren’t ambitious or educated enough to pursue the same jobs as their male counterparts. Instead, the problem exists in the pre-standing structural barriers that hold women back. Women aren’t earning less because they’re less experienced than men. In fact, colleges have seen more female candidates than male apply for the last thirty years.
Today, it’s time for technology companies to address the differences, and start bridging the gap, for a more diverse workforce.
The first step could involve women simply addressing the obvious difference in pay during their mid-year review.
Ready to take a stand girl?
About Resource On Demand
Resource On Demand is Europe’s first specialist Salesforce Recruitment Company. We assist the world’s leading organisations to grow their technology teams. Supporting companies to fill roles that span across digital marketing, marketing automation, Human Capital Management, CRM system management and, Salesforce developer, Salesforce consultant and Salesforce admin jobs.
The team at Resource On Demand have access to an extensive database of key talent, registering over 8000 professionals each year. To find out how we can support you call us on +44 20 8123 7769 or rod@resourceondemand.com.