By Natasha Lomas, 30 October 2008 15:23
NEWS
The majority of female IT workers still believe their wages don't match up to those of male colleagues - despite almost four decades of the UK Equal Pay Act.
More than half (53 per cent) of respondents to the third annual Perceptions of Equal Pay survey, conducted by IT trade association Intellect, either believe their salary is not comparable to male colleagues who perform a similar role, or else do not know whether it is. Meanwhile, half also feel equal pay is the sole area in which company policy is only followed in theory.
Being kept in the dark about pay is an ongoing problem for women in IT, with 57 per cent of respondents saying they believe their company does not have a transparent pay structure - a figure that has remained the same since the survey began in 2006.
Meanwhile the gender pay gap in IT remains worse than the national average. Female techies face a pay gap of more than a fifth (around 21 per cent), according to Intellect, compared to a national average of 17 per cent.
30 October is equal pay campaign group the Fawcett Society's 'No Pay Day' - or the date from which women work 'for free' until the end of the year, given the male/female pay gap. But the group calculates this using the national gender pay gap and the average salary so female IT workers are likely to have been working for 'free' already.
That said, there are signs things are getting better. According to the survey, women in IT feel the pay gap is narrowing: the number of respondents who think their pay matches up to men has risen from 37 per cent in 2006 to 47 per cent this year.
Gillian Arnold, chair of Intellect's Women in IT group, said in a statement: "Whilst many women still believe that they are paid less than their male colleagues, they are aware that their companies are starting to do something about it."
The survey also found a bigger majority of the women than in previous years believe there is no glass ceiling when it comes to promotions, with 80 per cent saying they think their organisation encourages women and men equally to apply for promotion, and 77 per cent feeling they would be treated the same if they asked to be promoted.
The majority of respondents also feel diversity and flexible working are supported by their organisation (55 per cent and 59 per cent respectively).
Organisations looking to attract tech-savvy women should consider conducting an equal pay audit: a large majority (69 per cent) of survey respondents said this would encourage them to work for a particular company. An even bigger majority (77 per cent) believe pay audits should be compulsory for all organisations.
Only a fraction (eight per cent) of respondents said their company has carried out an equal pay audit, although this figure is over double that of the last two years, the survey found. The majority (68 per cent) did not know if a pay audit had been conducted.
More than half (66 per cent) of the women surveyed said they had not taken maternity leave, the survey also found.
Carrie Hartnell, programme manager at Intellect, added in a statement: "There have been some positive moves made within the industry to improve equality, and this is borne out in the improved perceptions that women are showing. There is much to be proud of with many signs of improvement, yet more work needs to be done if the industry is to reduce the pay gap."
What is your experience of pay in IT? Is there a pay gap and do you believe equal pay audits should be compulsory? Make your views known by posting a Reader Comment below
Comments
There are 7 comments. Join the discussion
1. Philip Virgo
The gap appears to be widening, not narrowing.
The 1996 IT Skills Trends Report gives analyses by age (e.g. under 24, 25 - 29. over 50 etc.) and career stream (e.g. management, programming, operations etc.)
For those under 24 the gap was under 5%, for those under 40 the gap was 10% or less, for those over 50 the gap was 30% or more.
Having a career break or going part-time was the differentiator.
2. anonymous
I know that a male colleague is paid more than me for doing the same job as I saw his job offer on the fax.
I was on £34k at the time and he was offered £39k. I was told that he had more qualifications but he has nowhere near the same experience and business knowldge so which counts highest?
3. anonymous
Firms have no incentive to make it fair for women, in my team there is a 35% difference (approx £15 in pay and £4K in bonus) between my pay and the men in the team (we all do exactly the same job and they are less skilled than me)and management know this but make no move to make it fair. Now the economic climate will be a further reason to do nothing about it.
Finally taking up with the union as no other option available, I have to work extra overtime just to barely reach their base salary. Who said equality exists?!
4. anonymous
I agree with the previous comments, not only is the gap is widening the chances of promotion are diminishing. "robustness" was the last quote I received, what does that mean,
I might cry if someone yells at me....I don't think so. More often the men folk are being tapped on the shoulder for promotions whereas us women appear to have to fight for what we want. This is a great topic area would like to see more views posted on the subject.
5. Cassandra
Government pay grades are open and some women do make it to the top, however there is a perception that a man needs or deserves a promotion and will be pushed forward more than the equivalent women will be. That said some guys get stuck in technical roles with few promotion routes.
If women take 6 months out to have a child this can cast a shadow over their prospects for decades, at 40 or 50 it is thought more important to boost the careers of younger less experienced men, who can have difficulty managing more skilled staff and can undermine capable female workers because they feel threatened.
A poor staff management profile but somehow we are told the solution is for us to 'manage our managers' better and I thought that was why they were promoted and got paid more.
6. Michael Hart
Its all about life choices.
To go to the root of this, pay inequality should be considered in the context of what the sex the primary care-giver to children is. If/when the primary care-giver to children is a 50:50 male/female split, then pay inequality will evaporate.
One cannot choose to spend months or years practising being a good full-time parent and simultaneously invest the EXACT same hours progessing ones technical skills, or vice-versa. One or the other has to suffer, and typically men sacrifice daily contact with offspring and women sacrifice a rung or two on the career ladder. You cannot simply legislate that someone has acquired skills, training and practical competence when they haven't.
You want proof - just ask me to change a nappy! Sure, its a frivolous example, but whilst the cause of differing male/female career progression is due to time spent elsewhere, it is manifested in countless tiny, and not-so-tiny, examples like this each work day.
To make matters worse, when there is a part-time work situation one is obliged to consider out-of-hours availability. If your reading this then you know what IT is like, so need I say more? Who in your team could work late TONIGHT? 50:50 male/female split?
Where genuinely equal work is done by people of genuinely equal ability and availability, then pay equality is unquestionably correct, but this has to be considered on a case-by-case situation. Once cannot simply trot out national averages like so may PC-people with political agendas seem to. Such figures are distored by life choice differences between the sexes. Social engineering time, anyone?
7. anonymous
I don't think (hopefully) that this is the case with Indian IT firms...
Has this survey included IT women from India as well? Please let me know!