Updated: Tackling the gender pay gap
My eldest daughter stuck a copy of Grazia under my nose yesterday. In a three-page article the magazine explores the gender pay gap, citing data from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI).
Grazia has launched a campaign to get Section 78 of the Equality Act re-enacted. It would require businesses with more than 250 employees to publish anonymised details of male and female pay.
The CMI has identified a ‘mid-life pay crisis’ that it says is hitting female managers, with women aged 40-plus earning 35 per cent less than men.
Analysis of a survey of more than 68,000 professional UK workers by the CMI and XpertHR shows that the monetary value of the gap between men and women aged between 45 and 60 stands at £16,680 per year.
Including men and women of all ages, the current gender pay gap for managers stands at £9,069, with the average salary recorded as £39,461 for men and £30,392 for women.
The brutal fact is that women are earning approximately three-quarters (77 per cent) of what men in full-time comparable jobs earn.
This data is consistent with the CIPR’s research in the public relations profession. It identified a salary gap of £12,000, or 22 per cent across the professional.
The CIPR State of the Profession survey published in February, sought out the views of more than 2,500 respondents working in the public relations business.
Men are twice as likely as women to say that they are directors, partners or MDs (18 per cent compared with 9 per cent respectively), and are also more likely to say that they are the owners of a public relations company (16 per cent compared with 9 per cent respectively).
According to respondents, the mean salary for a male public relations practitioner is £56,840, while that for a female practitioner is £44,450.
Results also show the fact that from mid-level and above, men also earn more than women when performing the same roles, a disparity that rises with seniority.
The simple fact is that a managerial or professional discipline cannot accept a gap between men and women who are doing exactly the same jobs, particularly as this gap significantly increases with seniority.
The gender pay gap is an issue that I have become acutely aware of as President of the CIPR in 2014. The data tells a powerful story of inequality.
In my view there isn’t a single answer to solve this issue, and it is so deeply entrenched that it will take a generation or more to fix.
Campaigns by the CIPR, CMI, Grazia, and others, are raising awareness of the issue, and taking practical steps to address the situation.
The CMI is urging employers to use a free Management 2020 Benchmarking Tool and provides practical advice to help develop female talent.
CIPR board member Sarah Hall, member Michelle Goodall and President-Elect Sarah Pinch, are leading a hackday later in the year to explore how we can tackle this issue in the public relations business.
As my daughter says, it simply isn’t acceptable.
Continuing the conversation
This content and comment has been shared via Twitter following the publication of the blog. I have added it here as input for the CIPR Gender Pay Hackday.
“3 cheers for @CIPR_UK @wadds @Hallmeister. Leaders using their positions to end #GenderPayGap wadds.co.uk/2014/08/22/ta…”
LYNN ROSEBERRY @LYNNROSEBERRY - Author of BRIDGING THE GENDER GAP. Equal Opportunities Officer/professor @ Copenhagen Business School. Law, politics of gender, race. http://www.lynnroseberry.com
“Male employees demand more”
“[…] I want to know more on why women may not ask for £ as much as men, will give this a read amzn.to/1wkj0vR [Women don’t ask, Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever (Bantam, February 2007).”
LYNNE WILKINS @LYNNEWILKINS - Co-owns PR recruitment specialists The Works, loves finding talent and jobs in internal communications, working mum outnumbered by a daughter and 2 teenage boys
“This week's @ObsMagazine column: Why the pay gap is balls no matter what gender you are http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2014/aug/24/lauren-laverne-equal-pay-women.”
LAUREN LAVERNE @LAURENLAVERNE - BBC 6Music DJ, TV writer of stuff. This is my personal Twitter account.
“Same goes for male v female speakers. Personal bugbear seeing all/mostly male line-ups.”
SUE LLEWELLYN @ SUELLEWELLYN - Journalist. Broadcaster. Communicator. Ex BBC TV newshound. Social Media Consultant. Trainer. Online reputation management. Speaker. Incurably curious
"26 Steps Corporate America Must Take To Achieve Gender Parity blog.ketchum.com/6-steps-to-ach… @forbes thanks for letting us spread the word further.”
BARRI RAFFERTY @ BARRIRAFFERTY - As CEO NA @Ketchumpr constantly tracking pr, marketing and social trends. Avid learner, mom of 2 teens and advocate for women's leadership. Enjoy life!
“Tackling gender in public relations as part of dissertation The anxious profession: a study of competencies, qualifications, and education in Canadian public relations. Rough draft, am working on articles for each finding. Insights on accreditation (p. 30) and salary (p. 36) may be useful.”
DUSTIN MANLEY @DUSTINMANLEY - TOEFL Canada Resource Centre Manager. Accidental entrepreneur. Train traveler. MAPC, Royal Roads. BA, McMaster.
“Will be submitting a #SSHRC research grant proposal to research these issues.”
TERRYFLYNN @ TERRYFLYNN - Public relations researcher & educator at McMaster University. Former national president of CPRS & current Board member of the Institute for Public Relations
Thanks also to the follow people for joining the conversation and sharing the blog on Twitter: @_MATTREILLY, @ALLTHINGSIC, @ANNETTEKSPENCER, @BOJANGLECOMMS, @EMILYMUKALAZI, @EVAMACLAINE, @GABRIELLENYC, @GEMMA_M_STOREY, @JANGRASTY, @JGOMBITA, @KATYHOWELL, @LIZBRIDGEN, @MROLIKOVA, @SARRAMANDER, @SASBONGO, and @STUARTBRUCE.
