Graduate Women Pay Still Unequal to Men

Tuesday, 24th of August 2010

According to the latest research conducted by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) women managers are destined to be on unequal pay for the next 57 years.

Sandra Pollock, of the CMI's Women in Management network, said: "Four decades have passed since the Equal Pay Act became law, when the pay gap stood at 34% across the board.

"In many ways, things have progressed, but the fact that such a significant gap still exists means the UK still has some way to go.

"We want to inspire young women to reach the top but how can we possibly expect them to want the top jobs if, despite doing the same role as male colleagues, they will be paid less?"

This presents two very interesting questions. Firstly, why is it still the case that after forty years the Equal Pay Act is still not doing it's job? The second question focuses on Sandra Pollock's comment, are women put off trying to "reach the top" because they will get a smaller pay cheque than their male contemporaries?

The Equal Pay Act 1970 is quite self explanatory, its purpose is to prohibit unfair treatment in terms of pay between men and women. A criticism that immediately becomes apparent is that this is simply a piece of legislation and is not so much a policy. What this means is that an underpaid woman can try and take their employer to court and gain compensation (and/or the salary rise they deserve) but in reality, how many people are going to actually take that action? Surely what needs to be implemented is a government body specifically tasked with monitoring the gender pay gap and decreasing it where it's deserved. Maybe this is why after nearly half a century we haven't seen the complete reduction of the gap that we should be.

Sandra Pollock and CMI are increasing pressure on government bodies and unions to recognise this issue, which is great. Where I disagree with her is that she seems to believe that a comparatively reduced salary puts women off from reaching the most high profile positions in businesses and industry. Surely, those with the potential to reach these levels are not holding themselves back simply because they can't earn as much as a man in the same position. I'd like to think that most women have more on their mind than money and that they strive for these positions for other reasons such as self satisfaction, bigger challenges and more responsibility. Besides, getting promoted to these roles will always mean more money even if it is less than the man in the similar position.

How do you feel about such matters? Why is the pay gap still in existence to a significant degree? And is Pollock correct to assume that women are uninspired to reach the levels they can achieve because of this?

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