By Aoife Barry
If you’re a woman working in an EU country, the depressing fact is that on average you’re earning 12.7 per cent less than your male equivalent. This gender pay gap has long been an issue, but it’s also one that is being actively tackled on an EU level, even if progress appears to be slow.
ADVERTISEMENTNow a new report gives an insight into how the gap manifests in the tech industry. The report, from compensation platform Ravio, shows that in the tech sector, there is little to no gender pay gap at senior levels, indicating that the higher women get up the career ladder, the more even the playing field is for pay.
Ravio found that the gender pay gap at the executive level is zero when it comes to median base salary, based on data sourced from over 900 companies in Europe.
Yet the report found that only 19 per cent of executives in Europe’s start-ups are women, while 35 per cent are at the management level.
So although women are finding their way to the top, and finding some pay equity, it’s a tough fight to get there in the first place.
Addressing the gap
Multiple factors play into the gender pay gap, including that care responsibilities can lead to women having to take career breaks or moving to part-time work. Women also do more unpaid work than men and are overrepresented in lower-paid sectors.
ADVERTISEMENTIt’s not just in tech where women are underrepresented at the management level – in 2020 they made up a third (34 per cent) of managers in the EU, although they represent almost half of the employees, according to EU Monitor.
To change these figures, the factors that lead to them need to be examined and addressed.
Part of this involves tackling the root causes, such as conscious and unconscious bias in the hiring process, how tech and STEM are promoted to female students, the division of caring responsibilities, and actively tackling gender imbalance in individual workplaces.
On an EU-wide level, there has been ongoing work to bring more parity to pay.
The EU Pay Transparency Directive, for example, requires companies in the EU to share information about how much they pay women and men for work of equal value. They must take action if their gender pay gap exceeds 5 per cent, with the hope that the combination of self-examination and their actions being made public will force change.
Other proactive steps include rules approved by MEPs in late 2022 which aim to introduce transparent recruitment procedures, so that at least 40 per cent of non-executive director posts, or 33 per cent of all director posts are occupied by the under-represented sex by the end of June 2026.
There is plenty of work to improve gender diversity in Europe’s start-ups.
Researchfrom Boston Consulting Group and SISTA found that while female participation in startups is gradually growing, gender equality lags across Europe.
To address this there are initiatives like the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT)’s Rocket Up programme, which supports women-led startups.
Boosting opportunities
While women are undoubtedly cognisant of the hidden and unconscious factors that lead to gender inequality, they are also able to advocate for themselves when it comes to their career trajectory and salary.
ADVERTISEMENTOne tricky area can be salary negotiation, with some data showing that women come up against gender-based pushback when just asking for a raise. But while there has been a perception that women are less likely to ask for a raise, recent research involving MBA students showed that there was a likely 'Lean In' effect of more women negotiating in recent years––though there was no guarantee they would be successful.
Women are also being encouraged to self-advocate in business, as a way of growing in leadership and pushing back against gender stereotypes.
The hope is that in the coming years, it won’t just be at the executive level that women can expect equal pay.
Looking to move to a more senior role? These companies are all hiring on the Euronews Jobs Board.
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