Heather Melville was appointed to the Board and as Chair of the Advisory Committee for the Chartered Management Institute’s CMI Women in 2016. CMI Women is a network within the Chartered Management Institute CMI – the only chartered professional body in the UK dedicated to promoting the highest standards in management and leadership excellence. Heather was educated at the IBM business school and has gone on to develop extensive international business experience over a 30 plus year career in the world of finance.
“…men and women could be paid equally at every level, but if the women are predominantly in junior roles – which we know they are – while men dominate higher-paid management ranks, we will still have a gender pay gap…”
Too often we hear the word ‘myth’ being thrown around when talking about the gender pay gap, highlighting the assumptions that go hand-in-hand when talking about this issue which is still very much a reality.
As revealed by the World Economic Forum, the global gender pay gap could take as long as 170 years to close. CMI’s latest gender salary survey showed that the gender pay gap stands at 23%. But what does that mean for women in today’s working environment? Essentially women managers work for nearly two hours free a day. So why is it that the gender pay gap’s existence is still in question by so many?
The answers to the myths:
1. The gender pay gap only exists because women ‘choose’ lower paying jobs
Many people assume that women choose lower paid jobs and this is a driver for the pay gap that exists between men and women. This simply isn’t the case. More young women are graduating from university, with more women entering the professional environment. CMI’s 2016 National Management Salary Survey shows that while women comprise 73% of the workforce in entry and junior level roles, female representation drops to 42% at senior management level, with just 32% of director level posts being held by women. This is a key factor in why the gender pay gap exists.
Women are entering into junior roles and as you progress higher up the hierarchy, the number of women falls dramatically. The reason for this? Male managers are 40% more likely to be promoted than women. This creates a ‘missing middle’ of women progressing through middle management and it’s this that is a key factor in the existence of the gender pay gap.
So how can employers combat this? As men typically dominate the senior roles, men need to be advocates for talented women and encourage them to progress up the ladder.
2. The gender pay gap only exists because women ‘choose’ to work part time
Part time working is more often than not attributed to the ‘motherhood penalty’ – mums taking maternity leave and returning part time. Of course, some women choose to work part time but we are increasingly seeing that not just mothers but women in general are suffering from the effects of the cultural assumption that women may become mothers and therefore shouldn’t be put forward for promotion.
The gender pay gap itself isn’t linked to part time and full time contracts but what it IS linked to is the fact that the women are often held back from progressing through management because of these assumptions, which in turn is contributing to the low level of women progressing through the talent pipeline.
To address this, employers need to proactively offer flexible working to both men and women to help recruit, retain and develop women managers.
3. The gender pay gap doesn’t reflect ‘like-for-like’ roles
This is yet another incorrect assumption. The gender pay gap does reflect ‘like-for-like’ roles for men and women. In fact, as I outlined earlier, men and women could be paid equally at every level, but if the women are predominantly in junior roles – which we know they are – while men dominate higher-paid management ranks, we will still have a gender pay gap.
To combat this not only do women need to ask for that promotion, but senior leaders need to encourage them to put themselves forward. Employers need to start implementing proactive sponsorship programmes for talented women and engage men as agents of change.
4. If women were more confident there wouldn’t be a gender pay gap
The gender pay gap isn’t affected by female confidence. What it is affected by however is the fact that typically women don’t put themselves forward, which boils down to culture. If men ask for a promotion they are seen as ‘confident’ whereas if women put themselves forward they are seen as ‘pushy’. As a result, most women simply put up and shut up.
Women need to have the confidence to unlock their potential. One way they can do this is through developing their management and leadership skills through and showcasing their achievements.
CMI is at the forefront of driving gender balance in the workplace following the launch of their CMI Women initiative in November 2016. They have launched their own Blueprint for Balance online portal to provide research and guidance to help share best practice.
For more information on the CMI Women campaign and to get involved, visit: www.managers.org.uk/cmi-women or to share your guidance on gender parity, visit CMI’s Blueprint for Balance: http://www.managers.org.uk/cmi-women/blueprint-for-balance
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First Heather Melville image credit: By Latvian – British Chamber of Commerce [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Final Heather Melville image credit: https://lv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Att%C4%93ls:Heather_Melville.png#filelinks
