The gender pay gap is a term we have all heard over the years.

Whilst many are aware that progression has been made over the last few decades to give women equal rights to men, especially when it comes to their pay cheques, the gender pay gap is still very much an issue in many women’s lives today.

There is still a long way to go before we can say that women across industries are receiving fair pay that equals the salaries of their male colleagues.  

There are multiple factors as to why the gender pay gap still exists, one reason coming down to women taking leave off work to care for children.

The age ranges of 40s and 50s are seen to hold the most prominent pay gaps between genders, where women are being paid less than male colleagues.

This age range is often the time when women who have chosen to take a period of absence from work to care for children are moving back into the workplace.

At the ages of 40s and 50s, more men on average are seen to be in higher job roles than women.

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But why is it that women are pressured to pause or sacrifice their careers if choosing to have children, when men face no demand to put a hold on or quit their own jobs to care for their families?

With factors such as parental leave and childcare priorities being responsible for causing a rift when it comes to paying genders fairly, women should be given greater support from their jobs if choosing to have children.

Panelle’s own Yoyi Clark spoke to Nicky Acuna Ocana, Regional Managing Director for Ambition, about the factors that contribute towards the gender pay gap.

Ambition provides tailored recruitment solutions contracts to a wide range of clients within the Legal, Accountancy Practice and Management Consultancy sectors, specialising in sourcing high calibre, hard to find professionals from C-Suite and Senior Management positions across multiple areas.

Nicky explained,

“At Ambition we are committed to ensuring equal pay for all regardless of gender. We have a strong leadership team with a 50% split between male and female members. Our highest performing consultants are female and as a sales-led business, we are structured so that individuals are financially rewarded based on meeting their revenue targets, not their gender.”

Asking about the key contributors that influence the gender pay gap, Nicky replied,

“Despite significant progress in education and the workforce, women often shoulder more household duties and are more likely to take career breaks for childcare, which can impact their career progression and earnings."

Additionally, women are often underrepresented in higher-paying industries and leadership positions, and there is still a bias that views men as the prototypical leaders.”

Having struggled herself with balancing family and work life, Nicky opened up about challenges that she has faced herself as a woman in business.

“One challenge I faced was guilt. Guilt if I was working late and not at home with my young children and I was made to feel guilty if I needed to leave work early for one of my children’s concerts or sports days.

I was lucky that I had the support of my family or I couldn’t have made it all work. I also made a decision when my children were 3 and 1 to take a step back in my career and to take a more junior role. I likened it to treading water for a few years until I was in the situation where my children were older and I could step my career up again.”

The workplace system needs to be amended to better support women and encourage men to take on a joint role in caring for their children outside of work.

As an effort to reduce the gender pay gap, the UK government introduced The Equality Act 2010 (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations in 2017 which made it a requirement for companies with over 250 employees to report their data regarding gender pay gaps within organisations.

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Whilst this is indeed a huge step forward in getting companies to recognise where they fall short in equalising the rights of female employees with those of male employees, the government does not legally require companies to do anything about fixing their gender pay gaps.

This means that although more companies are identifying pay gaps between genders, as well as pay gaps that account for other factors such as age and ethnicity, a lot of these companies have put aside trying to bring about changes and eradicate the pay gaps.

Yoyi Clark hosted an interview with a pay equity expert at Brightmine, a brand of LexisNexis Data Services, within the RELX® Group, Swetha Viswanathan, discussing her job role and views concerning the gender pay gap.

Brightmine is the leading provider of information-based analytics and decision tools to help business professionals navigate the ever-complicated world of employment compliance with confidence.

BrightmineTM Pay Equity Analytics helps clients identify, understand and resolve pay disparity and its causes by leveraging trusted insights and analysis of their organisation’s pay philosophy and structure.

Since pay gap reporting on an annual basis is now a mandatory practice, Yoyi Clark asked Swetha about why she thinks the pay gap between genders still exists and what efforts are being made to minimise this.

Swetha responded, expressing concerns that pay gap reporting in the UK has become merely a 'tick-box exercise'.

"Every year, organisations spend a couple of weeks, sometimes up to months, gathering their data and analysing their results. Once they submit it, they consider it complete since the government currently doesn’t require any additional legal actions to close the pay gap."

“The purpose can get overlooked when it becomes more of a compliance exercise rather than something organisations are genuinely striving for.”

"It's not a one-time task; it's a long-term effort that organisations need to approach strategically."

Many UK companies have recognised their pay gaps but have not invested much effort into minimising them. Therefore, it’s not surprising that the gender pay gap has only decreased by about a quarter over the last seven years.

When sharing her thoughts on the changes needed to reduce the gender pay gap, Swetha said:

“As part of workforce equity planning, it's essential to identify the areas that need improvement within organisations and ensure fairness. By creating a broader and more diverse candidate pool, organisations can start to reduce the risk of pay inequities and underrepresentation.”

In favour of men, the pay gap between full-time workers was 7.7% in April 2023.

Gender pay gap for median gross hourly earnings(excluding overtime):‍

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Drawing from her personal experiences, Swetha noted that after spending seven years in the financial sector and moving up to a higher leadership position, she noticed

"As individuals move up in their careers in the financial sector, fewer minority groups and women are represented, which can increase the pay gap."

"When I observed the leadership teams within the Financial sector, I noticed a lack of representation that I could relate to. The absence of role models in leadership positions can make it difficult for individuals to envision themselves in similar roles. While this is gradually improving, and organisations are increasingly recognising the importance of diverse representation at leadership levels, it has certainly been a factor in my experience."

Asking Swetha about any advice that she might give to women in business who are struggling to feel equal to male colleagues, she replied that,

“Mentorship and support are incredibly valuable for women; having that support makes a significant difference. There’s also a wealth of information available online, so if women suspect they are being underpaid, they should research market rates, seek out allies within their organisation, and discuss their concerns with the employer.

While it's not always easy, we need to create an environment where these conversations can happen. Encouraging open dialogue can help others recognise the gender pay gap and feel empowered to speak up about it.

That’s the only way we can drive meaningful change.”

Across all industries, women should actively seek support if they have concerns about being underpaid.

It’s crucial for organisations to take action based on their pay gap data to address disparities not only related to gender but also in terms of age and race.

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