Gender Pay Gap Still High As Men Continue To Dominate

Gender gap in India has narrowed only by one percent from 20 percent in 2017, according to the 'Monster salary Index' for 2018, highlighting the key aspects around gender pay gap in light of International Women’s Day.

Monster Salary Index- Gender pay gap

The survey data from 2018 indicates that the current gender pay gap in India stands at 19 percent where men (Rs 242.49) earned Rs 46.19 more in comparison to women (Rs 196.3). 

Gender pay gap and tenure: 

The gender pay gap for tenure groups 0-2 years and 3-5 years remains moderate, with females earning respectively 3 percent and 5 percent less than male workers; however, the gender pay gap widens to 10 percent with 6-10 years of experience and a further 15 percent in the 10+ years tenure.

Abhijeet Mukherjee, CEO, Monster.com, APAC & Gulf said, “The narrowing of the gender pay gap by just one percent is not just a cause for concern, but a reminder to genuinely introspect if we are doing enough. It becomes pivotal to galvanize forces across corporates and industries to work towards gender pay parity.’’

Paulien Osse, Director WageIndicator Foundation said, “Our intent through this extensive research is to empower recruiters and job seekers to analyze salaries from the prism of gender. It is a credible platform that provides views across a broad spectrum of industry domains, experience as well as functional groups.”

Women of India Inc. survey

Another survey by Monster.com aimed at understanding the working women of India and their workplace concerns broadly was categorized under the parameters of- diversity, career growth, and safety from over 3000 working women and men. 

We feel stark discrimination at work 

As high as 60 percent of the working women felt that they are discriminated at work. The most notable form of discrimination is the perception that women are less serious about work once they are married (47 percent). About 46 percent of women feel that maternity leads to a perception that they will quit, while the same percentage of women also believe that there is a notion that women can’t put the same number of hours as men.

It’s not just need-based, women have a desire to work

In terms of the reasons to work, more than half of the women respondents are driven by the desire to work, rather than a need. Collectively, over 50 percent of women say their main reason to work is personal fulfillment and inclination to contribute to family income.

Top guys need to walk the talk

Majority of the respondents at 68 percent (which includes both women and men) feel that gender parity needs to be a top priority for their organizations. However, over one-third of the working women feel that even if it is the top priority for senior management, they do not walk the talk. 

Another notable point is that 72 percent of men advocate that both men and women should receive equal opportunities in the workplace. Over one-third of men also feel that organizations should put more efforts towards gender diversity.

Maternity: Career-break or career-brake?

Men and women feel that policy intervention like the Maternity Bill gives ample time to new mothers to adjust to their new life and return to work without impacting their careers. However, India Inc. still falls behind when it comes to providing additional support for women who are coming back after their maternity leave as 53.17 percent of women confirm that their organization does not offer flexible work structure. Notably, 'lack of proper childcare' emerged as one of the key top challenges for both women and men.

Men are talking about gender equality

What’s been an eye-opener is that 51 percent of men confirm that they can be effective advocates for change for gender initiative programs at the workplace. However, almost 44 percent of women feel that men are gender-equality allies only in private (and not in public) because they fear being judged by their male peers. About 38 percent of women also feel that men simply don’t know what to say or do when it comes to addressing issues of gender equality.

Rajguru Tandon

BW Reporters The author is a correspondent with BW Businessworld with keen interest in HR and employee welfare.