IT women kept in dark about pay

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Being kept in the dark about pay is an ongoing problem for women in IT, as 53 per cent feel as though they are not paid the same as men.

Over half of the women in the technology industry feel as though they are not getting the same pay as their male counterparts, according to Intellect’s third annual Perceptions of Equal Pay Survey.

The Equal Pay Act, which was introduced 38 years ago, was put in place to ensure that men and women were given equal wages. The gap is still at a higher than average 21 per cent for women in the technology industry.

Some 77 per cent of the 330 female survey respondents said that Equal Pay Audits should be compulsory, while 69 per cent said that if they knew a company had carried out an Equal Pay Review it would encourage more women to work for that organisation.

However, only eight per cent of companies who responded have carried out an equal pay audit. As low as this number seems, it is over double of what it has been over the last two years.

“After almost four decades we still have a pay gap of 17 per cent for full time women, and that gap is wider, at 21 per cent, for women working in the IT industry,” said. Gillian Arnold, STG DICOM Technical Manager at IBM and chair of Intellect’s Women in IT Forum.

Most of the respondents believe that their pay is reflected by their experience and their skills as opposed to the number of hours they work or their highest qualifications.

However, when asking for a promotion, 77 per cent of women felt that they would be treated the same as someone of the opposite sex while a slightly higher 80 per cent felt that their organisation equally encourages both men and women to apply for promotion.

Arnold continued: “The great news from this year's survey is that whilst many women still believe that they are paid less than their male colleagues, they are aware that their companies are starting to do something about it.”

Dell has recently been sued by four female executives, who are claiming sex discrimination over job cuts.

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