Tech needs to step up its salary equality game

Tech companies are shaping our future. But when it comes to salary equality between men and women, they seem to be stuck in the past.

There is still an 18.45% average gender pay gap for women in Tech in Europe. What does this mean? Women in Tech earn approximately €400,000 less than men over their working life, on average. While digital banking giant Revolut can still get away with paying its female C-levels 30% less than their male counterparts.

Despite a decade of positive advancements on the long and winding road to gender equality, there is a disappointing pay gap in the Tech industry today.

This is all the more puzzling given that women are the future of tech. Not including them is a huge opportunity cost. Diverse companies are more likely to grow , perform better , and have a greater competitive edge .?

How companies are failing women in Tech

The pay gap is the visible result of a series of invisible forces holding women in Tech back. Some of these forces are cultural:

• 39% of women cite gender bias as a primary reason for not being offered a promotion.
• A whopping 46% of women say that they have experienced discrimination and harassment in the European Tech sector.
• 66% of women report that they do not see a clear career path for them in their current roles.
• 72% of women in Tech said bro culture was pervasive at their company.
• 78% felt they had to work harder than their male coworkers to prove their value.

Now more than ever, we owe it to women to create safe spaces and “detoxify” corporate culture once and for all. While women make up just 25% of Tech, 1 in 2 decide to leave the industry after 8 years because of discrimination.?

This needs to change—now.

Conditioned to demand less

Systemic change needs to happen. But that doesn’t mean we can’t give women the tools they need to succeed right now in today’s tech environment. Salary negotiations are a key component of that.

We know that women are less inclined than men to negotiate their salary or pay raise. They are also 4x less likely than men to ask for a raise—and when they do, they typically request 30% less. Women are also less likely to speak up during meetings and assert themselves.

Why? As Michelle Obama correctly points out , “Women have been told for so long that they don't belong in a classroom, in a conference room, or anywhere else we take real decisions, that when we finally get into the room, we always feel like we don't deserve our place at the table. We question our judgment.”

Women are by no means responsible for the gender pay gap. However, to further support women in a society where the odds are stacked against them in this respect, we need to ensure that women are equipped with the necessary tools and mindset to ace their salary negotiations.

How to close the pay gap by 2050

1. The Compensation Calculator?

The “compensation calculator” was invented by Github to better align compensation with the company’s values. It is a transparent and benchmarked system that calculates each individual's salary based on a series of inputs, such as place of residence and job level.

Having this type of salary transparency empowers women because they are able to view how much their male counterparts earn, which strengthens their negotiating position and gives them essential insight into what to expect and how to value themselves.

Tech companies like Glitch , Balsamiq , and even legacy companies like Starbucks and McDonald’s, have embraced the trend and are releasing statistics about how they compensate their workforce.?

It seems to be paying off: in 2019 women expected to earn 6% less than men in 2019, that figure has halved to 3% in 2020.

2. The power of tools

Measuring a problem is the first step to solving it. Software solutions such as PayAnalytics enable HR managers and recruiters to measure pay gaps at a micro-level and respond to recommendations on how to close those pay gaps. They provide essential insights into the specific biases at an organizational and employee level.?

In the future, real-time compensation data should inform high-level decisions about pay grades. Tech firm Buffer has stated that salary transparency helped reduce its gender pay gap from 15% in 2020 to 5.5% in 2021 . Being transparent about who earns what forces managers to become more accountable and motivates women in lower-paid jobs to climb up the salary scale.?

3. The power of communities

Last, but definitely not least, there are communities and platforms, such as the one we’ve created at 50inTech, where the tools meet the people. Community-driven inclusion is a growing force in the Tech industry, and we are extremely proud of helping thousands of women get better pay, or move to more inclusive jobs, as well as giving companies access to the best and brightest female tech talent out there.?

As the end of the year approaches and tech companies do their annual performance reviews, they would do well to remember that, from November 3rd onwards, women will work for “free” for the remainder of the year.

Clearly, we still have a long way to go to close the gender pay gap. The only way we’re going to get there is if companies and women in tech act together—now.

Last year we decided to create a free Bootcamp dedicated to salary negotiation, the first edition of “What I Really Really Want” was successful with 1500 attendees from 49 countries. We’re back on November 25-26 with negotiation experts and #womenintech who got what they wanted.?

Help us close the gender pay gap and share with your network: https://50intech.com/bootcamp ?