tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/workplace-gender-equality-agency-12322/articlesWorkplace Gender Equality Agency – The Conversation2024-02-26T19:01:05Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2238702024-02-26T19:01:05Z2024-02-26T19:01:05ZQANTAS pays women 37% less, Telstra and BHP 20%. Fifty years after equal pay laws, we still have a long way to go<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577858/original/file-20240226-21-g26oah.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=121%2C175%2C1774%2C915&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Men continue to outstrip women in the salary stakes, with men’s median annual salary $11,542 greater than women’s, according to newly released data for Australian private companies. It’s a gap of 14.5%, down from last year’s <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/data-statistics/data-explorer">15.4%</a>.</p>
<p>Men’s median annual base salary in 2022-23 of $79,613 compares to $68,071 for women.</p>
<p>When bonuses and overtime are added - common for high-paying jobs mostly held by men - the gap in total remuneration widens to $18,461, equivalent to 19% and hardly budging from the previous year’s <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/data-statistics/data-explorer">19.8%</a>). </p>
<p>This is the first time that the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, which annually reports gender pay gaps by industry, has released the names of actual companies and the differences in what they pay male and female employees.</p>
<p>In this year’s <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/data-statistics/data-explorer">snapshot</a> released on Tuesday, the difference is largest in male-dominated industries (including mining, construction and utilities), with a gender gap in base salaries of 17.5%.</p>
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<p>The <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/">WGEA</a> data is based on the median of workers’ annual salaries in all large private companies in Australia. The agency includes all workers and converts the numbers into full-time equivalent earnings.</p>
<p>The gap, highlighted in these figures, is the difference between what men and women in each company earn overall, as opposed to the differences between what they are paid for doing the same job.</p>
<p>While the latest <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/earnings-and-working-conditions/average-weekly-earnings-australia/latest-release">ABS figures</a> for average weekly earnings released last week show women’s wages are improving, they are still lagging behind men.</p>
<h2>Which industries and companies?</h2>
<p>Companies have been required to report their gender pay gap to the WGEA for the past decade, but until now, these statistics relating to individual businesses have not been made public. </p>
<p>New laws mandating the publication of numbers mean we can now dive deeper into company spreadsheets and find out the size of the gender pay gap for <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/data-statistics/data-explorer">every private organisation in Australia.</a></p>
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<p>This data reveals that we can’t typify companies by industry. There are bad performing companies - as well as good performers - across all industries.</p>
<p>Among Australia’s biggest employers, the retailers had relatively low gaps in total remuneration, with Woolworths reporting 5.7%, Coles 5.6%, and Wesfarmers 3.5%.</p>
<p>The mining companies had much bigger gaps, with BHP Group reporting 20.3%, and Rio Tinto 13.5%.</p>
<p>Qantas reported 37% and Telstra Group 20.2%.</p>
<p>This new transparency is part of <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/about/our-legislation/publishing-employer-gender-pay-gaps#:%7E:text=From%202024%2C%20WGEA%20will%20publish,Federal%20Parliament%20in%20March%202023.">reforms</a> passed last year to the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012, designed to spur companies to take more action on gender equity. </p>
<p>Of the almost 5,000 companies included in the WGEA report, almost 1,000 have a gender pay gap in median base earnings exceeding 20%. </p>
<p>About 350 of these have a gap of over 30% and for about 100, the gap is greater than 40%. </p>
<p>At the other end of the scale, there are about 1,000 companies where the pay gap favours women. These companies deal mainly in health, education and disability services where the high concentration of women means that senior roles are likely to be held by women.</p>
<h2>Who does this data empower?</h2>
<p>Pay gap transparency places public pressure on employers to do something about their gender pay inequities. </p>
<p>It equips employees with more information to take into their salary negotiations. This tackles the problem of “asymmetric information” where employers know where each worker sits on the pay scale, but employees don’t.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/now-youre-able-to-look-up-individual-companies-gender-pay-gaps-224167">Now you're able to look up individual companies' gender pay gaps</a>
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<p>Transparency gives customers and investors more information about whether a company is an equitable employer. They can use this new knowledge to make decisions about which companies to do business with.</p>
<p>This data empowers the whole Australian community. Any member of the public can go to the <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/data-statistics/data-explorer">WGEA data explorer</a> and search for any large private sector company to see the magnitude of their gender pay gap. </p>
<p>Supermarkets, banks, telecommunication companies, retailers, airlines, builders and energy providers are all on the list.</p>
<h2>But new knowledge needs to be followed by action</h2>
<p>While <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/UK-Gender-Pay-Gap-Publication-Research-Brief-February-2024.pdf">evidence</a> on the benefits of transparency for closing the gender pay gap is promising, it’s not a silver bullet.</p>
<p>Firstly, while this public outing aims to spark stronger pressure on companies to take action, some companies will be more driven by public perceptions than others. </p>
<p>Evidence of how widespread these gender pay gaps are could even <a href="https://www.kcl.ac.uk/giwl/assets/bridging-the-gap-an-analysis-of-gender-pay-gap-reporting-in-six-countries-summary-and-recommendations.pdf">normalise</a> them, leading companies to reason they are not that out of step with others in their sector.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577833/original/file-20240226-31-86coh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577833/original/file-20240226-31-86coh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577833/original/file-20240226-31-86coh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577833/original/file-20240226-31-86coh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577833/original/file-20240226-31-86coh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577833/original/file-20240226-31-86coh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577833/original/file-20240226-31-86coh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577833/original/file-20240226-31-86coh6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">One of the biggest gaps in pay exists between men and women in mining.</span>
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<p>Secondly, there are risks in expecting individual women to use this new information try to negotiate more strongly for a pay rise.</p>
<p>Women still face the risk of <a href="https://www.gap.hks.harvard.edu/knowing-when-ask-cost-leaning">backlash</a> for showing assertiveness in bargaining. Being armed with extra data does not necessarily shield against these other gender biases. </p>
<p>Thirdly, even if women can bargain successfully, studies suggest <a href="https://www.inclusionhub.com/articles/empowering-women-in-the-workplace-strategies-for-equality-leadership-career-advancement">pay transparency</a> mostly empowers senior women. This was the outcome in <a href="https://www.iza.org/publications/dp/13635/pay-transparency-initiative-and-gender-pay-gap-evidence-from-research-intensive-universities-in-the-uk">UK universities</a> where transparency led to more senior women securing a pay rise or switching to another higher-paying employer. Junior women with weaker bargaining power could not leverage this data in the same way.</p>
<p>Research shows that pay transparency can even worsen <a href="https://academic.oup.com/qje/article/133/2/611/4430649">morale</a>, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jofi.13136">productivity and perceptions of fairness</a> if not also matched by clear explanations from employers on what actions they are taking to rectify inequities.</p>
<h2>Employers and governments now have to act</h2>
<p>With their gender pay gaps now in full view, the onus is on employers to adopt more equitable hiring, promotion and pay-setting practices.</p>
<p>This can even bring cost savings.</p>
<p>After Denmark mandated pay transparency, the <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jofi.13136">gender pay gap narrowed</a>. Not because women’s wage growth accelerated, but because men’s faster wage growth slowed down. It means pay transparency can moderate employers’ wage bill.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/benevolent-sexism-in-startups-widens-the-gender-gap-by-advantaging-men-over-women-222486">'Benevolent sexism' in startups widens the gender gap by advantaging men over women</a>
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<p>While greater transparency of information is empowering, it alone will not be enough. It needs to be accompanied by actions.</p>
<p>The fact Australia’s gender pay gap has endured, even over <a href="https://theconversation.com/50-years-after-equal-pay-the-legacy-of-womens-work-remains-118761">50 years since equal pay was enshrined in law</a>, reflects a combination of society-wide factors, family dynamics, organisational culture and practices, and policy settings.</p>
<p>Actions also need to include evidence-informed policy, such as increasing access to affordable child care and expanding paid parental leave, to close the gender pay gap for good.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223870/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Angela Jackson undertakes research consulting projects for state governments and non-for profits focused on achieving gender equity in Australia including closing the gender pay gap. Angela is currently a member of the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee which will make recommendations to the Australian Government on measures to improve economic inclusion, including gender equity, ahead of the Commonwealth Budget.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leonora Risse has undertaken research for WGEA and made a submission to the review of the Workplace Gender Equality Act. She serves as an Expert Panel Member on gender pay equity for the Fair Work Commission. She receives research funding from the Trawalla Foundation and the Women's Leadership Institute Australia. She is a member of the Economic Society of Australia and the Women in Economics Network.</span></em></p>The naming for the first time of specific companies, not just industries, and what they pay their male and female workers is set to pressure employers to take action.Angela Jackson, Lead Economist, Monash UniversityLeonora Risse, Associate Professor in Economics, University of CanberraLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2241672024-02-25T19:16:48Z2024-02-25T19:16:48ZNow you’re able to look up individual companies’ gender pay gaps<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577311/original/file-20240222-16-7id0y4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=163%2C293%2C1652%2C856&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There will be nervous executives all over Australia this week. </p>
<p>Come Tuesday, large private sector organisations will have their company’s gender pay gaps published for the first time for all to see, name, and shame.</p>
<p>As they brace for the fallout, let’s look at how what we will be told is changing, and what it will mean for you.</p>
<h2>What is changing?</h2>
<p>Every year, the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (<a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/">WGEA</a>) collects information from every employer with more than 100 employees. Until now it has published only a summary of the findings on its website, including Australia’s overall gender pay gap, and the gap by industry and employment arrangement.</p>
<p>But for the first time legislation enacted last year also allows WGEA to publish the gender pay gaps of individual employers. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577323/original/file-20240222-16-a7ibl4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577323/original/file-20240222-16-a7ibl4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577323/original/file-20240222-16-a7ibl4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=889&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577323/original/file-20240222-16-a7ibl4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=889&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577323/original/file-20240222-16-a7ibl4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=889&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577323/original/file-20240222-16-a7ibl4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1117&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577323/original/file-20240222-16-a7ibl4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1117&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/577323/original/file-20240222-16-a7ibl4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1117&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/WGEA_Communications_10_Point_Guide_2024_update_0.pdf">WGEA Guide for Employers</a></span>
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<p>Tuesday’s release will include each large company’s median gender pay gap, and the share of women it employs in lower- and higher-paid jobs. </p>
<p>Employers will have the chance to publish a <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/data-statistics/data-explorer">statement</a> alongside their results to provide context.</p>
<p>That means from Tuesday you will be able to look on the <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/">WGEA website</a> and find the median gender pay gap of your large private sector organisation, or of an organisation you are thinking of joining, and how it stacks up against its competitors.</p>
<h2>Why the change?</h2>
<p>Australian women, like women elsewhere, have made astounding progress in the workforce in recent decades. </p>
<p>Women are both working and earning more than ever before. But progress has stalled, and the gender pay gap remains stubbornly persistent.</p>
<p>The Albanese government has shown its commitment to gender equity by increasing the <a href="https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/child-care-subsidy">childcare subsidy</a> and extending <a href="https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/parental-leave-pay">paid parental leave</a>.</p>
<p>But beyond this, the options for governments are limited. Most of the barriers to women getting better-paid jobs can only be broken by employers.</p>
<p>The public naming and shaming that will begin on Tuesday will push accountability onto employers, holding them responsible for the conditions in their workplaces.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/four-big-lessons-from-the-uks-new-gender-pay-gap-reporting-rules-100924">Four big lessons from the UK's new gender pay gap reporting rules</a>
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<p>Workers and bosses are going to take notice: when employer gender pay gaps were released in the UK in 2018 it was the <a href="https://www.genderpay.co.uk/wp-downloads/moving-forward-may-2018/presentations/Gender_Pay_Gap_Moving_Forward_May_2018_Studio_2_5_Nick_Bishop.pdf">biggest business news story of the year</a>, with coverage rivalling the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.</p>
<p>At a time when companies are fighting for top talent, it is going to make it more difficult for employers with large pay gaps to hire talented women.</p>
<p>Research shows that on average women are willing to accept a <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3584259">5% lower salary</a> in order to avoid working for the employers with the biggest gender pay gaps.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Workplace Gender Equality Agency.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>Let’s not rush to judge</h2>
<p>While <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/about/our-legislation/publishing-employer-gender-pay-gaps">naming and shaming</a> will help make this policy effective, we should be careful about rushing to judgement.</p>
<p>It is possible for an employer to be making serious efforts to improve while its gap remains large. </p>
<p>And some actions aimed at improving things, such as implementing a gender quota on entry-level positions, can worsen a company’s apparent gender pay gap in the short term by temporarily increasing the number of lowly-paid women.</p>
<p>Also, there will be firms that have a low gender pay gap because they pay both men and women poorly.</p>
<p>On Tuesday, we should instead look closely at whether the organisation has outlined clear steps it will take to improve, and how it compares to its competitors. In future years, we will be able to see how things have changed.</p>
<h2>What will matter is what employers do next</h2>
<p>Since the UK reforms were introduced in 2018, the gender pay gap has narrowed by <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3584259">one-fifth</a>, with the biggest improvements coming from the worst offenders.</p>
<p>UK companies have also become more likely to include wage information in their job ads, equalising the starting point of wage negotiations for all applicants.</p>
<p>But for existing employees, the narrowing of the gap has been caused more by slower growth in men’s wages than faster growth in women’s wages, which isn’t good news for anyone looking for a pay rise.</p>
<p>The full effects of the Australian reforms won’t be seen for some time. </p>
<p>It is likely that making high-paid jobs more accessible to women will allow employers to tap into a new talent pool and encourage more highly credentialed women into the workforce, adding to productivity growth.</p>
<p>What is clear now is that if we want to narrow the gender pay gap, we need to know what’s happening. The avalanche of data due on Tuesday will be a start.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224167/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The Grattan Institute began with contributions to its endowment of $15 million from each of the Federal and Victorian Governments, $4 million from BHP Billiton, and $1 million from NAB. In order to safeguard its independence, Grattan Institute’s board controls this endowment. The funds are invested and contribute to funding Grattan Institute's activities. Grattan Institute also receives funding from corporates, foundations, and individuals to support its general activities as disclosed on its website.</span></em></p>For the first time, Australians will be able to look up the gender pay gap and the proportion of women employed at every major Australian company.Natasha Bradshaw, Senior Associate, Grattan InstituteLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1995872023-02-09T19:10:48Z2023-02-09T19:10:48ZAustralia’s new pay equality law risks failing women – unless we make this simple fix<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509079/original/file-20230209-13-d2gtzv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">shutterstock</span> </figcaption></figure><p>The Albanese government’s efforts to address the gender pay gap are laudable. Despite all the attention given to the issue over the past decade or so, sectoral pay discrimination is very real and <a href="https://danielle-li.github.io/assets/docs/PotentialAndTheGenderPromotionGap.pdf">workplace biases persist</a>.</p>
<p>But the federal government’s new tool to address the problem, the Workplace Gender Equality Amendment Bill, may not achieve much. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/legislation/bills/s1363_first-senate/toc_pdf/2300120.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf">amendment</a> to the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2016C00895">Workplace Gender Equality Act</a> (enacted by the Gillard Labor government in 2012) requires all companies with more than 100 employees to report their “gender pay gap”. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-jobs-summit-shifted-gender-equality-from-the-sidelines-to-the-mainstream-189869">How the jobs summit shifted gender equality from the sidelines to the mainstream</a>
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<p>Much like the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2018A00153">Modern Slavery Act</a>, <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/legislation/ems/s1363_ems_c828bc87-8341-420d-9641-981a45c43fc6/upload_pdf/EM_JC008778.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf">the idea</a> is that public reporting will concentrate employers’ attention on the problem, leading to greater gender equality.</p>
<p>But will it? </p>
<p>The problem is the type of data companies must report to the <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/">Workplace Gender Equality Agency</a>, which has been publishing pay-gap statistics since being established by the Workplace Gender Equality Act in 2012.</p>
<p>As with the other statistics the agency has published over the past decade, the <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/legislation/bills/s1363_first-senate/toc_pdf/2300120.pdf">new amendment</a> requires only publishing simple aggregates:</p>
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<p>The Agency must publish aggregate information, for each relevant employer for each reporting period, for the purpose of showing the employer’s performance and progress in achieving gender equality in relation to remuneration for the employer’s workforce"</p>
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<p>This may seem like a positive step. But aggregate numbers – which in practice translates into reporting summary statistics – do not help us to either identify or understand the pay gap. Those aggregates also don’t help us come up with the right fixes. </p>
<p>To do that requires better data that enables more precise analysis for the factors affecting pay disparities. </p>
<h2>The problem with averages</h2>
<p>Averages are ubiquitous in statistics. They can serve a important service, such as identifying trends. I’ll even be using averages to illustrate a few points. </p>
<p>But their limitations should be understood. They are particularly problematic when it comes to areas of endemic inequality, such as income.</p>
<p>Consider a company with 101 employees, one being the founder and chief executive. The other 100 employees, split 50/50 between men and women, are all paid the same salary. </p>
<p>But suppose the chief executive pays himself ten times as much as the other employees. This isn’t ridiculous; the average CEO of a listed company in Australia is <a href="https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/finance-news/2022/07/13/ceos-pay-2021/">paid 132 times</a> the average income. This creates a 17.6% gender pay gap. </p>
<p>Now consider a similar company, run by a “tech bro” who doesn’t draw a salary but does pay every woman 2% less than every man. The aggregate numbers will show no gender pay gap.</p>
<p>In the first case, where there’s no explicit gender discrimination, aggregate numbers can be misread as indicating there is. In the second case, actual gender discrimination is obscured. </p>
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<p><strong>The WGEA’s pay gap results</strong></p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Workplace Gender Equality Agency's pay gap results, 2013-14 to 2021-22" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509108/original/file-20230209-28-a6yq1r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/509108/original/file-20230209-28-a6yq1r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509108/original/file-20230209-28-a6yq1r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509108/original/file-20230209-28-a6yq1r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=535&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509108/original/file-20230209-28-a6yq1r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=673&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509108/original/file-20230209-28-a6yq1r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=673&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/509108/original/file-20230209-28-a6yq1r.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=673&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/publications/australias-gender-equality-scorecard">Workplace Gender Equality Agency</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<h2>Poor data leads to poor analysis</h2>
<p>The widespread use of averages often skew our sense of things. If you compare your own income to the Australian average (<a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/earnings-and-working-conditions/average-weekly-earnings-australia/may-2021">A$90,324 a year in 2021</a>), the probability is you’ll feel left behind. But if you compare yourself to the median income – the income at which half the population earns more, and half less – you’ll feel much better: it’s only $62,868 a year.</p>
<p>Bad data leads to bad analysis, and bad policy responses.</p>
<p>Here’s another scenario. Consider our first company again. The CEO is concerned about the publicity from reporting a 17% gender pay gap to the agency. So he employs his wife as deputy CEO, paying her five times the rest of the staff, and cuts his own salary by half. He no longer has a gender pay gap to report. </p>
<p>This is progress of a kind, but not the progress needed to address the complex causes of gender pay inequality for ordinary people. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/women-are-as-likely-as-men-to-accept-a-gender-pay-gap-if-they-benefit-from-it-151524">Women are as likely as men to accept a gender pay gap if they benefit from it</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>How to fix this problem</h2>
<p>So how then to improve the reporting of gender pay statistics generally?</p>
<p>Reporting <em>median</em> statistics would help mitigate the skewing problem with averages. Unless the government demands this, the agency will more than likely keeping taking the same approach as over the past decade – relying on averages. </p>
<p>There’s also a case for companies to report other relevant factors that could influence pay, such as qualifications, skill, tenure, seniority and productivity. </p>
<p>This would enable the Workplace Gender Equality Agency to provide more sophisticated analysis, breaking down the factors contributing to the figures that get the headlines.</p>
<p>The agency <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/pay-equity">defines equal pay</a> as “men and women performing the same work are paid the same amount”. To achieve this, it is essential to ensure apples are being compared with apples. This is only possible if we control for the factors that can influence pay, and don’t lose the necessary nuance. </p>
<p>Blunt data does not properly inform us about the pay gap, why it arises, nor how to solve it. This risks policy responses that focus on the wrong issues and which achieve little. </p>
<p>Decision-makers, both in public and private sectors, risk making bad decisions on poor-quality data. The wrong fixes could even <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4308670">make things worse</a>. We will not eradicate the gender pay gap using bad statistics.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199587/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Humphery-Jenner does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>We will not eradicate the gender pay gap using bad statistics. Here’s what we need to do instead.Mark Humphery-Jenner, Associate Professor of Finance, UNSW SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1724062021-11-24T03:10:46Z2021-11-24T03:10:46ZA law on workplace gender equality is under review. Here’s what needs to change<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433609/original/file-20211124-25-vyit9w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C60%2C6665%2C4379&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In its <a href="https://ministers.pmc.gov.au/payne/2021/review-workplace-gender-equality-act">review</a> of the <a href="https://www.pmc.gov.au/office-women/workplace-gender-equality">Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012</a>, the federal government asked Australians for feedback on how the nation can improve workplace gender equality.</p>
<p>Our view, as workplace equality and diversity researchers, is two key changes are needed to how this Act operates – and they both relate to data collection.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/if-bullying-can-happen-to-christine-holgate-at-the-highest-level-then-what-happens-to-other-women-at-work-158956">If bullying can happen to Christine Holgate at the highest level, then what happens to other women at work?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>How does it work now?</h2>
<p>Under the current Act, it’s <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/what-we-do/reporting">mandatory</a> for all non-public sector employers with 100 or more employees to submit an annual report on gender equality to the federal <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/">Workplace Gender Equality Agency</a>. </p>
<p>They must detail statistics on issues such as how many women they employ, their pay and their level of seniority. The idea is that by collecting and reporting on such data, Australia can understand the challenges facing women at work – and respond to these barriers.</p>
<p>But, as we argue in our submission, that’s not enough. This approach fails to account for how challenges and barriers at work affect different groups of women in different ways. </p>
<p>For example, the <a href="https://www.dca.org.au/research/project/gari-yala-speak-truth-centreing-experiences-aboriginal-andor-torres-strait-islander">Gari Yala report</a> on experiences of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Australians at work (co-authored by one of us, Nareen Young) revealed many Indigenous women face daily workplace challenges and structural barriers non-Indigenous women do not have to contend with. </p>
<p>And <a href="https://www.dca.org.au/research/project/cracking-glass-cultural-ceiling">research</a> led by one of us (Dimitria Groutsis), in association with Diversity Council Australia, highlights the marginalisation of culturally diverse women at work.</p>
<p>In other words, an <a href="https://www.vic.gov.au/understanding-intersectionality">intersectional</a> approach is required.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433588/original/file-20211124-21-8z1esj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Findings from the Gari Yala report on experiences of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Australians at work." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433588/original/file-20211124-21-8z1esj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433588/original/file-20211124-21-8z1esj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=150&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433588/original/file-20211124-21-8z1esj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=150&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433588/original/file-20211124-21-8z1esj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=150&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433588/original/file-20211124-21-8z1esj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=189&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433588/original/file-20211124-21-8z1esj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=189&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433588/original/file-20211124-21-8z1esj.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=189&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Findings from the Gari Yala report on experiences of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Australians at work.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.dca.org.au/research/project/gari-yala-speak-truth-centreing-experiences-aboriginal-andor-torres-strait-islander#Video">Gari Yala report</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Two key changes are needed</h2>
<p>The two changes we recommend are:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>the Act be amended to require employers to report data by taking an intersectional lens to include women, people with disability, people of non-English speaking background, Indigenous people, people who are LGBTQ+</p></li>
<li><p>the Act be amended to require employers to report rates of pay, taking an intersectional lens. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>The Victorian government has a useful <a href="https://www.vic.gov.au/understanding-intersectionality">definition</a> of intersectionality, describing it as:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>the ways in which different aspects of a person’s identity can expose them to overlapping forms of discrimination and marginalisation.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>You can’t properly contend with issues like gender and equal pay, workplace equality and discrimination at work unless you also factor in ethnicity, age, Indigeneity, disability, LGBTQ+, migrant and refugee status.</p>
<p>By properly understanding how all these factors conspire to hold certain groups of women, men and non-binary people back, we can better develop meaningful and appropriate policies to address labour market segmentation, barriers to senior leadership, the pay gap and pay inequity. </p>
<p>For that, we need good quality data, so we can update our policies and systems in line with best practice approaches exemplified by the <a href="https://www.pwc.co.uk/services/legal/insights/ethnicity-pay-gap-reporting.html">UK</a> and <a href="https://www.employment.govt.nz/hours-and-wages/pay/pay-equity/gender-pay-gap/">New Zealand</a>. </p>
<p>What gets measured gets done.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1456078845782671368"}"></div></p>
<h2>Overlapping challenges at work</h2>
<p>A growing body of research evidence shows people’s experiences in Australian workplaces are not shaped only by their gender. For example:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Indigenous women <a href="https://www.dca.org.au/research/project/gari-yala-speak-truth-centreing-experiences-aboriginal-andor-torres-strait-islander">experience</a> more pronounced barriers in the labour market, are in more precarious employment, and face a greater pay gap compared to Indigenous men and non-Indigenous women</p></li>
<li><p>only a <a href="https://www.dca.org.au/research/project/cracking-glass-cultural-ceiling">fraction</a> of culturally diverse women feel their leadership traits are recognised and their opinions respected at work</p></li>
<li><p>one in four culturally diverse women <a href="https://www.dca.org.au/research/project/cracking-glass-cultural-ceiling">reported</a> cultural barriers in the workplace had caused them to scale back at work</p></li>
<li><p>people with <a href="https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/9-barriers-employment">disability</a> face challenges gaining and keeping employment, due to discrimination or a lack of flexible work arrangements.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Of course, none of us are simply “one thing”. If you are an Indigenous woman with a disability, who is also LGBTQ+, for example, your challenges can be compounded by overlapping forms of discrimination and structural barriers. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433590/original/file-20211124-13-1tqrfjl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Findings from the Gari Yala report on experiences of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Australians at work." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433590/original/file-20211124-13-1tqrfjl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/433590/original/file-20211124-13-1tqrfjl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433590/original/file-20211124-13-1tqrfjl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433590/original/file-20211124-13-1tqrfjl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=567&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433590/original/file-20211124-13-1tqrfjl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=712&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433590/original/file-20211124-13-1tqrfjl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=712&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/433590/original/file-20211124-13-1tqrfjl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=712&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Findings from the Gari Yala report on experiences of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Australians at work.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.dca.org.au/research/project/gari-yala-speak-truth-centreing-experiences-aboriginal-andor-torres-strait-islander#Video">Gari Yala report</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The Workplace Gender Equality Agency needs better data</h2>
<p>The power of good data cannot be underestimated, and has been been key to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency’s leadership and influence in driving real policy change. </p>
<p>Yet, much is missing in the questions asked, the information gathered and surrounding our understanding of the lived experience of <em>all</em> women workers.</p>
<p>It’s time we changed the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 to ensure Australia gets the data it needs to create real change.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/10-ways-employers-can-include-indigenous-australians-149741">10 ways employers can include Indigenous Australians</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172406/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nareen Young receives funding from National Australia Bank and Coles for Gari Yala. She is a member of the ALP and the NTEU. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Josh Gilbert receives funding from the Food Agility CRC. He is affiliated with KU Children's Services, the NSW Aboriginal Housing Office, Reconciliation NSW, and Bridging the Gap Foundation. Josh formally worked at PwC's Indigenous Consulting. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dimitria Groutsis does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Many large employers must already report statistics on issues such as how many women they employ, their pay and their level of seniority. But that’s not enough; an intersectional approach is needed.Nareen Young, Industry Professor, Jumbunna Institute of Education and Research, University of Technology SydneyDimitria Groutsis, Associate professor, University of SydneyJoshua Gilbert, Researcher (Indigenous Policy) Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education & Research and Higher Degree Research Student at Charles Sturt University, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1688482021-09-30T20:14:20Z2021-09-30T20:14:20ZAustralia has ranked last in an international gender pay gap study — here are 3 ways to do better<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423497/original/file-20210928-20-2wx25o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julian Smith/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia has ranked equal last on a gender pay gap scorecard across six countries, according to a <a href="https://www.kcl.ac.uk/giwl/assets/bridging-the-gap-full-report.pdf">major report</a> released today.</p>
<p>It studied the gender pay gap reporting frameworks in Australia, France, South Africa, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Based on 11 indicators, Australia received a score of 4 out of 11, ranking equal last with the UK. Spain was the top ranked nation, scoring 8.5.</p>
<p>The good news is the research, detailed in our <a href="https://giwl.anu.edu.au/research/publications/gender-pay-gap-reporting-australia-time-upgrade">Australian-focused companion report</a>, shows how making a small number of changes can give Australia a chance to ramp up progress to close the gender pay gap.</p>
<h2>What the study looked at</h2>
<p>In a global study aimed at identifying best practice in gender pay gap reporting systems, six countries were selected on the basis of having unique, potentially high-impact design features. Australia was selected on the basis of its world-leading gender equality dataset.</p>
<p>The research identified 11 indicators of best practice reporting, including accountability, coverage, enforcement and penalties, intersectional elements (such as race and ethnicity), transparency and action plans. The six countries were ranked against the indicators in a pay gap reporting scorecard.</p>
<p>The findings were based on interviews with key stakeholders from government, gender equality advocates and experts, and employers and trade unions. The report also used evidence from academic literature, reports and publications from international and country-specific organisations, and cross-country comparisons to identify strengths and weaknesses in each reporting system.</p>
<h2>We used to be a world leader</h2>
<p>Australia was one of the pioneers when it came to legislating for equal pay in 1969 and 1972, and then with gender equality reporting since 1986.</p>
<p>Introduced in 2012, the <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/what-we-do#our-statutory-functions">Workplace Gender Equality Act</a> requires employers to report data by gender on remuneration, workforce composition and the recruitment, promotions and resignations of their employees. This data goes to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Protesters calling for equal pay." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423500/original/file-20210928-22-ygghty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423500/original/file-20210928-22-ygghty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423500/original/file-20210928-22-ygghty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423500/original/file-20210928-22-ygghty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423500/original/file-20210928-22-ygghty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423500/original/file-20210928-22-ygghty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423500/original/file-20210928-22-ygghty.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The gender pay gap in Australia is more than 14%.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Erik Anderson/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The act was an important step towards accountability and produced promising early results, with the national gender pay gap dropping steadily from 18.6% in 2014 to 14.1% in 2018. This means average weekly earnings for women working full-time were 14.1% less than their male counterparts. </p>
<p>Since then, progress has stalled. In fact, the COVID pandemic has seen the gender pay gap increase slightly, to <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/publications/australias-gender-pay-gap-statistics">14.2%</a>.</p>
<p>This means that in 2021, the average woman working full-time has to work an extra 61 days each year to earn the same as the average man.</p>
<h2>Why was Australia ranked last?</h2>
<p>Although Australia’s legislation has generated a world-leading dataset on workplace gender equality, our research found that data collection and monitoring alone are not enough to drive widespread change. </p>
<p>Australia falls behind on aspects of transparency and accountability for corrective action. This means that neither the incentives nor punishments are strong enough to change organisational behaviour. This has ultimately stifled our progress. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/time-to-gender-parity-has-blown-out-to-135-years-heres-what-women-can-do-to-close-the-gap-160253">Time to gender parity has blown out to 135 years. Here's what women can do to close the gap</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Australia also ranks behind other countries for only requiring relatively large, non-public sector organisations to report on gender equality (plans to expand to the public sector have been announced by the federal government). Australia also fails to capture other measures of social disadvantage like race or ethnicity.</p>
<p>Catching up with other countries on these metrics requires re-thinking how our pay gap legislation works – this will be essential in driving widespread and inclusive workplace equality into the future. </p>
<p>In the short term, we need to make our current legislation work harder to incentivise employers to reduce their gender pay gap. The upside is that accountability and transparency can be improved with minimal change. </p>
<p>This can begin with three steps. </p>
<h2>Step one: publish pay data for individual organisations</h2>
<p>Although Australia calculates individual organisations’ gender pay gaps, the 2012 act does not allow these gaps to be published. Rather, only aggregated data for whole industries and Australia overall can be released publicly. </p>
<p>Publishing the pay gaps for each organisation would require minimal legislative amendment. </p>
<p>But it could have a major impact. For example, it would enable investors, consumers, employees, trade unions and activist groups to exert pressure on employers to improve their gender equality performance by investing in, purchasing from, or working for companies with lower pay gaps.</p>
<h2>Step two: set a new minimum standard that matters</h2>
<p>Under the current legislation, the minister for women can nominate minimum standards that large organisations must meet in order to fulfil gender equality reporting obligations under the 2012 act. </p>
<p>At the moment, the minimum standard is satisfied if a company simply has one gender equality policy or strategy in place. But having a policy does not ensure it is followed or that its goals are met.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Federal parliament at sunset." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423501/original/file-20210928-23-3v7sje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/423501/original/file-20210928-23-3v7sje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423501/original/file-20210928-23-3v7sje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423501/original/file-20210928-23-3v7sje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423501/original/file-20210928-23-3v7sje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423501/original/file-20210928-23-3v7sje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/423501/original/file-20210928-23-3v7sje.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">With some small legislative changes, Australia could speed up progress on closing the gender pay gap.</span>
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<p>We need a performance standard that matters. Tying the minimum standard to outcomes will explicitly require organisations to correct pay inequalities and reduce their gender pay gap over time.</p>
<h2>Step three: make use of sanctions</h2>
<p>There need to be consequences if organisations don’t comply with laws requiring them to report pay data and meet the required minimum standards. </p>
<p>Current legislation does not impose specific sanctions, but does include the provision that non-compliant entities “may not” be eligible for government contracts and financial assistance such as Commonwealth grants. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/gender-reporting-federal-funds-to-companies-flouting-rules-20210321-p57cpm.html">recent audit</a> found 31 non-compliant organisations were still awarded government contracts.</p>
<p>Applying this provision would not be a major burden on government procurement processes and would signal government support for gender equality. </p>
<h2>Unleashing the legislation’s full potential</h2>
<p>The gender pay gap reporting legislation is only part of a broader package needed to promote gender equality — and there is always more work to be done. But we believe these minimal changes would have a significant impact on closing Australia’s gap. </p>
<p>We have the opportunity to ramp up support for the economic security of women and we should take it.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/national-summits-have-their-place-but-what-will-it-really-take-to-achieve-equality-for-australian-women-167184">National summits have their place — but what will it really take to achieve equality for Australian women?</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/168848/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The global study was funded by the UN Foundation with additional funding from the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership ANU for the Australian case study.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>No additional disclosures.</span></em></p>Australia used to be a pioneer when it came to equal pay. Today, the average woman has to work an extra 61 days each year to earn the same as the average man.Anna von Reibnitz, Senior Lecturer in Finance, Australian National UniversityJananie William, Senior Lecturer in Actuarial Studies, Australian National UniversityMiriam Glennie, Research Associate, Global Institute for Women's Leadership, Australian National UniversitySally Curtis, Lecturer in ManagementSarbari Bordia, Associate Professor, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/876692017-11-17T06:46:49Z2017-11-17T06:46:49ZIt’s too soon to celebrate a narrowing gender wage gap<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/195163/original/file-20171117-7545-g5xbjl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Women working full-time earn on average $26,527 less than men each year.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The gender pay gap is trending downward. It has fallen from 24.7% to 22.4% in the past four years, in terms of total remuneration, according to the latest <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/sites/default/files/2016-17-gender-equality-scorecard.pdf">gender equality scorecard</a>. </p>
<p>But it’s not time to <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-17/women-paid-$26,527-less-than-men-per-year-but-pay-gap-narrowing/9159468?section=business">pop the champagne cork</a>. The decline that we’re seeing in both the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) data and the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/6302.0Main+Features1May%202017?OpenDocument">wage data</a> is more likely to be driven by the economic cycle than the underlying structural and cultural changes required to bring about wage equality.</p>
<p>This doesn’t mean that such changes aren’t in play. But gender equality is a slow burn, particularly when it comes to pay gaps. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-skills-and-personality-traits-contribute-to-the-gender-pay-gap-81684">How skills and personality traits contribute to the gender pay gap</a>
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<p>Women working full-time earn on average A$26,527 less than men each year, and while most occupations have seen this gap narrow over time, it’s the managerial workforce that has seen the biggest decline, with the gap falling from <a href="http://data.wgea.gov.au/industries/1#pay_equity_content">29.8% to 27.2%</a> in the four years to 2017. </p>
<p>The WGEA data covers more than 4 million employees and 11,000 employers. Companies with more than 100 employees are asked to assess their organisation on a range of gender equity indicators, including the pay gap. </p>
<p>Australia is world-leading in this respect, as this is the fourth reporting year for employers. The <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/gender-pay-gap-reporting-overview">United Kingdom</a> only introduced similar reporting legislation this year. </p>
<h2>Is the gender pay gap really shrinking?</h2>
<p>Taking a longer view of the full-time gender pay gap using the <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/6302.0Main+Features1May%202017?OpenDocument">ABS Average Weekly Earnings Survey</a>, we can see that it tends to widen when the economy is doing well and shrink when the economy contracts. </p>
<p>This is because male-dominated occupations such as mining and construction are typically more exposed to economic upturns and downturns, whereas women are more likely to work in sectors with greater wage protection, such as health care and education.</p>
<p>Despite some green shoots of recovery, the Australian economy is yet to break free from the post-resource boom downturn. <a href="https://www.rba.gov.au/chart-pack/au-gdp-growth.html">GDP growth</a> remains below its long-term trend and labour market recovery is fragile at best. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/women-paid-less-for-same-contribution-to-work-and-sexism-is-to-blame-study-83052">Women paid less for same contribution to work, and sexism is to blame – study</a>
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<p>When the economy is booming, men’s wages grow faster than women’s, which widens the gender pay gap. When the economy backs off, as we’ve seen recently, so do men’s wages more so than women’s.</p>
<p>For example, during the height of the boom between 2007 and 2009, men’s average wages were growing by around 6.3% each year, whereas women’s grew by around 4.8% across the same period. In recent times wage growth for men has averaged around 2.8%, but for women we’ve seen average yearly growth of around 6.0%. </p>
<p>All of this might lead you to the conclusion that closing the gap between the types of jobs done by men and women could positively impact the gender wage gap. This is probably true, but it’s unlikely to be a silver bullet. What we typically see is that when <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/20/upshot/as-women-take-over-a-male-dominated-field-the-pay-drops.html">occupations become more feminised they often lose value</a>.</p>
<h2>The good news</h2>
<p>There good news from the WGEA reporting data is that more Australian firms are recognising gender equity as an issue and are doing something about it – and measuring the gender pay gap internally is a good start. </p>
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<p>The data shows that there has been a big behavioural change among organisations when it comes to undertaking a gender pay gap audit – increasing by almost 11 percentage points in the last year alone, with 37.7% having conducted a gender pay gap analysis. What we need now is for this action to translate into outcomes. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/could-knowing-how-much-your-coworker-earns-help-close-the-gender-pay-gap-58570">Could knowing how much your coworker earns help close the gender pay gap?</a>
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<p>The gender pay gap has been a persistent feature of the Australian economy for some time. This is despite women making great inroads in educational attainment and labour force participation. </p>
<p>Data reported to the WGEA provides a valuable asset through which Australian organisations can monitor and evaluate their gender equity progress. </p>
<p>The recent narrowing of the gender wage gap suggests that this is more likely to be driven by the economic cycle. If the current downward trend in the gender pay gap continues while the economy lifts, we will truly be making progress in this area.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/87669/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Cassells is a Principal Research Fellow with the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre. The Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre is an independent economic and social research organisation located within Curtin Business School at Curtin University. The Centre was established in 2012 with support from Bankwest (a division of Commonwealth Bank of Australia) and Curtin University. The views in this article are those of the authors and do not represent the views of Curtin University and/or Bankwest or any of their affiliates. </span></em></p>The gender pay gap is declining in Australia, although that probably has more to do with underlying economic conditions than anything else.Rebecca Cassells, Associate Professor, Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre, Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/863032017-10-26T04:00:18Z2017-10-26T04:00:18ZDid Westpac just mansplain gender diversity to its competitors?<p>Australian banking giant Westpac proudly announced a milestone in its gender equality strategy this week, with half of its 6,000 management positions now filled by women. This marks the realisation of <a href="https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/westpac-announces-women-hold-50-of-leadership-positions/">a target set in 2014</a> by then CEO Gail Kelly. </p>
<p>Current CEO Brian Hartzer <a href="https://womensagenda.com.au/latest/westpac-announces-women-hold-50-of-leadership-positions/">was effusive</a>, claiming this was a historic moment not just for Westpac, but for Australia. This is a “signpost that our nation is making progress […] for unlocking the potential of women”, he proclaimed. </p>
<h2>Gender gerrymandering?</h2>
<p><a href="http://www.afr.com/brand/rear-window/westpacs-bogus-gender-equality-methodology-20171024-gz78hp">Questions have been raised</a> over whether the 50% women leaders is a bona fide achievement or a PR stunt. Although Westpac is publicly touting its gender parity, its reports to the Commonwealth’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency state that female gender representation in management has been steady (between 36.6 and 38.6%) since 2012. </p>
<p>In the <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/sites/default/files/public_reports/tempPublicReport_45e7vphom3.pdf">most recent report</a>, that number falls below 30% if only executives and above are included. Let’s be clear, while these statistics confirm entrenched inequality, they are actually at best-practice levels, and reflect the bank’s concerted efforts in diversity management. </p>
<p>But still, the bank’s public posturing belies how much more work really needs to be done before gender equality at work becomes ingrained in Australian business values on its own terms.</p>
<p>Westpac’s claim of 50% is calculated using an in-house approach which, according to <a href="http://www.afr.com/brand/rear-window/westpacs-bogus-gender-equality-methodology-20171024-gz78hp">one report</a>, has significantly overstated the improvements. This would mean that Westpac’s equality target was not achieved by having more women in senior positions, but by re-classifying the positions it identified as “management”.</p>
<h2>The business case for equality</h2>
<p>According to the <a href="https://www.westpac.com.au/content/dam/public/wbc/documents/pdf/aw/Inclusion%20and%20Diversity/DeloitteAccessEconomics_WestpacDiversityDividendReport.pdf">Diversity Dividend Report</a> produced by Deloitte for Westpac, pursuing gender equity in leadership is worthwhile because there is an incontrovertible “association between gender diversity in senior leaderships and firm financial performance in Australia”.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.westpac.com.au/news/making-news/2017/10/female-leadership-parity-a-two-pc-return-payback/">Westpac claim that</a> increasing women in leadership roles to parity with men can boost corporate profitability by more than 2 percentage points “on the back of improved teamwork, culture and engagement with stakeholders”.</p>
<p>This type of unashamedly self-interested business case argument has <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1350508409350344">come under significant scrutiny</a> by diversity researchers for decades. <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0018726711413620">Research shows</a> that the rationale that businesses use to justify diversity programs is almost always based on the business benefits it will deliver. </p>
<p>The danger this brings is that a <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-2370.2012.00336.x/full">politics of change and a feminist social justice agenda is stripped out of equality</a> and replaced with corporate friendly strategic plans and key performance indicator (KPI) reports. </p>
<p>This is not without controversy. <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1350508409350237">Researchers have questioned</a> whether equality should be pursued for the commercial returns that it promises, for the benefit of particular women, or because it is a central part of social justice.</p>
<h2>Diversity and corporate ‘greatness’</h2>
<p>When the business case is used it has even been shown that nominally ethical practices like gender diversity can be less about a genuine concern with justice, and more about a manipulative and narcissistic urge to look good.</p>
<p><a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ijmr.12142/full">In our own work</a> we have surmised that the publicity surrounding corporate ethical initiatives often reduces them to being little more than the pursuit of an aura of corporate greatness – itself belonging to a long standing masculine tradition of competitive self-aggrandisement.</p>
<p>This may well be the case at Westpac, given that reaching the 50-50 target coincided with an extensive marketing campaign including <a href="http://www.afr.com/news/special-reports/women-in-leadership/committed-leadership-required-to-reach-gender-parity-20171022-gz63s6">sponsored news stories</a> and funding a <a href="http://www.vogue.com.au/vogue+codes/news/westpac+marks+gender+equality+milestone+with+an+exhibition+in+celebration+of+women,44681">free exhibition at the Sydney Opera House</a> entitled “200 Women: The Listening Ground”. </p>
<p>While this might achieve the goal of sharing the stories of real women, it also places Westpac at the centre of gender equality debates in Australia, enabling it to further leverage diversity for commercial purposes.</p>
<h2>Competing for diversity</h2>
<p>When <a href="https://www.westpac.com.au/about-westpac/inclusion-and-diversity/Inclusion-means-everyone-matters/gender-equality/">Westpac promotes its diversity credentials</a> it does so in competitive terms, saying how much better it is than its business rivals. Here ethical and political demands for equality are reduced to yet another form of market competition.</p>
<p>This kind of rational and self-interested competitive behaviour is no way to make real changes to the <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1350508416668367">masculine cultures and structures that drive corporations</a> – characteristics of the very workplace environments that so many women turn their backs on. </p>
<p>To reach equality on women’s terms rather than its own, Westpac should foster institutional practices that support the diversity of women, rather than competitive diversity.</p>
<p>Equality is a political imperative, not a corporate one. While organisations like Westpac have in many ways led the way in putting diversity on the business Australia’s business agenda, we should not forget that equality is a basic right that continues to be denied to women. It is worth fighting for, irrespective of the bottom line and the business case.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86303/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Westpac’s focus on the bottom line benefits of gender diversity overlook the fact that equality is a political imperative, not a corporate one.Alison Pullen, Professor of Management and Organization Studies, Macquarie UniversityCarl Rhodes, Professor of Organization Studies, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/557652016-03-07T18:58:43Z2016-03-07T18:58:43ZCompanies prefer ticking boxes to breaking the glass ceiling<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113968/original/image-20160306-17740-1n2slh3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Research shows when there are three women on a board, as opposed to one, they are seen as individuals rather than the "female voice".</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Image sourced from Shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>“Empowerment of the world’s women is a global imperative,” UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said at the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jan/21/un-global-womens-economic-empowerment-initiative-davos">2016 World Economic Forum</a>. Although the worldwide trend to promote equal opportunities has also impacted Australia, progress in the corporate world is slow and a change in pace is required. Improving disclosures is a good place to start.</p>
<p>In 2010, the ASX Corporate Governance Council made several amendments to its <a href="http://www.asx.com.au/documents/asx-compliance/cgc-principles-and-recommendations-3rd-edn.pdf">Corporate Governance Principles and Recommendations</a>. The most prominent change was that companies should publicly disclose the number of female directors, senior managers and total number of women in the workforce, as well as progress against diversity objectives established by the board.</p>
<p>New research by <a href="http://csr.catalyst.org.au/reports/gender-equality-at-work/">Catalyst Australia</a> finds that ASX50 listed companies – Australia’s largest companies and industry leaders – tick all the gender reporting boxes. But while some progress is made concerning women on boards, facilitating the career advancement of women into executive positions remains a problem area.</p>
<p>Likewise, while ASX50 companies do refer to pay equity, our research finds their disclosures are limited and often do not include figures for management or the workforce.</p>
<h2>Slow progress</h2>
<p>The research finds that 26.7% of ASX50 board positions are occupied by women. This is more than the average percentage of female directors at companies included in <a href="http://www.companydirectors.com.au/director-resource-centre/governance-and-director-issues/board-diversity/statistics">other ASX indices</a>: ASX200 (21.9%), ASX300 (20.0%) and All Ordinaries (16.6%). </p>
<p>Forty-four ASX50 companies have at least two women directors, which is important to form a <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10551-011-0815-z">critical mass</a>: two women can help one another to get their contributions across and, when there are three women, they are seen as individuals rather than as the “female voice” on the board. </p>
<p>These statistics nevertheless mean that only about one in four ASX50 board positions are occupied by women. In addition, the absence of female CEOs remains a major issue: only three heads of ASX50 companies are women. In comparison, the ASX50 has more CEOs named Andrew (five), as well as Michael (four), and has an equal amount of Peters as there are female CEOs.</p>
<p>The top levels of the corporate pyramid thus remain male-dominated. This suggests that despite a growing amount of gender equality disclosures, substantial barriers to female career advancement remain.</p>
<p>For decades, a larger percentage of women in OECD countries - among which Australia - enrol in <a href="http://www.oecd.org/gender/data/primarynetadjustedenrolmentratiosbysex.htm">tertiary education</a> compared to men. Figures from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) show that while women make up nearly half of the Australian workforce, they are <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/sites/default/files/2014-15-WGEA_SCORECARD.pdf">lacking in management</a>, representing only a third of managers and 26% of senior managers. Catalyst finds that the number of female managers at ASX50 companies is 28.8%.</p>
<p>This simply means that some of Australia’s brightest minds are not being put to good use.</p>
<h2>Some solutions</h2>
<p>An increase of women directors can be achieved by appointments based on demonstrated skills in other organisations and activities. In comparison, senior managers normally need to work their way up the executive ladder, either internally or in the industry. The pipeline for managers is therefore narrower than for directors. Also, progress through corporate ranks requires a commitment that may conflict with family and other duties. </p>
<p>Consequently, it is essential that companies create a <a href="http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-014-2069-z">supportive organisational culture</a> and introduce enabling work-life balance arrangements.</p>
<p>Catalyst’s research finds that offering flexible working arrangements is the most common practice among ASX50 companies to facilitate the ascent of women on the corporate ladder. Yet according to the WGEA, a flexible working arrangement such as <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/sites/default/files/2014-15-WGEA_SCORECARD.pdf">working part-time</a> is mostly used in non-managerial positions, which suggests a lack of flexible management roles contributing to an underutilised female talent pool. </p>
<p>Analysing gender pay equity can help companies uncover where women cease to progress through the talent pipeline and remain in lower paid positions. Today, on International Women’s Day, the OECD will release its latest pay gap information for OECD countries. </p>
<p>The global pay gap is in decline over the last decade, but this trend has started to flat line in the last five years and is stuck at around 15%. <a href="http://www.oecd.org/gender/data/genderwagegap.htm">Australia’s record is mixed</a> over the years, but worryingly the last five years has shown an increase in the overall gender pay gap.</p>
<h2>Mandates required</h2>
<p>Overall, while companies increasingly report on gender equality, performance lags behind. Improvements could be made by establishing quantifiable targets to increase and retain women at all levels of the organisation, by disclosing more detailed pay equity information, and by providing more narrative around the creation of a supportive organisational culture.</p>
<p>In order to bolster performance these reporting recommendations could be mandated by the ASX Corporate Governance Council, while related performance could be included in executive performance indicators and remuneration strategies. </p>
<p>Lastly, the fact that women are increasingly well-represented on corporate boards and have started to constitute a critical mass should serve as an imperative for management to explain the glacial pace at which progress is currently made.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/55765/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martijn Boersma works for Catalyst Australia.</span></em></p>Australia’s largest companies are happy to tick gender reporting boxes, but when it comes to pay equity they are largely silent.Martijn Boersma, Researcher in Corporate Governance, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/359102015-01-07T02:15:40Z2015-01-07T02:15:40ZQuotas on the nose: that’s the view from male Australian CEOs<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/68326/original/image-20150107-1971-1kd6l41.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Quotas do get more women in senior management, so why is the concept distrusted? </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Image sourced from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Tuesday’s Australian Financial Review <a href="http://www.afr.com/p/business/companies/what_our_top_ceos_expect_in_grc2SMAQwIuAtg79nWSGRN">Chanticleer survey</a> of 33 largely male “captains of industry” reveals that quotas to improve the numbers of women in senior management positions are still overwhelmingly viewed as at best unnecessary, and at worst counter-productive. </p>
<p>Among the most common reservations about quotas cited by the CEOs surveyed are concerns about their ineffectiveness and their anti-meritocratic nature. In comparison, the less onerous option of non-mandatory targets seems to garner more support. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/sites/default/files/2013-14_summary_report_website.pdf">Recently released data</a> by Australia’s Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) suggests that organisations are still struggling to translate policies into tangible strategies – the link between lofty ideals and actual progress. When it comes to walking the walk, most large organisations continue to tinker at the edges, rather than tackle systemic change. </p>
<p>In fact, the most commonly cited reservations about quotas are largely groundless.</p>
<h2>Quotas <em>will</em> change the numbers</h2>
<p>There is no doubt that practices aimed at increasing work-life balance, along with mentoring, developing, and attracting talented women are of crucial importance. However, without the “stick” of regulatory responsibilities, these “carrot” strategies are achieving only glacial progress. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.cel.edu.au/our-research/targets-and-quotas-for-women-in-leadership">A review</a> of the evidence from overseas strongly suggests that at least where numerical representation of women is the outcome measure, quotas are one of the few practical strategies that actually do produce rapid, substantial change. The percentage of women on Norwegian boards rose from 9% to the mandated 40% within the required five years. Given the intractable nature of the problem, why does the Australian business community still recoil so strongly?</p>
<p>If the objective is to increase the proportion of women in positions to which they are applied, quotas are supremely effective. The evidence from countries who have passed quota legislation is unequivocal in this regard – when gender balance is mandated, and there are consequences for failure to comply, it happens. Furthermore, corporate performance does not fall off a cliff as a result. </p>
<p>There are other side-effects to quotas. For example, there is the so-called <a href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2014/03/economist-explains-14">“golden skirt” phenomenon</a>, whereby organisations repeatedly dip into a pool of the same women, who then come to hold several board positions. However, men are even more likely to hold more than one board position than women. </p>
<p>Perhaps the most concerning side effect of quotas is that women hired under this phenomenon are perceived to be less competent – that is, we assume that a hire made under a quota must not actually be qualified. However, this is a shortcoming of our biases and assumptions, not a shortcoming of quotas as a mechanism to ensure balanced representation. It is also a temporary problem, since over time, it proves itself unfounded. </p>
<h2>The myth of merit</h2>
<p>This leads us to the other major reservation many people have about quotas – that they are anti-meritocratic. That company performance is not affected by the introduction of gender balanced boards strongly suggests that quotas do not result in hordes of under-qualified women being appointed to senior positions.</p>
<p>As many of the surveyed CEOs noted, their pipeline of female talent has improved substantially. If this is the case, talented women should be easier to find, and the likelihood of under-qualified women attaining promotion is minimal. </p>
<p>Merit only becomes an issue for quota hiring when there are actually not enough talented women in the selection pool. This is actually only the case in a small minority of male-dominated strongholds, like <a href="http://www.pwc.com.au/industry/energy-utilities-mining/assets/Mining-for-Talent-15Mar13.pdf">mining</a> and <a href="http://www.acola.org.au/PDF/SAF02Consultants/SAF02_STEM_%20FINAL.pdf">STEM</a> disciplines.</p>
<p>Most organisations already insist that they only hire and promote on merit. The implication is that if women are disappearing from the pipeline, it must be that they have less merit. Given that women slightly outperform men from high school, in most university faculties, and through to the mid-levels of most large organisations, the argument that there are simply not enough talented women is a very shaky one. The <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/sites/default/files/2013-14_summary_report_website.pdf">2013-2014 WGEA data</a> still shows an exodus of women at mid-levels. </p>
<p>This is not fully explained by child-rearing, and it cannot be rationally explained as an evaporation of women’s talent at mid-career. So if organisations are already meritocracies, and women have as much performance potential as men when they arrive in organisations, merit is clearly not as effective at identifying talent as the conventional corporate wisdom suggests. Why is this so? </p>
<p><a href="http://asq.sagepub.com/content/55/4/543.short">In fact we know</a> that a merit-based preoccupation in hiring actually activates stronger unconscious biases about what competence looks like, and who tends to have more of it. The result is that hiring decisions made using merit as a focus are more biased in favour of men, compared to decisions made using fairness as a focus, for <em>equally qualified</em> male and female candidates. The fact is that merit is not fair, nor does it guarantee objectivity. </p>
<p>Merit is a movable feast of self-referential assumptions and stereotypes on the part of hirers. Despite good intentions and egalitarian values, no-one is immune from these assumptions, or their largely unconscious impact on decision-making. Women do not lack merit (or confidence, for that matter). What they lack is a close enough resemblance to the prevailing masculine assumption about what leaders looks like. Quotas simply ensure that these dynamics are ruled out of hiring decisions.</p>
<p>However, the blanket application of quotas can be problematic. Without careful tailoring, quotas can be counter-productive for industries that struggle to attract women in the first place. They can also result in cynical attempts to make up numbers by making token female appointments, or parachuting women into “new” roles. However, from my experience, executives who have diversity targets as part of their performance measures already engage in these strategies.</p>
<p>Aside from dramatically re-balancing the playing field in terms of women’s representation, quotas can do three things that are essential to achieving real progress in gender balance, at least in my lifetime: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Search and selection processes become more rigorous and more innovative. Companies that now focus on “diversity of thinking”, or diverse collective intelligence should take note that rigorous, bias-proofed, innovative search and selection practices are critical to enhancing an organisations collective intelligence by bringing in a broader range of talent, more quickly. If this is your aim, quotas are a remarkably effective way of forcing recruiters to question their assumptions, check their biases, and think outside the square. </p></li>
<li><p>Unconscious bias in selection becomes a non-issue. Organisations continue to spend a large amount of money, time, and effort on unconscious bias training in order to reduce its effects on people decisions. While this continues to be important, de-biasing could be achieved much more quickly and cost-effectively by applying gender-balance quotas for roles where a reasonable talent pool of women exists. </p></li>
<li><p>Temporary special measures achieve a critical mass quickly. If we are content to let social evolution take its course, we effectively sacrifice the next two generations of talented, ambitious women and girls to gender roles and stereotypes. Quotas can force our hand and ensure that we see talent in all its guises. There is no more motivating factor for the current generation of girls than to know that their aspirations won’t be constrained by baseless assumptions about their capabilities.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>It’s time for organisations to engage in some diversity of thinking to better understand whether their reservations about quotas are actually based on evidence or assumption.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/35910/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer Whelan is the Managing Director of Psynapse, a diversity consultancy.</span></em></p>Tuesday’s Australian Financial Review Chanticleer survey of 33 largely male “captains of industry” reveals that quotas to improve the numbers of women in senior management positions are still overwhelmingly…Jennifer Whelan, Research Fellow, Asia Pacific Social Impact Leadership Centre, Melbourne Business SchoolLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/324392014-10-08T19:05:32Z2014-10-08T19:05:32ZDrinking ‘daughter water’ won’t be enough to deliver pay equity<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/61121/original/z97mvqjb-1412739105.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">It's not just the daughters of CEOs that are likely to be subject to pay inequity.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.peterwerkman.nl">Peter Werkman/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Workforce Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) has launched a <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/news-and-media/ceos-call-focus-equal-pay-gender-reporting-data-exposes-widespread-inaction">campaign</a> to send “daughter water” to the CEOs of approximately 3,000 companies who have reported to the Agency that they haven’t done a gender pay gap analysis. The aim is to raise awareness of the problem of pay inequity and make taking action a priority. </p>
<p>In the campaign, “daughter water” is a fictional fertility aid to help the CEOs have daughters, as there is evidence companies in which CEOs have daughters have lower gender pay gaps – presumably because they begin to understand the injustices their own daughters will face in the workforce. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FVI7uKfsrTE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">It’s funny, but will it work?</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The campaign is timely as the pay gap in Australia has begun to increase again, with data from May 2014 showing it had <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/sites/default/files/Gender_Pay_Gap_factsheet.pdf">widened to 18.2%</a>, a larger gap than we have seen since before 1995. Although it has been suggested that gender pay equality <a href="http://www.oxfam.org/en/research/g20-and-gender-equality">could be achieved in 75 years</a>, the recent rise in the pay disparity suggests gender pay equity may never be achieved unless stronger steps are taken. </p>
<p>As the number of women who are the main breadwinner of their families increases, the pay gap relegates their families to lower incomes and resources for the same effort. The gender pay gap also means,for example, that women pay disproportionately for their education, as they derive less benefit from it than men with comparable qualifications. </p>
<h2>Seeking new ways to address the problem</h2>
<p>Voluntary attempts to deal with the causes of pay inequity have been in operation for many years, with little progress. Australia has had equal employment opportunity laws since the mid 1980s, and yet the problem has persisted and is now growing again. </p>
<p>Because the WGEA has no enforcement powers, its only power is to encourage companies to act on the issue voluntarily. The Workforce Gender Equality Act was recently changed to allow the setting of minimum standards against which employers (of more than 100 people) could be assessed, but the <a href="https://abetz.com.au/news/minimum-standard-for-gender-equality">standards set by the Minister for Employment Eric Abetz</a> earlier this year are so minimal that they require no change at all from most companies. Any organisation that has a policy relating to discrimination and harassment at work, a basic protection against liability for discrimination and harassment, already meets the minimum standard. </p>
<p>The “daughter water” campaign is intended to encourage companies to undertake their own pay equity audits so they can make their own adjustments. Unfortunately encouragement alone is a weak tool for bringing about change in such a challenging area. Pay inequity advantages employers, who get<a href="http://mic.com/articles/99898/meet-the-tech-executive-who-boasted-about-paying-women-less-than-men"> cheaper employees</a>, and men, who may get pay entitlements above those of women co-workers. Understandably, they may be reluctant to change this situation, and exhortations to do the right thing may not fall on receptive ears. However this injustice to working women cannot be ignored and requires much more effective steps to be taken. </p>
<h2>The case for change and pay transparency</h2>
<p>One reason employer action is needed is because of the way gender role stereotypes hinder women and help men. Among the components of <a href="https://theconversation.com/not-missing-in-action-the-enduring-penalty-of-being-female-28503">women’s disadvantage at work</a> are gender norms that identify leadership and ambition, and valuing pay as a measure of worth, as male characteristics. A woman who shows interest in these is acting contrary to the gender norm and is likely to be regarded as unfeminine and unlikable, which itself can impede her ability to advance at work. </p>
<p>Women are penalised for acting in their own interests rather than being altruistic and caring about others; this de-legitimises competition and negotiation for women. A man who does this is acting consistently with masculinity stereotypes and regarded as having valuable traits of ambition and confidence. Individual women cannot overcome the pressure these gender roles exert, changes are needed from employers.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-close-the-gender-pay-gap-we-need-to-end-pay-secrecy-31626">case has been made for pay transparency</a> as an important factor in redressing the undervaluation of women at work. Pay transparency is one of the main reasons the pay gap is lower in the public sector, where pay rates tend to be more public and standardised. In the private sector employers may actively discourage pay transparency, for example by including pay confidentiality terms in employment contracts. </p>
<p>Where pay is secret, women may not realise for years that they are being paid substantially less than men doing the same job, or even men they were supervising. Pay secrecy facilitates employers and male co-workers benefiting from the underpayment of women. Not surprisingly, employers are highly resistant to the idea of publicity for pay data. Publicity can be a powerful weapon, although on its own it may not be sufficient.</p>
<p>There are moves towards pay transparency in several countries including the UK and New Zealand. Pay equity was a founding principle of the European Union, and is included in a <a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:204:0023:0036:en:PDF">Directive</a> that requires all member countries to have effective legal protection.</p>
<p>The Equality Act 2010 (UK) contained a provision that would make unenforceable a contractual term that prevented a person from asking a colleague about their pay for the purposes of checking pay equity, but it has not been brought into effect. However, the UK Employment Tribunal has recently been given power to order an employer to conduct a pay equity audit and publish the results if it is found liable in a claim under the UK’s Equal Pay Act. </p>
<p>In the US, President Obama supports the Paycheck Fairness Bill, which includes several measures requiring employers to address gender pay differentials, including reporting any required pay data to the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission to enable it to detect breaches of the Equal Pay Act. The US Senate has rejected the Bill on several occasions this year, and instead, the President has issued an Executive Order requiring all federal contractors to publish wage data by gender and race to ensure compliance with equal pay laws, and prohibiting retaliation by contractors against employees who share pay information. </p>
<p>Australia has undertaken obligations under international <a href="http://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:C100">conventions</a> to take action to ensure women are paid equally for work of equal value. It is time for these obligations to be taken seriously. </p>
<p>I hope the “daughter water” campaign brings about the needed change, but in an environment where the pay gap is increasing, it’s likely that stronger measures will be needed to make an impact on the problem. Otherwise this injustice will continue to affect future generations of women workers, the daughters perhaps of CEOs, but of the rest of us as well.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/32439/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Beth Gaze receives funding from the Australian Research Council</span></em></p>The Workforce Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) has launched a campaign to send “daughter water” to the CEOs of approximately 3,000 companies who have reported to the Agency that they haven’t done a gender…Beth Gaze, Associate Professor of Law, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/316262014-09-16T01:43:11Z2014-09-16T01:43:11ZTo close the gender pay gap we need to end pay secrecy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/58834/original/4582ctdt-1410490768.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">If women knew how much more their male colleagues were being paid we might have a better chance of closing the gap.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Women in full-time work take home A$283.20 per week less than their male counterparts, according to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, which puts the <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/sites/default/files/Gender_Pay_Gap_Factsheet.pdf">gender pay gap</a> at 18.2%. Put another way, Australian women have to work an extra 66 days each year to take home the same amount as a man. More disturbing is that the gender pay gap is increasing. Ten years ago the gap was 14.9%.</p>
<p>During that time pay secrecy policies, under which employees are prevented from discussing their pay with colleagues, have spread. In a 2009 <a href="http://cbr.sagepub.com/content/41/6/14.abstract">report</a> 50% of organisations were found to be discouraging employees from sharing pay information by giving them a verbal warning. A further 3% of organisation leaders said they would punish employees if they shared pay information.</p>
<p>Keeping pay secret contributes to the gender pay gap. The Workplace Gender Equality Agency analysis shows the pay gap is largest when pay is secret – in an individual agreement (20.6%) and almost non-existent when pay is set publicly by an award (-2.5%). In between awards and individual agreements are collective agreements. Under a collective agreement base pay tends to be public but payments over and above (e.g. performance payments) are secret. The gender pay gap is 16.9% when pay is set by a collective agreement.</p>
<h2>Three ways pay secrecy contributes to the gender pay gap</h2>
<p>Organisations are able to pay employees <a href="http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.1086/588738?uid=3737536&uid=2&uid=4&sid=21104680337923">as they think</a> without having to justify the pay to employees. </p>
<p>Under pay secrecy, conscious or unconscious bias and stereotyping can affect pay decisions. Managers are able to apply criteria that have an adverse impact on women, such as using “face time” (time in the workplace) as a measure of employee value to the organisation.</p>
<p>The information asymmetry between the employer and the employee makes it difficult for women to compare their pay to similarly situated employees. In the absence of information women cannot challenge illegal practices by organisations or seek better pay elsewhere.</p>
<p>Second, pay over and above base pay is typically based on employee performance. <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hrm.1021/abstract">Research</a> shows women are less likely to get a high performance rating relative to their male counterparts. In fact, they are more likely to receive critical feedback. </p>
<p>A more recent (2014) <a href="http://fortune.com/2014/08/26/performance-review-gender-bias/">study</a> found that 58.9% of the performance reviews received by men contained critical feedback, compared with 87.9% for women. And the criticisms were often based on personality. “Watch your tone”, “stop being so judgmental” showed up in 2.4% of the critical reviews received by men and in 76% of the critical reviews received by women. </p>
<p>The pro-male bias in performance ratings is particularly <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023%2FA%3A1021652527696">prevalent</a> when women are in jobs traditionally carried out by men and the performance rater has strong gender stereotypes. When performance ratings are used to determine pay, women receive smaller amounts of performance pay than their male counterparts. </p>
<p>Third, money goes to those who negotiate better. Pay secrecy requires individual employees to play a greater role in the pay determination process, for example negotiating their performance rating or the amount of performance payments.</p>
<h2>Negotiation matters</h2>
<p>Women are socialised not to negotiate – they assume they will be recognised and rewarded for good performance. A 2003 study entitled <a href="http://hbr.org/2003/10/nice-girls-dont-ask/">“Nice Girls Don’t Ask”</a> found that 57% of men negotiated their pay while only 7% of women negotiated. Women are more likely than men to accept the first offer. Managers, believing that women will accept less than men typically make <a href="http://books.google.com.au/books?id=czMVSuPmyLwC&pg=PA179&lpg=PA179&dq=Reputations+in+negotiation+Wharton&source=bl&ots=VasFE89fJg&sig=XpoZlX-ad2QCM4L4zlUYTaSPfnI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=_1ISVOezI4K9ugTU14CwBg&ved=0CEkQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=Reputations%20in%20negotiation%20Wharton&f=false">lower opening offers</a> to women.</p>
<p>When women do negotiate, they frequently adopt an <a href="http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/faculty/pdf/Kray_&_Thompson_ROB.pdf">accommodating style</a> that is less likely to deliver the economic benefits of the more competitive negotiation style adopted by men. Women who do negotiate may be labelled as “bitchy” or “pushy” resulting in them being ostracised or excluded from important information. Being less liked <a href="http://jom.sagepub.com/content/early/2011/12/29/0149206311431307">results</a> in lower performance ratings and lower wages.</p>
<p>The current Australian government takes the view that organisational accountability will reduce the gender pay gap. The Workplace Gender Equality <a href="https://www.wgea.gov.au/minimum-standards/what-are-minimum-standards">(Minimum Standards)</a> Instrument 2014 will apply to employers with 500 or more employees from October 1, 2014. Minimum standards represent the standard expected to achieve a particular objective. In order to meet the minimum standard, an employer must have a policy or strategy in place that specifically supports gender equality in relation to equal remuneration between women and men.</p>
<h2>Closing the gap requires more than reporting</h2>
<p>Australia has had equal pay laws since the 1970s and these have been ineffective in eliminating the pay gap. It is hard to see how the reporting of pay data is likely to have any impact on the gender pay gap. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, of the 563,412 businesses in operation at June 30 2013, only 3,598 businesses employed 200 or more people. Most employers will not have to comply with the Minimum Standards Instrument.</p>
<p>A more effective approach is to remove restrictions of the sharing of pay information. The US and the UK have introduced provisions to promote pay transparency.</p>
<p>In the US in April, President Obama issued an <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/04/08/obama-takes-executive-action-to-lift-the-veil-of-pay-secrecy/">executive order</a> designed to reduce the gender pay gap. Obama ordered federal contractors to let their employees share salary information with one another and to disclose more details about what their employees earn. </p>
<p>The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was passed by Congress in 2009, meaning in the US employees subject to pay secrecy policies are allowed to seek compensation for the full duration of discrimination. This is because women may be subject to pay discrimination for many years before finding out and taking action.</p>
<p>In the UK, the Equality Act 2010 makes pay secrecy provisions unenforceable against employees who make or solicit a “relevant pay disclosure”. Women cannot be treated unfairly when they attempt to establish whether there is a difference between their pay and that of a colleague, based on any discriminatory grounds.</p>
<p>Removing gender pay inequity in Australia requires greater pay transparency.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/31626/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Brown receives funding from the Australian Research Council</span></em></p>Women in full-time work take home A$283.20 per week less than their male counterparts, according to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, which puts the gender pay gap at 18.2%. Put another way, Australian…Michelle Brown, Professor, Human Resource Management, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.