The

pay gap, time to get real no?

By Dr Rod Gutierrez

Let me start by stating that I have two teenage daughters and so I have
a vested interest to see this issue resolved in my lifetime. And
international womens day is a good day as any to post this article.

The problem

In simple terms, Nature has deployed great physiological ingenuity to

make sure that the earth is populated by roughly equal numbers of
males and females noting that there can be complex issues pertaining


to the gender identity question that are beyond the scope of this
article.

Our social structures and cultural norming have determined that the
work that women do, in economic terms, is viewed as fundamentally
less valuable than that of men. Currently, the national gender pay gap
is at 16% and has lingered between 15% and 19% for the past 2
decades (Gender Pay Gap Statistics 2017, Australian Government
Workplace, Gender Equality Agency). And indeed that their
representation in senior jobs, appointment and high places is also less
than that of men. Statistics show that women hold 14.2% of chair
positions, 23.6% of directorships, and 15.4% of CEOs (Gender
workplace statistics at a glance 2016, Australian Government
Workplace, Gender Equality Agency). Further the total number of
women in parliament is 32%, albeit this has risen slightly (The
Gender Composition of the 45th parliament, 2016 Parliament of
Australia). Whilst the number of women appointed to professorial
positions in our universities is fractional to that of men.

The solution?

Lets get all those very powerful men who maintain the status quo to
be on the side of equality; lets make them male champions of
change because the solution is to have the powerful on your side
right? And whilst some executives may feel enlightened and good
about themselves, little has come of these types of initiatives. Women
still remain disadvantaged in just about every measure of equivalence.

An alternative is perhaps to invest in some unconscious bias training.

These are designed to unpick some of our inbuilt cognitive errors


which lead to people of all descriptions including women becoming

seen as other. Because its well established of course, that you can
change the social order by making people aware of their shortcomings
with information and neurocognitive factoids, or is it? Nothing like
some training to make us feel good about doing something. Random
acts of activity continue to get in the way of making real change.

Others go for a more corporate approach. Lets form an equity and

access committee! Or even better, build a whole function under HR
called Diversity Inclusion and Equity, or Equity Inclusion and
Diversity or some anagram of that. Maybe even bring in some DI
consultants to work with the executive and figure out a 5-year strategy
where gender pay gaps can be folded into all other diversity topics
like employing people who think, look and act differently into the
organisation; and of course provide due supportive rhetoric, of the lip
service variety, to the minority of focus for today [insert minority
name here].

Alternatively, we can run quasi-marketing social media campaigns

and have people post pictures of themselves holding signs, telling the
already bold to be bolder; and bring about change by the magical
virtue of the collective, yet tokenistic will of a hashtag on the internet.

Or just make it happen and let it be so?

Then there is this. Let's stop talking about it. Stop saying this is an
issue. Stop stalling. Stop. And enact real pay equality measures that in
three years sees men and women doing similar jobs get paid
equivalently in your organisation. Paying women, the same as men
will cost businesses money, this is the reality that we all need to face


and is what lies at the very centre of this debate. And before we go
and get busy working out the ROI, lets remember why we are doing
it. First and foremost, we should do it because its fair and its right.
Same pay for same work is not a difficult concept; yet we have
managed to muddle it beyond our comprehension, conveniently
inhibiting progress in the process.

References:

Gender Pay Gap Statistics 2017, Australian Government

Workplace, Gender Equality
Agency, https://www.wgea.gov.au/sites/default/files/Gender_Pay_Ga
p_Factsheet.pdf

Gender workplace statistics at a glance 2016, Australian

Government Workplace, Gender Equality Agency,

http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Department
s/Parliamentary_Library/FlagPost/2016/August/The_gender_composi
tion_of_the_45th_parliament

Gender workplace statistics at a glance 2016, Australian Government

Workplace, Gender Equality
Agency, https://www.wgea.gov.au/sites/default/files/Stats_at_a_Glan
ce.pdf





About Dr Rod Gutierrez

Across the continents, Rod has collaborated with clients in the fields of: financial services,
insurance, oil and gas, mining and resources, government as well as rail, engineering and
FMCG. Through his work, he has designed strategies and implementation programs to
undertake results-driven business improvement, while at the same time addressing people
challenges associated with business transformation. In addition, he has provided executive
coaching and advice to senior leaders for over 15 years. Until recently, he was Global Leader
for Capability, Culture and Change Management at the DuPont Corporation. Rod Currently
Leads consulting for LHH.

Rod holds undergraduate qualifications in psychology from the University of Newcastle as

well as a PhD from Sydney University. He is a full member of the Australian and American
Psychological Societies, the Australian Human Resources Institute as well as the
International Society for Coaching Psychology.