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The technology sector has the largest ‘like-for-like’ gender pay gap in the UK, according to a new report. Research carried out by advisory firm Korn Ferry Hay Group found that on average women in the country’s tech industry are paid 16 per cent less than their male counterparts. In terms of like-for-like roles, women’s pay packets come up 6 per cent lower than men’s, according to the 750 organisations that took part in the study. That represents the biggest pay gap across all industries surveyed.
Researchers pointed to a lack of women holding senior positions in technology companies as a key cause for the divide. Ben Frost from the group said: "The tech sector is admired for encouraging innovation at work and fostering flexible working processes, yet it must do more to institutionalise a culture where women can thrive. Of course, this issue would be much easier to solve if women in tech weren’t such a rarity. The industry has a bad reputation for advancing women and for being dominated by men.”
The number of women in the IT and technology sector has long been an issue. Attracting women to roles traditionally dominated by men has proven to be a difficult task. Earlier this year, KPMG launched a campaign to encourage women into tech.
The professional services firm said it was ‘committed to increasing the number of women’ in its own technology remit in order to push the industry as a whole to act likewise. The company’s ‘IT’s her future’ programme will develop initiatives such as targeted job descriptions in order to attract more women into the company. Mentoring for junior team members and more a ‘more inclusive interview process’ has also been implemented to make the sector easier to get into for women.
