Tech sector gender pay chasm is ‘unacceptable’
GENDER equality charity Chwarae Teg has called for action to reverse the gender gap in the ICT sector.
Less than one in four workers (22%) in the Welsh ICT sector are women, and of the sectors included in the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, ICT has the second-highest gender pay gap at 28%.
The number of women employed has decreased in advanced materials and manufacturing, creative industries and financial and professional services, as well as in ICT.
Additionally, the gender pay gap has increased across all sectors, especially in advanced materials and manufacturing, which has risen to a shocking 30%.
Chwarae Teg described the situation as “unacceptable” and said that action to tackle the divide would not only improve gender balance but would also have a positive impact on the wider economy.
Chief executive of Chwarae Teg Cerys Furlong said: “ICT is widely seen as an industry of the future, but with such a high gender pay gap and such low levels of women working in the sector, in terms of gender equality it’s stuck in the past.
“It cannot be seen as acceptable that only 22% of the workers are female, and a gender pay gap of 28% is frankly outrageous.
“Action is needed, not only to tackle this gender divide, but also to address skills shortages in sector. A survey of IT businesses showed that 44% of companies were experiencing negative effects of skills shortages, leading to an estimated 33% average loss of productivity.
“Eliminating the gender gap in recruitment would go a long way to addressing that shortfall.
“We know that there are many barriers to women entering employment, but many of these can be tackled through the implementation of modern working practices, such as flexible, remote and resultsbased working – practices that an innovative industry like IT should be able to embrace.”
Ms Furlong went on: “The large gender pay gaps suggests that within the ICT sector, men and women are working in very different roles, with women more commonly working in roles with lower pay.
“Unless we do more to enable women to progress in the ICT sector and to ensure that they are equally represented among higherpaid roles, such as software developers, this gender pay gap will persist.
“Action is also needed from government and those working in education to encourage more girls to study IT and other STEM subjects at school and into higher education.”
Meanwhile, according to separate research from commercial property experts Savoy Stewart, Wales has the smallest gender pay gap in the UK – with men earning £5,258 more than women.
For the UK as a whole, the gap in full-time salaries is £8,840.
The highest gap is in London at £16,451.
Darren Best, managing director of Savoy Stewart, said: “The gender pay gap is a major problem in the UK. Despite the fact the gender pay gap has been decreasing and activism is paving the way for equality, it is still a problem that sadly will last for many more years until a more radical approach is taken by government to stamp out inequality.”