Employers who can reimagine traditional gender roles in their workplaces will play an important role in reducing Australia’s gender pay gap.
That’s according to Director of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) Mary Wooldridge, as the organisation releases its Gender Equity Insights 2022 report with Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC).
If employers across industries in Australia ensured 40 per cent of their employees were women, the nation’s gender pay gap would narrow by more than a third. That’s one of the major findings of the report, which looked at how much gender pay gaps would change if workforces were more gender balanced.
The report is the first of its kind, drawing on insights from postcode level location data that was voluntarily reported by employers to WGEA in the 2020-21 reporting period.
Professor Alan Duncan, one of the report’s authors, said the report highlights the need to increase the share of women working in male-dominated occupations, as well as increasing the share of men in female-dominated occupations.
“We need to see an increase in the share of women in leadership positions from CEO through to executive manager, in roles in the professional, scientific, technical and trades sectors, and a rise in the share of men working in health, community and social services,” Professor Duncan said.
“We also need to reflect on whether the salaries paid to health care, social assistance and community sector workers adequately reflect the true value of their contribution to society.”
Western Australia has the largest gender pay gap
Western Australia has the largest gender pay gap of any state or territory in the country, with an average salary difference of 32.1 per cent, or $41,410, in remuneration between men and women.
The report found that this gap would halve in Western Australia if a 40:40:20 gender balance was achieved across all industries in the state. 40:40:20 refers to a workplace make-up of 40 per cent men, 40 per cent women, 20 per cent any gender.
“We found the gender pay gap was wider in states where more men were employed in higher paying jobs in the highest-paying industries, such as mining and construction,” Professor Duncan said.
“We also found women made up a lesser percentage of the workforce for key industries in those states, including only 16 per cent of the construction sector workforce in WA, compared to 31 per cent in Victoria and 27 per cent in New South Wales.
“On the other hand, we found women made up 80 per cent of the workforce in the health care and social assistance sector, and two thirds of workers in the education and training sector. The evidence indicates that women don’t have the same opportunities to earn higher wages as their male colleagues.”
Employers have a role to play in reducing the gender pay gap
WGEA Director Mary Wooldridge said the report was important because it provides a deeper, location-based analysis of the gender pay gap, and it makes clear that employers have a significant role to play.
“What we can see with this analysis is that without clear and actionable gender strategies and targets for improvement, progress on gender equality will stall,” Wooldridge said.
“Employers who reimagine traditionally gendered roles are reaping the benefits of larger and more diverse recruitment pools, improvements in productivity and profitability and reductions in the gender pay gap.
“Further, Australia has one of the most highly gender-segregated industrial structures in the developed world. We need to actively challenge gender stereotypes, including those that start informing our children from an early age, to realise improved gender balance across industries and occupations.”
The report also shows the gender pay gap is higher in remote areas, compared to major cities, with men on average being paid $17,8000 more than women in very remote areas.
The pay gap also grows for women as they get older, with women aged 55 and over facing larger differences in remuneration. In the construction sector, renumeration for men and women diverges from the age of 20, with the gap rising to more than 35 per cent after the age of 45. In education, the pay gap favours women up until the age of 30, with men then earning more than women on average at older ages.
Co-author Dr Silvia Salazar said the data raises questions about the values employers put on work.
“The data shows that gender pay gaps increased for older age female workers, as well as for women working in remote and very remote areas across Australia,” Dr Salazar said.
“These findings raise some important questions about the value that businesses put on the work and contributions of women in older age cohorts compared to men at the same age. It also highlights the impact of the gender inequalities for salary caused by the challenges that women face in accessing the same higher paying roles in the same industry sectors as men.
“It is inevitable that gender pay gaps will persist if more women continue to work in lower paid industry sectors and jobs, and men are employed in higher concentrations in sectors that pay high salaries.”
What can employers do differently?
In the report’s foreword, Wooldridge mentioned a range of measures employers can take to get more women and men into their workforces.
“Employers can attract both women and men to their workforces by de-biasing and degendering processes for recruitment, retention, promotion, and pay as well as thinking innovatively about opportunities for training and upskilling,” she wrote.
“Workplace cultures that are supportive of gender-neutral flexible working arrangements and all employees with caring responsibilities are also key.
“Importantly, employers must analyse the data within their organisations and industries and set targets to achieve change. Research tells us that targets work. Clear, realistic, timebound targets set in motion the process and framework for achieving gender equality outcomes.”
Professor Duncan said the report invited solutions to break down barriers faced by women.
“Gender composition differences across different industries and sectors is not a justifiable explanation for high gender pay gaps. Instead, this report shines a spotlight on the impact of gender inequalities in terms of pay and most importantly the challenges women face in accessing the same higher-paying roles in the same industries as men,” Professor Duncan said.
“Businesses can take action to level the playing field for women within their organisations or for those looking to join the workforce by ensuring effective policies and practices related to recruitment, retention and promotion are in place to promote gender equality opportunities for women across all industries.
“These include a positive attitude towards flexible work, support for people with family and care responsibilities, specific targeted policies to eradicate sexual harassment and promote greater respect at work, and support measures to assist people experiencing family and domestic violence.”