The width of the gender pay gap within the financial services industry depends on whom you speak to.
Biannual research released by the Financial Services Institute of Australasia (Finsia) this month has revealed that men and women’s perceptions regarding the extent of the gender pay gap differ significantly.
“At 31.3%, the gender pay gap in the financial and insurance services sector is one of the widest in Australia, yet Finsia’s latest research shows that men and women continue to respond differently to the question of whether their organisations are transparent about pay parity,” Finsia chief executive Russell Thomas said in a statement.
According to the research, 72.5% of women think their organisations are not transparent about pay parity, while 50.2% of men disagree. Moreover, 64.2% of men surveyed agreed that women are well-represented in their organisations, while a substantial number of women disagreed (61.9%).
The research was based on the views of 658 Australian-based respondents to a survey of more than 950 male and female financial industry professionals in Australasia, with a number of respondents holding senior executive level positions (35.9%).
While the research revealed significant discrepancies between men and women’s perspectives regarding the gender pay gap, it also found a growing commitment among both men and women within the industry to the gender diversity debate.
“Encouragingly, we found genuine commitment among men and women to engage equally on the issue of gender diversity because of the impact it has on employment practices and the wider culture of the organisation,” said Thomas.
With only 34.1% of managers and 7.4% of CEOs in the financial services industry being female, Thomas emphasised the importance of reporting regimes administered by the ASX and EOWA.
“Differences in perception can only be bridged with information informing honest dialogue,” he said.