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To find out more about the gender pay gap, Bored Panda spoke with Dr. Audrey Tang, a chartered psychologist, media spokesperson and author of multiple books, including "Be A Great Manager Now", "The Leader's Guide to Mindfulness," and "The Leader's Guide to Resilience,” who happily shared some interesting insights about it. Prior to discussing the topic, Tang noted a few illuminating things.
First, “in grand slam tennis since 2007, the prize money is the same for men as women (women still play fewer sets),” she said. And second, “when it comes to paying, sometimes we DO need to take into account experience and caliber, not just gender,” Tang argues.
Having said that, Tang agreed that it is certainly a fair argument that women may not have had the same opportunity as men to build that quality and experience.
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Tang argues that “while we like to talk of 'meritocracy' - reward based on effort, the myth, as Sandel and many other writers propose, is that we do not all START from the same position.”
The book author and development coach argues that “a female who gets AAD in her exams but has only had one chance to do it, and was expected to care for her siblings and do a part-time job, could be seen as 'not as accomplished' as a male with AAC but who took his C grade twice to bump it up, had no other commitments and private tutoring.” Tang argues that only when the start line and obstacles are the same will it ever be a real meritocracy.
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Meanwhile, “women still have care demands placed on them more often than men, and often when it comes to one person staying to look after the children, it's often the woman as she's 'paid less'...” Tang wonders if that is a vicious cycle, “in part propagated by the above?”
At the same time, while there are often bio, psych and social reasons to explain most questions, in this case, we want to ignore biology, Tang said. “But socially, women still have expectations on them that they will take lower paid and part-time jobs (in fact, HMRC statistics show that furlough affected more women than men) and shoulder the child-rearing responsibilities. It is relatively recently we've moved to shared parental leave allowing parents to work out what suits them best... And going some way to remove any unconscious bias for employers that a woman is more likely to take time off for children,” Tang explained.
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And this is not just a social aspect; culturally, too, there may be certain behaviors expected of women. “These can be hard to break, especially if one loves their family and wants to retain their support and favor.”
“As such, psychological women may believe that this is the way and may also be less willing to ask for pay rises. Further research suggests that women are less likely to apply for a job where they don't meet all criteria (but could learn) compared to men,” Tang explained.
Tang also quoted an accountant, Kara Curtayne, who supports small businesses: “she'd like to see the end of women calling their business 'side hustles.' They ARE businesses and that shift psychologically may help them assert their value.”
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To bring in some statistics, the ONS found that the gender pay gap in the UK in April 2021 was 7.9%, which was a downward trend from 9.0% in April 2019, but longer-term trends were not considered in this report. The ONS also noted that there was a larger difference in the pay gap "between employees aged 40 and over and those aged below 40" for those in full-time work, and it is noted in the Equality and Human Rights Research report in 2017 that London's gender pay gap is less compared to the rest of the country.
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According to Tang, the biggest challenge is that the playing field is simply not the same for men and women. “Regardless whether we tackle discrimination and bias, if a family wishes to have children, it is the woman who has to carry the child, which can bring its own interruptions to work (whether she would want this or not).”
She added that similarly, menopause will also bring its own challenges with women saying it feels like "my body has let me down." Tang quoted Diane Danzebrink from Menopause Support UK who says that “she has counselled women who have chosen to give up jobs they loved and were extremely successful in because of the physical effects of the menopause.”
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Once I settled into the job, it is way less stress than my last one.
Tang continued by noting that we also have to look at historical context where men were seen as the people to "do business with." “Relating to women's health, a Radio 4 program interviewed a woman who said her GP discussed HER care with her husband rather than her, while she was still in the room... the challenge is not simply about overhauling archaic procedures, but also with changing the mindsets which have been established through many years of behaving in a certain way.”