To live anywhere in the world today and be against equality because of race or color is like living in Alaska and being against snow -William Faulkner

Today I feel like writing about equality.

I had first chosen a funnier quote (by Maureen Reagan:
I will feel equality has arrived when we can elect to office women who are as incompetent as some of the men who are already there.) but actually think the subject serious enough not to joke about it - at least not today.

Definition of Gender Equality:
Gender equality means an equal visibility, empowerment and participation of both sexes in all spheres of public and private life.

Defintion of pay-gap:
The pay gap measures the relative difference in the average gross hourly earnings of women
and men within the economy as a whole.

Some facts:

• For equal occupation, women still earn less than their male counterparts (in general 15% less)
• The gender pay gap increases with experience, age and education.
• Almost 40% of women work in health, education and public administration,
  compared to 20% of men. Moreover, women are mainly employed as administrative
  assistants, shop assistants or low-skilled or unskilled workers — these occupations accounting for almost half of the female workforce. Conversely, only a third of managers are women in companies within the EU.
• Part-time work is more prevalent among women (over 30% of women work part time compared to less than 10% of men).

My personal experience has given me the following reasons (in no particular order):

• Work experience is worth less than a degree
• Female work experience is paid less than male work experience
• Classification and valuation of jobs is not equal for men and women (for example, more value can be attributed to physical strength than to interpersonal skills, or more value can be attached to responsibility for capital than to responsibility for people).
• It is assumed that women will work less due to maternity and childcare leave
• Part-time work is generally less well paid (than full-time work) and is often marginalised within the organisation (fewer prospects for career advancement and limited access to training)
• Leadership skills are often identified with 'masculine' characteristics
• Women's job choices are often in lower paying sectors (see facts above)

I do not want to go into what actions should be taken to reduce this gap. I just wanted to know from you what your experiences in this field are. Have you experienced this in your work, sector and country? How?

Thanks for your comments.

Resources:
Tackling the pay gap between women and men
Best and Worst State Economies for Women - 2006
EU gender pay gap 'not narrowing'
Council of Europe - Equality

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