Managers’ gender pay gap related to gender segregation and lack of promotion

Dr Alison Parken, Senior Research Fellow and Director of Women Adding Value to the Economy programme, spoke to the BBC about the obstacles women face in the workplace

Research by the Chartered Institute of Management found that women managers in Wales were earning, on average, up to £3000 a year less than men.

Women managers in Wales are more likely to work in health, education, leisure, retail and the voluntary sectors – and these roles can often be valued differently to those of their male counterparts, in energy, finance, transport and logistics related roles. These jobs may incorporate the same skillsets but the sectors worked in can impact on pay scales.

Dr Parken explains to BBC Wales economics correspondent Sarah Dickins that this disparity doesn’t only exist between different sectors, but also within organisations. She goes on to say that women can still face obstacles to promotion if they take time out in their careers and that the gender gap grows as women age, demonstrating that women aren’t promoted in the same way as men.

Dr Parken says: “While some progress has been made in allowing women to return to work after a career break into more flexible and higher graded jobs there is still a lot of work to do in this area. I am pleased to see this issue at the forefront of the news agenda and have been working with a group of employers who are dedicated to making changes within organisations to address the gender disparities still prevalent in the workplace.”

Sarah Dickins’ interview with Dr Parken is available to view on the BBC Wales website. Research reports from the Women Adding Value to the Economy programme, in which Cardiff University has been working with employers to analyse their employment and pay data, and support them to act to address these structural employment issues, can be accessed online.