Since the world locked down, almost two years ago, much has been written and reported on the impact of pandemic on women in the workplace.
Whilst some of it is positive (the acceptance of remote or hybrid working seems to be a good thing for working mothers in particular, although it is too soon to say definitively if this is the case) is it also clear that other issues, such as the gender pay gap, have been negatively affected.
The gender pay gap is different to pay equality (equal pay for equal work) and whilst they are linked, the two are often erroneously used interchangeably by employers and employees. In this article, we are exploring the issue of the gender pay gap, how it impacts the engineering profession, and what can be done to close it.
“It has been widely reported that the gender pay gap over the last 12 months has increased to 15.4%, from 14.9% in 2020.[1] In engineering, the gender pay gap is smaller than other sectors (10.8%), and whilst that is positive news, it is still a gap that needs addressing.”
According to a report produced by the Royal Academy of Engineering, the engineering gender pay gap is due largely to the under representation of women in more senior and higher paid roles.[1] The research outlines a number of reasons for this: the number of women entering the workforce, female graduate engineers on average, start on lower salaries than their male counterparts, meaning that they start their career at a disadvantage; female engineers see their pay stall during career breaks, and lose out when they come back to work part-time, if they return at all. Research shows that after the birth of a child, female engineers are then almost twice as likely to switch fields, reduce to part-time hours, or leave engineering entirely. The lack of family-friendly working patterns is reported as one of the key factors in the attrition rate of female engineers with children.
[1]Royal Academy of Engineering (2020) Closing the engineering gender pay gap. p.10
But could flexible working be one way that engineering can continue to close the gender pay gap, supporting women into more senior and better paid roles?
The pandemic, and the associated upheaval it caused to the working world, shone a light on working practices, and has presented an opportunity for progress. The UK government is looking to introduce new legislation around the right to request flexible working for employees next year, but a joint report from the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership and Working Families suggests that employers are not clear about what flexible working really means.[1]
The report defines different forms of flexible working: location flexibility (usually working from home), schedule flexibility (part-time, flexi-time or job share) and informal flexibility (being able to leave work at short notice if a child is ill, etc). Several recommendations are made for employers to promote a culture of flexibility, including providing better training for line manages around job design and to think creatively about how to make jobs flexible at all levels, whether that is ensuring shift patterns coincide with the school day or promoting a culture were working a standard 9am to 5pm day is not required to be effective in a senior role.
And whilst employers need to be proactive in looking at ways to make roles more flexible, employees also need to understand what they can reasonably request in order to have fulfilling, meaningful and well-paid jobs. A study from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research found that men tend to do better out of renumeration negotiations than women.[2] A deeply ingrained societal expectation that girls should be accommodating and relationship-orientated from an early age means that women are often uncomfortable negotiating forcefully on their own behalf. We need to ensure, therefore, that all girls and women are equipped with this essential power skill, not just those singled out for the fast-track to leadership, but every worker has the confidence and knowledge to negotiate with their employer to suggest realistic options that
[1] Global Institute of Women’s Leadership, King’s College London, Working Families and University of East Anglia (2021) Working parents, flexibility and job quality: What are the trade-offs?
[2] Institute for Women’s Policy (2011) Women and Negotiation: Narrowing the Gender Gap in Negotiation https://www.pon.harvard.edu/daily/business-negotiations/women-and-negotiation-narrowing-the-gender-gap/