Never Mind The Gap: Women Face A Gender Pay Cap

“Recent survey shows that women face a gender cap,” – now that’s a headline that’ll stop in your tracks isn’t it?!

I thought we were past all that gender-pay-carry-on? 

We are. Sort of.

You may have heard of What The Buck: Again?! – the finest, dandiest accounting and finance salary guide that ever existed!* What The Buck: Again?! addresses the important issues in the accounting and finance industry but in a fun and engaging way.

One of the facts we uncovered is that, on average, women in accounting and finance roles earn 32.6% less than men.

But it’s not pay disparity across like jobs causing the gap. It’s the lack of women making it to the top jobs.

Females aren’t necessarily paid less than their male counterparts for the same role. The ladies actually bring home more bacon than males in half of the roles that the survey analysed. For the majority of accounting and finance roles, there’s less than a 5% pay difference between genders which is likely down to other factors other than gender.

SO WHY DO MEN EARN MORE THAN WOMEN?

It’s the top roles where the gender balance and pay difference is biggest. The roles higher up the food chain (CFO’s, Commercial Managers – you get the gist) are only a small percentage of all jobs, but the large dollar differences and percentage of males in these roles prop up the male average.

The roles that the females pocket more on are Accounts Payable and Receivable Managers, which typically pay less than a CFO or Commercial Manager.

See where I’m going with this? People aren’t being paid more because of their gender, certain roles are just being dominated by one gender.

The low number of women in the top jobs is a little concerning – BUT, there are encouraging signs! Females are starting to get paid more than males in several senior roles such as Financial Controllers and Business Analysts.

SO HOW CAN WE REDUCE THE OVERALL PAY GAP?

We need to get more females into senior roles and make sure they’re paid the same as their male equivalents (this one’s for you, employers). This concerns a relatively small number of women but will significantly bridge that 32.6% gap.

Want more juicy goss about the Auckland accounting and finance job market? If you’re a hiring manager and haven’t requested your copy of What The Buck: Again?! – hit the button below now!

*Quoting ourselves