Blog: It is not about gender, but about career breaks

Diversity

It is not about gender, but about career breaks

Organizations are willing to pay higher for women candidates, but the wage gap remains
It is not about gender, but about career breaks

Few weeks ago, I wrote a post on Why Women Get Paid Less than Men. I was very excited about the post and thought even our readers would be. But, they were not. I started a new set of posts on LinkedIn and Twitter to provoke readers by asking them if somebody noticed and cared about the pay difference between men and women. In some sectors like IT, it is as much as 34 per cent. Many professionals joined the conversation on social media, bringing in focus some pretty good points. Here is a snapshot of some of the conversations from Twitter:

No Wage Discrimination on Hiring

The great news is that the community feels there is no wage discrimination in hiring and any disparity internally has been corrected. See @JoyAndLife & @SiddharthNagpal conversation

Gurprriet Siingh ‏@JoyAndLife
@Ester_Matters @Subeer @siddharthnagpal I have done a lot of hiring myself and have not seen wage discrimination practiced In India. Inherited legacies also were mkt corrected to be equal to band without any gender bias. Not as common in India I believe.

Siddharth Nagpal ‏@siddharthnagpal  
@JoyAndLife @Ester_Matters @Subeer @kurian_anu Completely agree! In certain cases orgns are ready to pay higher for women candidates

But wage gap is real

@Subeer shares that the reality at the ground level shows that there is a wage gap.

Subeer Bakshi ‏@Subeer  
@JoyAndLife @Ester_Matters intentions r noble, but the wage gap is real. Depends on how u measure. @siddharthnagpal.
Hiring ranges are same, but compare for age and women r behind.
Nobody consciously discriminates, but thr is a financial penalty for having children

It is not about gender, it is about career breaks

So I asked the group if we are talking about gender or about life choices. Do women get paid less just because they take career breaks?

Ester Martinez ‏@Ester_Matters  
@Subeer @JoyAndLife @siddharthnagpal @kurian_anu so it is not about women and men - is about career breaks?

Siddharth Nagpal ‏@siddharthnagpal  
@Ester_Matters @Subeer @JoyAndLife 1. Choice of career (pink-collar vs STEM) 2. Mommy penalty 3. Need for flexibility

Gurprriet Siingh ‏@JoyAndLife  
@Ester_Matters @Subeer @siddharthnagpal If a man took a career break, would they have the same gap?

Siddharth Nagpal ‏@siddharthnagpal  
@JoyAndLife @Ester_Matters @Subeer I guess in most cases, men would be worse off, since its not conventional.

The group agreed is not about women or men, it is about career breaks and need for flexibility. Wage disparity comes from life and career choices. What do you think? Write in your comments below.

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Topics: Diversity, #Blog

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