Pay Disparities: Women Do Ask, But Are Often Not Heard

As a PhD student in Africa, I often find myself in enriching discussions with my classmates, who are both senior women and men in diverse fields. One afternoon, we found ourselves delving into the issue of the gender pay gap. “Motherhood is treated as a penalty,” remarked one colleague. “Even in global spaces, we must keep questioning pay equity,” added another. “Society has placed women low on the totem pole,” chimed in yet another. What started as a tea break conversation led to more conversations that showcased both the systemic and self-imposed barriers that exist when it comes to the topic on pay equity.

In our discussion, a senior professor once shared her journey of balancing motherhood and her career. She had to greatly reduce her working hours after her first child’s birth to manage family responsibilities. This decision, aimed at ensuring her family’s wellbeing, came at a high cost. “It’s not just about taking time off,” she explained, “it’s about the long-term impact on our careers and earnings.” A sentiment that resonated deeply with many in the group, underscoring the systemic barriers that women face.

A lot has been highlighted about gender pay gap, and much research has been done, yet the progress is slow, not because women do not ask for more or equitable pay, Women Do Ask!

The gender pay gap is a blatant symbol of the struggle for gender equality. It persists across industries, borders, and generations, and no country in the world has been able to successfully close it. The UN Women (2023) report ‘Why Women Earn Less? finds that women earn 21% less than men in the East and southern Africa region, with substantial variations across countries. This gap exists even after accounting for differences in education, seniority, work experience, and job type. This leads to lifetime income inequality between women and men.

A myriad of reasons explains why women earn less than men. Historically, women have been clustered into lower-paying fields, such as caregiving, education, and service industries, while men have dominated higher-paying sectors like technology and finance. Women also have fewer opportunities for leadership positions and career advancement. Discrimination, both overt and subtle, plays a critical role in the gender pay gap in the region. Deeply ingrained cultural norms and gender stereotypes underpin the pay gap, shaping educational choices, career aspirations, and workplace behavior, often reinforcing gender-based wage disparities.

The situation is even more dire for Black women, working in global settings, who face compounded challenges due to both gender and racial discrimination. Despite their qualifications and contributions, Black women are often underrepresented in leadership positions and overrepresented in lower-paying jobs. The gender pay gap is a measurable indicator of inequality between women and men, but when intersected with race, the disparities become even more pronounced. Black women earn significantly less than their White counterparts, and their opportunities for advancement are often limited by systemic biases.

None of this is new. A 2023 stakeholder analysis on women’s leadership in health, carried out by WomenLift Health and partners in North America, Europe, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and India, highlights unequal pay as one of the universal barriers impacting women’s ability to advance to leadership positions in health. While equal pay for men and women has been widely endorsed, applying it in practice has been difficult. Achieving equal pay is an important milestone for gender equality, requiring the effort of the entire world community. The gender pay gap needs to be considered in the context of overall gender inequality. It is one of the more visible examples of structural gender discrimination stemming from the horizontal and vertical segmentation of labor forces. The greater participation of women in the labor market and their higher levels of education alone have proven to be insufficient to dismantle this segmentation.

The gender pay gap remains largely unexplained by traditional factors, such as education. Lack of equal pay for work of equal value is one of the “unexplained” drivers of the gender pay gap.

Proactive pay equity laws are necessary to ensure fair compensation for all workers. The ILO Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100), is one of the most highly ratified conventions, yet the gender pay gap persists. The World Economic Forum estimates it will take 202 years to close the global gender pay gap, based on the trend observed over the past 12 years.

Working hours and time out of the workforce are significant contributors to the gender pay gap. Women are more likely to work part-time and take career breaks to raise children or care for family members. These breaks often result in women falling behind in career advancement and remuneration. Even when women advance to higher-paying jobs in management, the gender pay gap is frequently found. To address these disparities, several proactive measures must be implemented. Promoting STEM studies for women can open doors to higher-paying jobs. The motherhood pay gap can be addressed through better work-life balance policies, such as affordable childcare, maternity, paternity, and parental leave, and family-friendly workplaces.

Eliminating the gender pay gap can provide incentives for more women to be economically active, advancing gender equality and creating a virtuous circle. Studies have linked increased labor participation rates of women with higher levels of GDP. The ILO estimates that reducing the gap in participation rates between men and women by 25% by the year 2025 could raise global GDP by 3.9%, or US$5.8 trillion.

Women Do Ask for salary increments, for promotions, for positions, and for a seat at the table. Yet, the systemic barriers and biases they face often hold them back.

The conversation with my peers awakened a collective resolve within us to keep pushing forward, to speak up more, and to ask for what we deserve. Such brave conversations are the foundation of the wins we seek in bridging the gender and racial pay gaps.