1 in 5 HR managers confirm the presence of a gender pay gap

Despite the issue of a widening pay gap being increasingly highlighted in the corporate landscape today, it looks like there is some time to go before the issue is finally resolved.

The latest survey conducted by CareerBuilder revealed that as many as 1 in 5 human resource managers admitted that women at their companies earn less than men for doing the same work.

The study covered more than 3,200 full-time U.S. workers and more than 220 human resource managers in the private sector in various industries.

Overall, the survey revealed that more than half of workers (55%) do not believe men and women are paid equally for doing the same jobs.

Only 35% of female workers believed there is equal pay in the workplace as opposed to 56% of men.

More than half (51%) of all workers surveyed also admitted they don’t believe men and women are given the same opportunities to advance their careers.

Only 39% of women surveyed believed that there are equal opportunities to advance, compared to 60% of men.

This is despite evidence from a DDI report indicating men and women score nearly equally in their ability to drive business.

ALSO READ:  All you need to know about the gender pay gap – across jobs, experience, industries

CareerBuilder found that while women are being treated unfairly, part of the reason for their slow career advancement is because they are less likely than men to say they want their boss’ job (19% of women versus 27% of men).

Two thirds of women (65%) said they don’t aspire to be in a leadership position compared to 58% of men.

These findings echoed a recent  Harvard study suggesting that the disparity in leadership may be due to women being more cautious about taking a promotion and the McKinsey/LeanIn.org report  revealed an aspiration gap between men and women.

Those just entering the workforce and through middle management are nearly equal in their ambition to climb the career ladder.

However, the difference between the genders comes when aspiring to the top spot.

At every stage of their careers, women are less eager than men to become top executives.  This gap is widest at the senior management level, according to the McKinsey/LeanIn.org report and this plays out as a widening gulf in salary.

Despite the fact that women are making less money, the study by CareerBuilder found that they are just as satisfied with their career, 64% of women reporting they’re satisfied or very satisfied with their job overall and 63% of men said so.

What made up a satisfying experience at work touched several different themes, but overall men and women were in close agreement in their responses.

According to the CareerBuilder survey, these are the top given keys to job satisfaction in order of importance:

Liking the people they work with: 73% of women and 64% of men Work/life balance: both men and women rated it 59% Liking their boss: 53% of women and 47% men Benefits: 42% of women and 48% of men

Men and women hold a similar view for the first four ingredients for job satisfaction, it is the fifth on the list where results vary.

Nearly half (47%) of men reported that salary was important to overall satisfaction while 42% of women reported "feeling valued/accomplishments are recognised" were the secret sauce to keep them smiling at work.

ALSO READ: A poor career choice may be the reason behind gender pay gaps

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