Why Do Women Earn Less?

Women in both the UK and US do earn less than men. I am frequently told, usually by men, that this is because of the occupations women choose to go into, and because they work part time.

Leaving aside how much actual genuine choice is involved, and  why occupations which are traditionally female dominated should be valued less, I went to look at the figures again. And this is what I found on the UK Government equalities site, hardly a bastion of feminsim extremism I’m sure you’ll agree! They say:

Gender Pay Gap

The Office for National Statistics collects data on earnings through the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings which it uses to calculate gender pay differences. There are a number of different ways of calculating the gender pay gap, one of which compares the pay of all men and women in work (full- and part-time) and looks at the median. By this measure, the gender pay gap is 22.0 per cent.

GEO has undertaken research into the causes . This found the key factors explaining the pay gap were as follows:

• 10 per cent of the overall pay gap can be attributed to occupational sex segregation. Having 10 percentage point greater share of men in an occupation is associated with 2 per cent higher average hourly wages;
• 12 per cent of the gap is due to the industries in which women work;
• 21 per cent of the gap is due to differences in years of full-time work;
• 16 per cent of the gap is due to the negative effect on wages of having previously worked part-time or of having taken time out of the labour market to look after family; and
• 5 per cent of the gap is due to formal education levels

But a significant proportion (36 per cent) of the pay gap could not be explained by any of these factors, suggesting discrimination may be an important factor.

We’ve still a way to go!

Picture Credit: Valinza

Women, Take Your Place at the Table…the Right Place!

Meetings, meetings, meetings, your working life is probably full of them. Sometimes you’re no doubt temped to avoid a few when you can; I know I used to!

It makes sense to use your time wisely and some organisations get into meeting overload culture. However, make sure you are not missing any key meetings where crucial decisions are made or where people are selected to make crucial decisions. It’s very easy for women to get sidelined, particularly in large organisations. And it’s easy for women to be largely invisible in meetings too.

I’ve written before about the importance of making sure you’re voice is heard in every meeting and the tendency of men to interrupt and talk across women; this time I’m adding a few tips about body language in meetings.

Body Language Tips for Meetings

• If you’re presenting, stand tall and use open body language. If your body is saying ‘nervous and anxious’ you are likely to get a bored or negative reaction. Try to keep the energy up in your voice and sound as if you are really enthused by what you’re saying. Remember the nodding head trap….
• Make sure you talk to everyone, making comfortable eye contact with all, and not just focussing on the most senior person.
• Your choice of seat can unconsciously influence your relationship with colleagues; it all depends on the shape of the table. If at a square table the person on your right will be most attuned with what you are saying and will tend to want to agree with you. It could be useful to get your most difficult colleague in that position of possible. The person who will feel least sympathy with you will be the one seated opposite as the table is a very real physical barrier between you.
• Round tables can work well in helping everyone feel very relaxed, unless there is someone present who is much senior to the others. Then square table rules er… rule.
• Try not to sit with your back to the door if you are at a long meeting table. You will have less authority than if you were facing the door. Sitting at the short end of a rectangular table facing the door gives added authority (think Victorian fathers at Sunday lunch!)
• Be careful about touching anyone in meetings or being touched. Touching can be seen as an invasion of personal space, but it’s also about power too. Men touch women more than women touch men. Researchers think there is a strong link between gender and social inferiority, i.e. men tend to keep women on their dominant side; if they are right handed it will be their right side and vice versa. Research has also found that when men touch women it’s often seen as a signal of power (or a sexual advance). When women touch men it’s usually a sign of intimacy. Make sure your personal space is respected.

Photo Credit: Michelle Ho

The Alternative Garden of Eden…

I found this story recently on the excellent Businessballs web site and it has really tickled my fancy. You could call it the alternative view… It isn’t attributed to anyone as far as I’m aware. An alternative view.

God and Eve talking

“God, I’ve been thinking..” says Eve one day.

“What’s on your mind, Eve?” says God.

“Well, I know that you created me and this beautiful garden and all of these wonderful creatures, but lately I’ve been feeling that maybe there’s more to life.”

“Go on…” says God.

“Sometimes I get a bit bored – I fancy a bit of fun. And I get a bit fed up with all the heaving lifting and carrying, and warding off the mammoths and sabre-toothed tigers, not to mention that bloomin’ snake. This garden can be dangerous place.”

“I see,” says God, pausing for thought. “Eve, I have a cunning plan, I shall create Man for you.”

“Man?” asks Eve, “What is Man?”

“Man…” says God, “Is a flawed creature. He will have many weaknesses and bad habits. Man may lie, cheat and give in to temptation – in fact mostly he’ll be a complete pain in the backside. But on the plus side he’ll be big and strong, and will be able to protect you, and hunt and kill things, which might be handy sometimes. He will tend to lose control of mind and body when aroused, but with a bit of training can be quite good company, if you know what I mean.”

“Hmm,” says Eve, “Seems like this Man idea might be worth a try, but tell me God, is there anything else I need to know?”

“Just this,” says God, “Man comes with one condition… In keeping with his character, Man will naturally believe that he was made first, and frankly we all have better things to do than argue, so you must keep all this a secret between us, if that’s okay with you. You know, woman to woman..”

With apologies to men everywhere who are obviously not like this stereotype at all. My payback for all those ‘blonde’ jokes over the  years!

Photo credit: Legley

Women, Nottingham is Place to Be!

As someone who has spent a lot of time working within local government it was so heartening to read this about senior women at the week end:

“Nottinghamshire’s great and good were out in force, including the chief constable, the city council’s chief executive, the head of the probation service, the governor of a sex offenders’ prison, the sheriff (yes the sheriff of Nottingham, surely the most famous sheriff title in the world), the high sheriff, the university’s pro-vice chancellor, a former chief nursing officer, the head of children’s services … and every single one of them was a woman. Also there was the country’s first female black High Court judge.

“In addition the whole evening was put together by a woman, aforementioned High Sheriff Amanda Farr, and Mental Health Research UK founded by a woman, Claire Chilvers.”

This was from the blog of Alastair Campbell written in January and it’s great that he took the time to acknowledge the women involved.

But isn’t it sad that it was something of note?

Why Can’t Women Show Emotion at Work?

A few weeks ago I was pleased to be listening to Sam Roddick speak at a women’s conference. She was brilliant. The nub of her speech was that she ran her business in her own way, regardless of disapproval from others or traditional business models. And if that meant she showed emotion when she was upset, that was fine. She was upset so she showed it.

“Men are allowed to get angry at work; that’s seen as acceptable. I get upset I cry. That’s not deemed acceptable. I say deal with it, or get therapy!”

She wasn’t talking about bursting into tears at inconsequential slights, not at all. She’s a very strong woman. She was talking about putting passion into what you do with your life and caring.

However, her way is not the accepted way of running a business. In the UK, business norms have been set by men. Male norms prevail and are rewarded, female behaviour is derided as ‘soft’ and not as effective.  Shows of emotion that aren’t anger are seen as a weakness. Many pioneer women in business had to behave like men and suppress their feminine side. Often this can penalise sensitive men as much as women. It’s bad enough for a woman to show her emotions; imagine what it’s like for a man in a macho world!

Diversity and Equality

We’ve moved on a lot and many new businesses have really good true equality policies which work in theory and practice (I’m thinking of Pepsico, for example, where difference is valued and equality doesn’t mean ‘allowing’ women to behave like men). The evidence is that where business values all its employees and has significant numbers of women in senior roles, the bottom line is better!

Yet I still find myself in coaching conversations with senior women struggling to survive in a macho culture which constantly undermines their contribution. Usually these women are working in long established business areas like banking, finance, and local government. Newer businesses, while not exempt, tend not to have a long history of  ‘We always do it this way; it’s worked up until now. Don’t rock the boat’

Why Can’t a Woman be More Like a Man?

Because she’s a woman! And women bring other equally valid and valuable qualities to the workplace. And a workplace which doesn’t acknowledge and nurture that is missing out an a huge valuable resource! Eventually those senior women will find places where all they bring to work is valued and respected, where they don’t have to struggle to fit a male model of desirable manager or executive.

Share Your Story

I would love to hear from you if you have had experience of this. I’d love to know if it’s not an issue in your workplace, and if it is. I’d love to know how you think we can combat it, who your best supporters were, who inspires you, and any advice you’d care to share! (You can remain anonymous if you wish, if speaking out feels too risky).

Inspirational Women- Avivah Wittenberg-Cox

Avivah Wittenberg-Cox is the CEO of the consultancy 20-first, one of the world’s leading gender consultancies. In addition she is the author of two of my favourite books on gender equality, Why Women Mean Business and How Women Mean Business. And if that wasn’t enough she is the founder and honorary president for The European Professional Women’s Network, and Elle magazine put her in their top 40 list of most influential women leading change!

In short, she is a hugely successful and inspirational woman and I am thrilled to be able to bring you this interview with her. We spoke when Avivah was on a brief pit stop at her home in Paris, following trips to her birthplace Canada, Brazil and India!

Jane: Avivah, Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk with us.

It’s no secret that I loved your first book co authored with Alison Maitland, for the fresh new perspective it brought to the gender debate. And the second, ‘How Women mean Business’ threatens to be just as successful. How did the writing of these books come about?

Avivah: The raw material came through my consultancy work with 20-first, but I had written books before as part of my previous work with The European Professional Women’s Network. Under the name of the network we had published a series of guides for professional women. I had some previous experience of the book world.

There are also two good reasons for writing a book:
1)    It gives you some form of copyright on your ideas. At least if you have it in print you can claim some ownership of your ideas when they are ‘borrowed’.
2)    It’s great to have all your ideas in one place so you don’t have to repeat yourself too often!

Did you have a specific career path? Did you plan your business career?
I grew up in Canada and was part of a very academic family. Business was not on the horizon throughout my education and I took a joint honours degree in Computer Science and Comparative Literature at the University of Toronto.

I didn’t have any goal at all. But I had heard my parents discussing the shortcomings of the academic life enough times to dissuade me from that route, so I went to Paris for a year and got a great job with L’Oreal. It involved lots of travel and eventually led me to attending INSEAD Business School at Fontainebleau. That opened lots of doors to me.

How did you get involved in gender politics? Was there a specific incident that triggered it? Were you subject to discrimination?
No, not myself; I grew up in Canada thinking the whole concept of gender was obsolete!  I have always had an interest in women and my mother was a very strong character. (My father died when I was quite young).

I started a communications company in the 80s and founded the European Professional Women’s Network in the 90s as a side line.It was listening to thousands of women across Europe talk about their careers and aspirations that really awakened to my interest..

I had also undertaken some research on dual career couples and knew that two corporate careers was not easy to combine. That research was partly prompted by my own marriage to a high flying executive. It’s an art to be complimentary and not competitive when two careers are involved.

What do you think are the biggest obstacles facing women in the workforce today?
I think the issue of gender being seen as a women’s issue. The corporate culture, particularly in the Anglo-Saxon world, sees the problems as being a woman’s responsibility; and worse – women often see it as women’s problems too!

A tick box mentality can result in organisations where women organise themselves into women’s groups, men support them but don’t get involved, and everyone feels comfortable. But absolutely nothing changes! I’d say don’t create women’s networks!
There has to be a fundamental rethink at the top executive level.

You mentioned Anglo-Saxon Culture as being particularly entrenched. You now live in Paris; do you find the issues for women there to be significantly different?
Yes, very. French women seem to me to have managed being both feminine and powerful. Anglo Saxon cultures still seem to frame choices between work and family. French women are not so tied to the idea that they should provide all the child care and the idea of having other forms of childcare and help in the home is not so frowned upon. There is no disapproval from others and a lot of public policy to support whatever choices parents make.

And French women are confident of their femininity. They wear make-up, heels, feminine clothes and have never thought they have to dress like men. If women in your organisation are still in grey and black suits the gender issue is still very live!

Mistakes help us grow and learn. What has been your best mistake in terms of the lessons it taught you?
When I created 20-First we started out as a coaching firm for women. And I realised it wasn’t going to achieve my aims, that something else needed to be done rather than just talking to women. My overall goal became to have a gender balance in the powerful positions as the only way to effect real change.

Who has been the most influential person in your life and why?
My mother, a very strong woman as I mentioned before. I have learnt so much from the women I’ve worked with: balance, managing work, child rearing, everything. And there are women I admire greatly, like Christine Lagarde the French finance minister, who is a great supporter of women.

What has been the best piece of advice you have been given?
Be the change you want to see. Be different. Stay authentic, look and feel like a woman. People will listen to you if you have authority, professionalism and something to say! It’s about being comfortable in your skin and true to yourself.

What advice would you give to any aspiring business woman?
You mean apart from reading my books! I would say pay attention to the pacing of your career. Look particularly at your thirties, preferably before you get there. It’s a challenging time so discuss it and plan for it. Use a coach, listen to older women and learn from them So may women drop out in their thirties which is a huge loss to business. Think about it in advance.

And don’t worry about getting older! Getting older is great, possibly the best time of your life as your wisdom and experience grows.

And my final question, Avivah, what does the future hold for you? What are you looking to achieve over the next few years?
Good question! I want to push against the tidal wave, the tsunami of ‘let’s just do it the old way’. I want to change the mindset from a problem of genderto a major opportunity to reshape capitalism, the 20th century and the world, thanks to harnessing the complementary skills, styles and values of both women and men. I want to advance quickly with a handful of truly stellar corporate organisations that grab these ideas and lead the way.

Avivah, this is rousing stuff! Thank you so much. I hope the new book is a great success. I think it should be in every HR department!
If you’d like to find out more about Avivah and her company, click here