“A gender-equal society would be the one where the word ‘gender’ does not exist: where everyone can be themselves.”

Humans on this planet are divided based on various factors such as caste, religion, ethnicity, color, geographic boundaries and gender. The differentiation created based on gender has been one of the dominating reasons for the prevailing discrimination in our society in various fields.

Men and women are differentiated on various aspects and this promotes the unjust behavior towards women in this patriarchal society. When it comes to working, today, women are seen at workplaces, making an earning for themselves and even providing for their families. We are slowly progressing towards a world where we look ahead to women empowerment and establishing an equal society with no gender biases. But are things really equal for women?

The answer is really contradictory to the vision of the society approaching equality. Despite the fact that today more and more women are becoming an earning member of the family by venturing into various fields, the one thing that has come along with it is the gender pay gap.

Gender pay gap is the elephant in the room which nobody wants to talk about and present a solution. A woman might be equally qualified and experienced as her male counterpart but would be paid less. This discrimination in pay scale takes a huge toll on the morale, performance, and outlook of women employees.

There apparently seems no point of pay scale variation in people of a similar caliber, qualification, and experience. The deciding factor in the pay (salary) should be the required qualifications and not gender.

Women employees who start their career with the same pay scale as their male counterparts also fall prey to this discrimination. They are often cut down on bonuses, promotions, hikes and job changes.

Women also lag in questioning and complaining about this differentiation and asking why they are left behind on promotion and other monetary perks.

Is the low self-confidence responsible for women not having a tough conversation in such matters?

Or, are women not capable enough to bargain at the time of changing jobs and demand for the package they deserve?

Is maternity leave the villain here, responsible for women landing up on the rough patch?

The answers to these questions are tricky and not so easy as one thinks them to be. But on a positive note, there are some organizations making this realization that this skewed pay ration is having a reluctant effect on their gender heterogeneity goals. Many mothers taking a break to raise their kids are offered a job below their qualifications and on a lower pay scale. Some women might accept unpleasantly but many end up rejecting such offers. In such situations, are these women losers or the organizations who are losing out on talented and smart resources on their team?

In the UK, organizations with 250 or more employees are asked to exhibit the average salary being paid to both sexes. This initiative is to bring about clarity and make organizations answerable. But a cardinal issue exists here- the average salary being shown is not based on ranks and nor does it showcase the respective number of women and men employees at each rank.

In a majority of the cases, a greater number of women are occupied at a lower level/rank and thus their pay is less. So, when mentioning averages, there exists a significant amount of gap. This might not fundamentally be a pay gap but there is a bigger fish to fry here, and that is, why are there a few to no women at mid-senior and senior-level positions?

This explains another discrimination that prevails amongst the two genders.

This data delivers only a bit of the purpose, currently. More information is required to make this worthy and accomplish the aim of bridging this gap.

Gender pay gap in India:

The latest reports on the Gender pay gap in India are not at all bewildering. An informal clue has always been in this case but now some concrete evidence containing facts and figures have come into the picture. According to the reports by Korn Ferry, the pay gap is inconsequential at the same ranks in the same company but as a whole, the gap is wider and accounts for 16.1% in India, identical to the global number.

The astonishing element is that India is outperforming some of the developed nations like the US & UK.

Source: Korn Ferry’s Global Gender Pay Index 2018

The cause behind the Gender pay gap in India

• Skimpy participation of women in the workforce
• Lesser women at mid-senior and senior level and well-paid jobs

It is essential to involve more and more women in the workforce and make sure that they continue working going through different phases of life and ultimately reach to senior level. Women should be motivated to take up lucrative jobs that pay well. Proper attention needs to be given and a check should be made on hiring, development, and retention of women employees.

The gender pay gap is an outcome of the deeply rooted thinking and practice of our society since ages. The thought process needs to be revised and women should be seen in a more positive light and focus should be on making them independent.

The personal changes will also reflect in the professional set-up. It is often seen that women on career break due to any personal reasons such as taking care of the child, find it difficult to make it back to the industry. Women are usually not thought of when time to give some challenging task.

Our workplace is the cosmos of our civilization, so the evil that scourges our society will also affect the workplace. If our society wants to think about women as low man on the totem pole, then this system will continue to prevail at the workplaces too. The patriarchal societal form will be thronged into the workplace as well.

It is time to change our vision and encourage women and eliminate this issue of gender pay gap. Turacoz Foundation work towards women empowerment and encourage and support women in every aspect and provide them working opportunities.

We, being an organization founded and operated by women, understand that women need to be motivated and given a chance. We are working towards making women independent and strong emotionally, financially and mentally.

To be a part of our growing family, write to us at [email protected]