Want to close the gender pay gap? Start with more women in Stem

From today onwards, women in the UK will effectively be working for free until the end of the year, according to calculations on the gender pay gap by the Fawcett Society. This is one day later than last year, but it’s still a shocking statistic.

The gender pay gap has narrowed by almost 10% since measurement began in 1997, but it’s plateaued during the past few years. Efforts to reduce it have long focused on the need to encourage more women into generally higher-paid Stem careers, where they make up just 14.4% of the workforce. Of all science, technology, engineering and maths-related jobs, tech presents a high level of gender segregation, with only 19% female computer science graduates.

Reshma Saujani, who set up Girls Who Code – a US-based non-profit which offers schemes designed to inspire young women to enter the digital professions, which launched in 2012 – believes that getting more women into tech will significantly narrow the gap. “Computing is where the jobs are – and where they will be in the future – across every industry,” she says. “We just did a study with Accenture that found that if we can take steps to triple the number of women in computing, we’ll boost women’s cumulative earnings by $299bn over the next 10 years.”

Visibility is hugely important – you can’t be what you can’t see – and this is improving through programmes such as Saujani’s and organisations like Women in Technology, Stemettes and Code First: Girls. Stem role models for girls in literature and pop culture are, happily, on the rise – Netflix’s Project Mc², for example, and new picture books such as Ada Twist: Scientist. “The wording of job advertisements, going into schools to explain what the industry is really like and how companies brand themselves can really help to change perceptions,” says Vanessa Vallely of We Are The City, which has a branch dedicated to promoting jobs in tech to women. “Coding does not have to mean sitting alone in a dark basement.”

With demand for web developers, software engineers and data analysts expected to outstrip supply by 2025, efforts are definitely being made to ensure women are equipped to reap these well-paid opportunities, in tech and in Stem more widely.

However, the problem now is not so much recruitment as retention – pushing more women towards jobs in tech might narrow the gap slightly, but it’s not enough.

The “leaky pipeline” scenario refers to the loss of women across male-dominated, generally better-paid industries as they get older. So what can we do to stop it?

Reports from the IFS show that the wage gap widens dramatically after the birth of a first child: there’s still a disproportionate responsibility on women when it comes to domestic tasks and caregiving.

“There aren’t enough successful women, and there aren’t enough successful mothers,” says Professor Jane Clarke, a research fellow at Cambridge University’s chemistry department. “Employers ought be providing childcare facilities, and we also need to be investing money to develop professional networks for women.”

Changing wider attitudes about flexible working is one option for improvement. Since 2014 all employees have had the right to request flexible working hours from employers, but there is no onus on them to agree. Our culture of presenteeism can have negative effects for returners, but thanks to tech, working remotely is now easier than ever.

One online group, Digital Mums, focuses exclusively on training tech mothers remotely; a recent campaign, #WorkThatWorks, stated that a mere 14% of women felt their skills hadn’t been or wouldn’t have to be compromised in order to fit in around childcare. Organisations such as Working Families are also trying to ensure more gender equality when it comes to caregiving.

Renegotiating prohibitively expensive employment tribunal fees would also allow more women to raise accusations of unconscious bias, discrimination and sexism. “I know lots of women in the industry find it very difficult,” says Steph Moakes, a 23-year-old site engineer and Stem ambassador. “This can change, but the best thing we can do is to keep talking about it.”

Companies are beginning to realise the importance of increasing flexibility and mentorship, development and support networks in any workplace where women represent a minority. Ultimately, as Clarke says, “to exploit female talent we need to design our systems to enable that talent to remain”.

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