Leadership

Men Don't Get it! More Women See Pay Gap and Inequal Opportunities

By Pam Kruger

Updated on: March 25, 2011 / 11:45 AM EDT / MoneyWatch

In reading the comments on BNET posts about the gender pay gap, I'd come to the pretty unscientific conclusion that there is also a gender divide when it comes to perception. More men seem to believe that there isn't really a gap, and if there is, it's because of "choices" women make, while women are more likely think there is a gap and blame, well, discrimination.

Now, a survey from Careerbuilder validates this, showing that, in fact, the number of women who perceive inequities in pay and opportunities is growing, and perception is reality.

Naysayers, consider this:

38 percent of women workers say they believe they are paid less than male counterparts with the same skills and experience, up from 34 percent in 2008, and 31% in 2003.
39 percent of women feel men have more career opportunities in their organization, up from 26 percent in 2008.
35 percent of the women blamed the disparity in pay and opportunities to the fact that they don't schmooze as much as men. 22 percent just blamed discrimination.
36 percent feel their male colleagues are more likely to be recognized for accomplishments.

The vast majority of men, on the other hand, see no problems.

84 percent of men say men and women with the same qualifications are paid the same.
77 percent of men say career advancement opportunities are equal.

If only their optimism was supported by the facts. Study after study has documented the gender wage gap.

This survey, which was conducted by Harris Interactive, and included 2,274 male respondents and 1,636 female respondents, didn't attempt to document a wage gap, but nonetheless found:

Almost twice as many men earn $50K plus, with 45 percent of men reporting earning $50,000 or more, compared to 24 percent of women.
Men three times more likely than women to earn six figure salaries, with 10 percent of men reporting salaries of $100,000 plus, compared to just 3 percent of women.

It may be hard to find out what the man in the next cubicle is earning, but because of all the data on the web (my favorite is glassdoor.com), it's a lot easier to find out what a person with your kind of job is earning.

And guess what? Women don't like what they see.

Rosemary Haefner, human resources vp at Careerbuilder, argued in a press release that workers are "more aware of average compensation levels. They are also more vocal about shortcomings they believe exist when it comes to their pay and title, especially coming off of a recession when workloads and hours largely increased."

Have any of you discovered that you were earning less than men at your firm, and if so, what did you do about it?

Pamela Kruger is a BNET senior editor. Follow her on Twitter.
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image courtesy of flickr user, stevebott