Pay inequality pushing women to set up own businesses
Increasing numbers of women are resigning from managerial jobs to start their own businesses because they are being denied parity of pay with their male colleagues, new figures suggest.
According to the latest survey by the Chartered Management Institute, 7.8 per cent of female managers handed in their notices last year, the highest level of resignations since 2002. A significant proportion of those who resign decide to set up in business themselves.
One reason for the rise in ‘go-it-alone’ resignations may be the gender pay gap, which, the survey found, actually widened for the first time in 11 years.
Taking in more than 42,000 managers across every sector, the survey revealed that the earnings gap between men and women stood at 12.2 per cent last year in favour of men, up from 11.8 per cent in 2005. In some sectors the divide was more than 40 per cent.
The discrepancy in pay deepened despite the fact that women are gaining promotion earlier and faster than their male counterparts.
Jo Causon, the CMI’s marketing director, said: “It is clear the pull of promotion is not being matched by parity in pay. Despite the weight of legislation and the reality that reward should match responsibility, gender bias seems to be getting worse, not better.”
Commenting on the numbers of women who are actually winning promotion, Val Lawson, chair of the Women in Management Network, said: “The fact that the proportion of women in senior positions continues to grow is encouraging, but their increasing likelihood to resign is a cause for concern. If employers allow this trend to continue the knowledge gap in UK organisations will be exacerbated at the very time we are trying to challenge the skills crisis.”
Date:5 September 2007
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