Сегодня мы рады представить блог, написанный студенткой четвертого курса Высшей школы бизнеса МГУ им. Ломоносова, Вероникой Воробчуковой. Вероника подготовила глубокий и актуальный материал о проблеме гендерного разрыва в оплате труда, который остается важной темой в современном обществе.
Мы убеждены, что мнение молодых специалистов, как Вероника, вносит значительный вклад в обсуждение социальных и экономических вопросов. Надеемся, что её взгляд поможет не только привлечь внимание к проблеме, но и вдохновит на перемены.
Veronika Vorobchukova BA25-2
Imagine going to a gender reveal party but instead of eating pink or blue cake to reveal the sex of the baby newly parents smash a piggy bank. $1 if it's a boy and 60 cents if it's a girl. Seems brutal, right? But this is a standard practice given that women are still paid 60 cents for every dollar men earn among mid-level employees in Russia. So today we still have unresolved one of the most significant issues of ethics in business - the gender pay gap.
First, what gender pay gap is?
Since the second half of the 20th century, women’s labor force has grown significantly, today, women make up almost half of manpower taking up the role of breadwinners in their families. However, despite progress wage gaps between genders still exist.
In a nutshell, gender wage gap is the average difference between the payments men and women receive in the same position. The gap is more than just a few cents, it evolves into women missing out on more than $400,000 during the course of their careers. The pay gap is even wider in high-profile roles, male executives earn millions of dollars more than women.
As for the CONSEQUENCES of unequal salary distribution:
For some people it may seem as a problem that only women suffer from but it’s not the case. It goes without saying that women are the main victims here, but pay gap affects not only them.
Businesses that enable wage gap are also touched by its effect. When employees believe they are rewarded fairly, they have a positive reinforcement to put extra effort. This higher level of commitment and empowerment is intertwined with better performance. In contrast, underplayed workers are more likely to create an employee turnover. So obviously no women would do their best at work knowing that their rights are violated.
Business ethics matter to customers too: more than half of Americans are less likely to buy a product from a company that doesn’t pay women fairly.
Higher wages would encourage more women to enter the labour market. Existing gender pay gap creates limited employment rates for women. Increasing women’s participation in the workforce by closing the pay gap would facilitate economic growth. To be exact, it would generate billions of dollars increase in GDP in the next decade.
Now let me tell you about actions businesses should take to lessen the gender pay gap:
Make sure women have equal opportunities for advancement
Women typically receive lessperformance reviews and get fewer high-profile assignments that’s why businesses should expand female influence in organisation to have employees have equal access to opportunities.
Ensure fair hiring and promoting
Track reviews and promotions regularly to ensure that your company is not systematically rating men more highly for no reason.
Train managers at all levels of so they understand the impact of bias on their decision-making, and establish transparent instructions to ensure equal treatment towards each gender.
Brake the stigma
One way or another the cornerstone of all reasons for wage gap is a sexism so ensure that your company considers all as equals and distributes unstigmatised approach like providing parental leave not only for women but for male workers as well. Break the cliche that tending for children is sorely women’s responsibility so female employees will feel less obliged to sacrifice their working hours.
There are plenty of companies that thrived after improving their business integrity by taking into consideration the unequal pay issue.
A great example of one of these is Starbucks.
It’s among top-ranked companies for achieving equal payments. They established culture of gender equality by revealing data about annual salaries.
On top of that Starbucks uses the "standards calculator" which eliminates bias in pay for new employees. They also offer paid parental leave for both genders. Moreover they are working with two independent organisations that continue to actively educate their leaders for them to be diligent about fair performance appraisals.
Over 50 years with no major name or logo change, no groundbreaking products and yet Starbucks is thriving. It has been named the fifth most admired company in the world by Fortune magazine. This is the 16th year in a row that Starbucks has appeared on this list, so Starbucks has certainly created a brand identity based on their social values that attracts customers, investors and employees.
This is a great example of how a company can be socially responsible and gain good reputation and loyalty form people.
Pay is an important topic for everyone. As we found out, closing wage gap is beneficial for businesses, economy and ordinary women. However pay gap does not concern just money, but not importantly morals. Equity and justice are the core principles of our society and it is our duty to stand up for those who are oppressed and mistreated. As politician Christine Lagarde once said, «We can not all succeed when half of us are held back».
________________________________________________
Благодарим Веронику Воробчукову за её активную позицию и готовность делиться своим видением социальных проблем. Надеемся, что её работа найдет отклик у вас, наших читателей!
Мы убеждены, что мнение молодых специалистов, как Вероника, вносит значительный вклад в обсуждение социальных и экономических вопросов. Надеемся, что её взгляд поможет не только привлечь внимание к проблеме, но и вдохновит на перемены.
Veronika Vorobchukova BA25-2
Imagine going to a gender reveal party but instead of eating pink or blue cake to reveal the sex of the baby newly parents smash a piggy bank. $1 if it's a boy and 60 cents if it's a girl. Seems brutal, right? But this is a standard practice given that women are still paid 60 cents for every dollar men earn among mid-level employees in Russia. So today we still have unresolved one of the most significant issues of ethics in business - the gender pay gap.
First, what gender pay gap is?
Since the second half of the 20th century, women’s labor force has grown significantly, today, women make up almost half of manpower taking up the role of breadwinners in their families. However, despite progress wage gaps between genders still exist.
In a nutshell, gender wage gap is the average difference between the payments men and women receive in the same position. The gap is more than just a few cents, it evolves into women missing out on more than $400,000 during the course of their careers. The pay gap is even wider in high-profile roles, male executives earn millions of dollars more than women.
As for the CONSEQUENCES of unequal salary distribution:
For some people it may seem as a problem that only women suffer from but it’s not the case. It goes without saying that women are the main victims here, but pay gap affects not only them.
Businesses that enable wage gap are also touched by its effect. When employees believe they are rewarded fairly, they have a positive reinforcement to put extra effort. This higher level of commitment and empowerment is intertwined with better performance. In contrast, underplayed workers are more likely to create an employee turnover. So obviously no women would do their best at work knowing that their rights are violated.
Business ethics matter to customers too: more than half of Americans are less likely to buy a product from a company that doesn’t pay women fairly.
Higher wages would encourage more women to enter the labour market. Existing gender pay gap creates limited employment rates for women. Increasing women’s participation in the workforce by closing the pay gap would facilitate economic growth. To be exact, it would generate billions of dollars increase in GDP in the next decade.
Now let me tell you about actions businesses should take to lessen the gender pay gap:
Make sure women have equal opportunities for advancement
Women typically receive lessperformance reviews and get fewer high-profile assignments that’s why businesses should expand female influence in organisation to have employees have equal access to opportunities.
Ensure fair hiring and promoting
Track reviews and promotions regularly to ensure that your company is not systematically rating men more highly for no reason.
Train managers at all levels of so they understand the impact of bias on their decision-making, and establish transparent instructions to ensure equal treatment towards each gender.
Brake the stigma
One way or another the cornerstone of all reasons for wage gap is a sexism so ensure that your company considers all as equals and distributes unstigmatised approach like providing parental leave not only for women but for male workers as well. Break the cliche that tending for children is sorely women’s responsibility so female employees will feel less obliged to sacrifice their working hours.
There are plenty of companies that thrived after improving their business integrity by taking into consideration the unequal pay issue.
A great example of one of these is Starbucks.
It’s among top-ranked companies for achieving equal payments. They established culture of gender equality by revealing data about annual salaries.
On top of that Starbucks uses the "standards calculator" which eliminates bias in pay for new employees. They also offer paid parental leave for both genders. Moreover they are working with two independent organisations that continue to actively educate their leaders for them to be diligent about fair performance appraisals.
Over 50 years with no major name or logo change, no groundbreaking products and yet Starbucks is thriving. It has been named the fifth most admired company in the world by Fortune magazine. This is the 16th year in a row that Starbucks has appeared on this list, so Starbucks has certainly created a brand identity based on their social values that attracts customers, investors and employees.
This is a great example of how a company can be socially responsible and gain good reputation and loyalty form people.
Pay is an important topic for everyone. As we found out, closing wage gap is beneficial for businesses, economy and ordinary women. However pay gap does not concern just money, but not importantly morals. Equity and justice are the core principles of our society and it is our duty to stand up for those who are oppressed and mistreated. As politician Christine Lagarde once said, «We can not all succeed when half of us are held back».
________________________________________________
Благодарим Веронику Воробчукову за её активную позицию и готовность делиться своим видением социальных проблем. Надеемся, что её работа найдет отклик у вас, наших читателей!
