Why you earn less than male colleagues - and how to change

What you need to know:

  • A dipstick survey of full-time working Kenyan women also shows that the woman believes she is lagging behind in terms of pay.
  • Does unequal pay mean unfair pay? Are the differences in wages legitimate and if yes, does that mean that a working woman is worth less?
  • Historically, in the 60’s and 70’s women didn’t take work outside of the home seriously.

You have probably heard it said that a woman makes 77 cents for every dollar that a man does, a statistic that has become synonymous with the global wage discrepancy between the sexes.

True, women have made huge strides in the labour market. We now have more of them graduating from university and heading large companies, but experts in the labour market say that the wage gap is very real.

A dipstick survey of full-time working Kenyan women also shows that the woman believes she is lagging behind in terms of pay.

Does unequal pay mean unfair pay? Are the differences in wages legitimate and if yes, does that mean that a working woman is worth less?

Historically, in the 60’s and 70’s women didn’t take work outside of the home seriously.

They took up secretarial jobs and other such supportive jobs and once they got married and began having babies, they stopped working altogether to focus on the home front.

At a time when gender roles were so clearly defined, this made sense. In fact, when a woman worked, it was seen as her husband’s inability to take care of her needs.

Maternal profiling

Times have changed and we now have many single mother homes, and even in two parent homes, we have a rise in the number of female breadwinners.

Does this tired reasoning still prevail? Do women seem not to need the same amount of wages because they are assumed to be sharing the man’s wages?

Are employers oblivious of the fact that it takes two salaries to get by for the average family today and when women earn less everybody suffers? I pose this question to Beatrice Kilonzo, a human resources consultant.

According to her, the wage gap is real but it isn’t as a result of discrimination, but lifestyle choices. Child birth is a huge factor.  “Child bearing takes a woman out of the labour market and she comes back with less experience than males on the same levels as her,” she explains.

Are women being punished for biological realities? The experts think so.

There is truth in the claim that children changes women’s priorities. This can only change if the society stopped looking at child care issues as just women’s issues. For as long as she is the one expected to sacrifice career time to look after the children, she will have a hard time keeping up with her male colleagues.

Asking for more money

According to Jacob Ngari, CEO of Cannon Hygiene Kenya, a local company that provides feminine hygiene products, a fresh male graduate will sometimes earn more than his female counterpart simply because he asks for more.

Over the past or so decade, Ngari has been involved in the interview process while hiring his staff, most of whom are women.

According to him, men are more likely to negotiate salary than women.

Many women react to getting hired by feeling grateful. While in this state of mind, or because she hasn’t done any market research and isn’t aware how much she is worth, she makes her very first mistake of accepting the first offer made to her, which usually is low.

“If you accept a low salary when you first enter the job market, you will spend the rest of your career trying to catch up. In your career, past pay usually determines future pay,” he cautions.

Confidence gap

Psychologist Bernard Kiragu says that women are more likely to fall prey to self-doubt and baseless insecurities, which makes it difficult to ask for raises and higher entry salaries.

This is referred to as the confidence gap, and Sheryl Sandberg in her now universal book Lean In, encourages women to set aside their fear of failure and instead trust their abilities to take leadership roles alongside their male colleagues.

Kiragu, the psychologist, says that money is a topic that most women find hard to navigate because of how they have been socialised and also because of a woman’s biological need to avoid conflict. Unfortunately, this isn’t doing them any financial favours. If this wage gap is going to be bridged, then women need to learn how to negotiate.

Philippe Achieng, 29, just walked out of a marketing job in protest after she accidentally found out that a colleague of hers in a similar job position was earning Sh10, 000 more than her.

She asked for a raise, her employers refused so she quit.

“I am a single mother and I need so much more to make the ends meet than he does,” she says.

Dorothy Mwenda, a human resources manager with a mid-level sized local advertising firm quickly points out that Philippe’s most salient mistake in her salary negotiation is asking for the money she needs rather than the money she deserves.

Instead of talking about her bills, she should have talked about her dedication to her job and the fact that she had been at the company longer than her colleague, meaning she had greater experience.

Also, the fact that Philippe is now jobless, according to Dorothy, is proof that she didn’t take some time to explore the market so as to keep her options open.

“A salary negotiation can go either way and it’s easier to negotiate when you know you have other options that you can fall back on,” she advises.

How should a woman negotiate for a salary increment? Before getting into it, plan for it. Know how much you are worth, get the facts, anticipate the questions your boss might raise and prepare your answers.

The other area where women err is getting emotional and getting into gender politics. To get the results you desire, put together some evidence and back it up with your job performance.

However you may be feeling inside, stick to the facts.

If you can’t get a raise, be aware of other benefits that you can ask for like a more flexible schedule or extra vacation time. Be realistic in your demands; you are unlikely to get a raise if, for instance, you ask for it at a time when the company is downsizing.

Seeing as this wage gap all begins at your career foundation, when you are made an offer, however lucky you may be feeling to get the job, it is wise not to feel pressure to accept it immediately.

Take your time.

“Going the extra mile will not guarantee that you’re paid what you are worth. Instead of expecting and waiting for your employer to recognise your self worth, make it known,” she counsels.

 What can women do to create a level playing field for themselves?

 While it’s clear that the systems still need to be fixed and you might not single handedly manage to make institutions see family and child care differently, there are things you can do to give yourself better career prospects:

  • If you are a mother, run a tight ship at home. Compartmentalise work and home and have a contingency plan at home should you need to take longer at work.

  • his takes care of unpredictability at work which can be a career killer.

  • Be prepared to deal with inequalities because they will not go away overnight.

  • Ask for help with child care. It is okay to outsource at the home front.

  • Do not take on extra work thinking that you will be rewarded for it. If you think you deserve better pay, ask for it. The question to ask yourself is, “Can I make more?” If yes, ask for it.

  • When you find out that you earn less than a man for a similar post, rather than act like a victim, take positive action to better your position.

  • Do not be embarrassed to talk about money.