India fares better than US, UK, Germany in gender pay gap

The fact that there is an issue of gender pay gap is not new information. However, the jury is still out on what can be done going forward to rectify it. Adding to that discussion is the Korn Ferry Gender Pay Index that highlights some pertinent problems, albeit not unobserved, that could be key factors in resolving gender pay gap.

Researchers analyzed information from Korn Ferry's pay database, the largest in the world and derived that gender pay gap is caused mostly because fewer women than men hold higher paying roles. It must be noted here that the root cause still remains the same - that of assumed gender roles in the society and a dominantly patriarchal outlook.

The Korn Ferry Gender Pay Index analyses the gender and pay of more than 12.3 million employees in 14,284 companies across 53 countries in the world.

Pay gap across the world

The study found that globally men are paid on an average 16.1% more than women. This finding reiterates the findings of similar studies before.

However, the study also found that when the same job level was evaluated, the gap fell to 5.3% globally. The gap closed further to 1.5% when the same level at the same company was evaluated. It further narrowed down to 0.5% when the same level at the same company and same function were considered.

"Our data show that women earn about 16% less than men as a whole, which is a real, significant issue, but this doesn't paint a complete picture.  While there are still a number of organizations that pay women less for the same role, on average, when we compared women and men in the same job, the gap is significantly reduced. This pay gap issue can be remedied if organizations address pay parity across the organization and continue to strive to increase the percentage of women in the best-paying parts of the labor market, including the most senior roles and functions such as engineering and other technical disciplines," Bob Wesselkamper, Korn Ferry head of Rewards and Benefits Solutions said. "

Pay gap in India

At 16.1% India, too, does not fare any better when the overall pay gap is measured. But when the same job level is compared, India fared marginally better at 4%. When considering the same level at the same company, the pay gap in India fell to 0.4%, while it fell to 0.2% when comparing male and female employees at the same level, same company and same function.

India, however, fared better than countries like UK, US and Germany. Closer home, India still has to catch up with China.

Reena Wahi, Client Partner, Korn Ferry Hay Group said, "Pay parity is still a very real issue, but it's an issue that can be addressed if there is an ongoing effort to enable, encourage and select talented women to take on and thrive in challenging roles. Our research shows women have the skills and competencies needed to ascend to the highest levels within organizations, and it should be a business imperative for companies to help them get there."

Korn Ferry is a global organizational consulting firm that helps companies design their structure, roles and responsibilities, as well as how they compensate, develop and motivate their people. They have their presence in more than 50 countries.