The goal to increase women’s economic opportunities through employment has been foregrounded over the past two years in policy discussions at both Commonwealth and state government levels.
The goal to increase women’s economic opportunities through employment has been foregrounded over the past two years in policy discussions at both Commonwealth and state government levels.
This is clear from the narrative running from last year’s Jobs and Skills Summit through to the recommendations put forward in last month’s Employment White Paper and the national skills roadmap released this month by Jobs and Skills Australia.
But while gender equality outcomes have improved, progress has been gradual, and this invites some consideration of what businesses should do to accelerate the pace of change.
A new report from the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre in partnership with the Workplace Gender Equality Agency reveals stark differences between the best- and worst-performing businesses when it comes to gender equity in the workplace.
Using information from WGEA’s world-leading reporting data collection, the research shows that the best-performing Australian companies have delivered an average 5.3 percentage point drop in their gender pay gaps in three years.
But the research also exposes a deep divide between the best performing businesses – those that are making progress to close their gender pay gaps – and the worst performers.
Gender pay gaps have fallen more quickly for managers than among non-management occupations.
In one sense this is to be expected, given the greater inequalities faced by women (in non-management) seeking access to leadership roles.
But while business leaders should continue to promote leadership opportunities for women, they may need to lift their gaze to ensure that gender bias is targeted across all sections of the workforce.
The report makes clear that women are not accessing higher rates of pay compared to men, even within a given industry and occupational class and in the same age cohort.
Part of the reason is the unequal access women and men have to discretionary pay.
This hidden glass ceiling needs to be addressed by ensuring that remuneration processes are insulated from gender bias, not just for base salaries but for the full spectrum of discretionary awards and performance-related pay.
The report identifies the policies and actions implemented by businesses that outperform their sector on gender equality benchmarks, including reductions in gender pay gaps and increases in the shares of women employed (both overall and in management positions).
Businesses that undertake regular pay gap audits and establish action plans on the back of those audits do substantially better when it comes to lowering gender pay gaps; something we’ve found consistently in previous reports in the BCEC|WGEA Gender Equity Insights series.
But there are also some pronounced sectoral differences.
For example, the best-performing businesses in the mining sector are four times more likely set a pay equity action plan and seven times more likely to set targets to reduce gender pay gaps than businesses that are earlier on their gender equity journey.
Progress is quicker where there is business accountability for gender equity as an objective.
This is why the recent legislative changes to the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 are so welcome as an agent of accelerated change: they will require businesses to report gender equality metrics to their executives and governing boards.
But the most important agent of change is the intent shown by an organisation’s leadership towards gender equality as a business issue.
Policies and actions implemented should reflect a genuine commitment by business leaders to accelerate the pace of change towards improved gender equality within their organisations.
- Professor Alan Duncan is director of the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre
