Pay Equity between men and women: myth or reality?

Breaking through the glass ceiling: Women in Management

Linda Wirth

Breaking through the ‘glass ceiling’

Glass ceiling: invisible artificial barriers that block women from senior executive jobs

Women are still concentrated in the most precarious forms of work throughout the world and breaking through the ‘glass ceiling’ still appears elusive for a select few

Figures to highlight the lack of women in executive jobs

Women hold 1 to 3% of top executive jobs in the largest corporations worldwide

Only 13.4% of the world’s parliamentarians are women

Only 1% of trade union leaders are women, though women are almost 40% of their membership globally

Pay gaps in Management

Rates of pay are becoming more similar However, different salary packages are

offered, which provide different fringe benefits

UK in 1998: 15% difference between the average female and male manager

At the director level the gender gap was even greater at 42%

However … women entrepreneurs are growing

Supporting women to become entrepreneurs may well be a key strategy for reducing gender inequalities in the 21st century

By 1999, 38% of all firms in the US were run be women

In Ireland – 35 – 40% of new businesses are owned by women