Women in tech paid 14% less than men, twice as likely to be harassed

Women working in tech and IT in Australia are being paid up to 14% less than men, and are twice as likely to be bullied or harassed.

The findings come from a new report launched on Tuesday by trade union Professionals Australia. Called the Employment and Remuneration Trends for Tech and IT Professionals, the report looks into the opportunities and challenges facing the tech workforce in the current economic environment.

Four different tech industries were compared: New Tech, Traditional Tech, Games and Other Industries.

The sector, ‘New Tech’ refers to large software companies (like Atlassian, Canva, Google Australia and Xero) that operate on models common in Silicon Valley. The ‘Traditional Tech’ sector is IT infrastructure (Telcos, data centres), managed services and data service providers. And ‘Games’ refers to those employers in the video game design and development industry, not gambling.

Researchers found there are major disadvantages for women in tech and IT including low representation (particularly in senior management levels), a significant gender pay gap, and a greater likelihood of experiencing discrimination and harassment in the workplace.

Survey data showed there was a 14% gender pay gap in Games, a 13.4% gap in New Tech, an 8.8% gap in Traditional Tech and a 7.7% gap among IT workers employed in Other Industries (including the public sector).

Considering these gender pay gaps have persisted, Professionals Australia interim CEO Paul Inglis said the report’s findings make it “clear that businesses must do more to attract, retain, and support women into senior leadership roles”.

Just 23% of survey respondents were women, and Inglis said this points to the fact that “women in the tech and IT sector continued to be significantly underrepresented, particularly in senior managerial roles”.

This also suggests that women are less likely than men to have advanced their careers and that hierarchies of managers are likely to be dominated by men.

The report found as well that women considering leaving the IT profession were much more likely to report reasons of parenthood and discrimination or bias in the workplace than their male counterparts.

“Overall, women were also more than twice as likely to report harassment and bullying,” said Inglis.

Other significant findings in the report showed that game workers and government employees in tech and IT roles received significantly lower base salaries and pay raises than those in the Traditional Tech and emerging New Tech sectors.

“Workers in the ‘New Tech’ sector at companies like Atlassian, Canva, Xero and Google and the ‘Traditional Tech’ sector, including managed service providers and data processing, continue to enjoy higher base salaries and pay rises,” said Inglis.

“However, if you are a tech worker in the games industry or public sector, you can expect a base salary up to 50% less and half the pay rise compared with your colleagues working in the ‘New Tech’ and ‘Traditional Tech’ sectors.

Inglis noted that this survey data demonstrates the ongoing need for collective bargaining to boost wages, eliminate gender discrimination and improve work conditions for those in Australia’s tech and IT sector.

This article was first published by Women’s Agenda.

Never miss a story: sign up to SmartCompany’s free daily newsletter and find our best stories on LinkedIn.