For every Rs 100 that men at the CXO-levels earn, their women counterparts earn Rs 74, reflecting a gender pay gap of at least 35% in top leadership roles, a survey by Harappa Education, owned by ed-tech platform upGrad has revealed.
According to the ‘The Grand Women and Workplace Report’ which surveyed 1,500 professionals in India Inc, while women professionals excel at sales and bring in revenue, they aren’t entrusted enough with investment decisions. Profit and Loss mandates still elude women, with the biggest gap occurring between men and women department leads — at 65% vs 29%, respectively.
The report noted that the work space for women continues to be far from being leveled even after hundreds of years since the first International Women’s Day was observed.
“Unfortunately, women’s careers continue to be the greatest obstacle course in history, marred by broken rungs, glass ceilings, glass cliffs, and deep valleys of pay gaps and role inequities. These are critical challenges and realities to address and fix. India’s ascent to become one of the world’s top economies will need all its talent to contribute meaningfully, and progress fairly,” Shreyasi Singh, Pramath Raj Sinha, co-founders, Harappa, in a joint statement said.
It further added that about 58% women who take career breaks do so for parenthood, while 48% men are more likely to pause professional pursuits to further their education. The disparity doesn’t stop at starting a family: women spend 2.5X more time caregiving, every day, through their careers, the report added.
However, it said that 82% of women respondents value growth while 78% look up for increased compensation at work along with a supportive ecosystem to achieve this. Contrary to popular belief, less than a third of the women surveyed also picked flexible work options and work-life balance as key themes, the report said.