Support sought to end gender pay gap

CEBU, Philippines - Closing the gender pay gap in the workforce calls for support from the business, government and academe sectors, global services firm Accenture said.

"The future workforce must be an equal workforce. The gender pay gap is an economic and competitive imperative that matters to everyone, and we must all take action to create significant opportunities for women and close the gap quickly," Ambe Tierro, technology lead at Accenture Philippines, said in a teleconference yesterday.

Accenture has related a new research entitled Getting Equal to 2017 that revealed that within decades the pay gap could close if women take advantage of three key career equalizers and if business, government and the academe provide critical support.

"At the same time, women must embrace lifelong learning, taking full advantage of digital and tech opportunities at their universities and work," she said.

Tierro cited digital fluency as one key accelerator to help women close the pay gap, which will enable people use digitally technologies to connect, learn and work.

Another equalizer is career strategy which calls the need for women to aim high, make informed choices and manage their careers proactively.

Thirdly, tech immersion give women the opportunity to acquire greater technology  and stronger digital skills to advance as quickly as men.

Accenture said that if these career accelerators are applied, combined with support from key sectors, the gender pay gap could be reduced by 35 percent by 2030, boosting women's income to $3.9 trillion.

With these changes, the Accenture study showed the pay gap in developed markets could close by 2044, shortening the time to pay parity by 36 years.

In developing markets like the Philippines, the changes could cut more than 100 years off the time to reach pay parity, hitting it vying 2066 instead of 2168.

Women graduating from university in developing markers in 2020 could be the first generation to choose the gender pay gap in their lifetimes, the research said.

The research also found that globally a woman earns an average $100 for every  $140 a man earns.

Also, women are much less likely than men to have paid work.

The research also identifies several critical factors that affect a woman's ability to achieve equal pay as early as university.

For instance, female undergraduates in the Philippines are currently less likely than their male counterparts to choose an area of study that they believe offers high earning potential (39 percent vs. 44 percent),have a mentor (53 percent vs. 60 percent) or aspire to senior leadership positions (56 percent vs. 60 percent).

Additionally, young women lag in adopting new technologies quickly and in taking coding and computing courses.

"Gender equality is an essential element of an inclusive workplace, and this extends to pay," Accenture Chairman and CEO Pierre Nanterme. "Business, government and academia all have an important role to play in closing the gap. Collaboration among these organizations is key to providing the right opportunities, environments and role models to lead tje way for change."

Furthermore, Tierro also noted that business leaders must understand the dynamics that are attracting non-working women back into the workforce — it's an economic imperative.

"Colleges and universities must raise awareness with women undergrads about the impact of course choices on future pat and advancement," she said.

She also underscored the need for governments to do more to provide high-speed Internet access.

"Getting this service to as many communities as possible — especially in developing markets —will do more to get women working than any single action," she said. (FREEMAN)