Tech wage gap shrinking, but significant: ChartHop
Improvements are happening in the tech industry's gender wage gap, but racial income disparities are increasing.
Although the wage gap between men and women in the tech industry is shrinking, it is still significant, according to a study released by ChartHop. Men in tech jobs earn 22% more than women, down eight points from 2018.
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The gap closes even more among managers. Male managers earn 16% more than female counterparts, the study found.
ChartHop’s “Charting Better Wages” report is based on data from over 16,000 employees.
Although there are indications that the tech industry is making progress in the gender wage gap, other areas indicate there’s cause for concern.
While salaries are becoming slightly more equitable between men and women, other types of compensation are not. The report found men own 63% more shares in their companies than women. In fact, while women account for 40% of owners, they own just 21% of shares.
Gains made in the gender wage gap are not being seen in the racial wage gap. White tech workers earn 44% more than Black workers, and the gap for the broader BIPOC demographic is increasing, up six points from 2018 to 24%.
“It should be alarming to tech industry leaders that during a time of an ongoing racial justice movement, the BIPOC wage gap is the only percentage from our report that is getting worse,” according to the report.
Salaries are approaching parity between white and Asian workers, as employees earn $130,418 and $128,226, respectively. There’s a much bigger gap between Hispanic and Black workers, who take home an average $98,041 and $90,873.
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ChartHop found income disparity across departments, too. Like the industry at large, women in sales have base salaries that are 22% lower than male counterparts. The gap begins with their first job, as men in entry level positions earn 9% more than women.
Engineering departments have worked to reduce the wage gap to just 7%.
“Masculine-dominated engineering teams have received a bad rap over the years for their lack of focus on diversity and inclusion, but that negative attention seems to have spurred action,” according to the report. “In recent years, we have seen a heightened focus on educational initiatives and mentorship programs to advance the participation and success of women and BIPOC in STEM fields, and it’s working.”
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