Women Making Few Inroads into Management Ranks

New government data reaffirms that the advancement of women into management is moving slowly.   Not only have the numbers of women managers been slow to increase over the past decade but a pay gap still exists between women and men in the workplace.  The Government Accountability Office reports that the number of women managers increased by only 1 percent  from the year 2000 to 2007, the most recent reporting year available.  The survey indicates that the difference in educational levels between men and women narrowed significantly, with the number of women managers holding bachelor's degrees increasing by 6 percent to  51 percent, while male managers with bachelor's degrees increased 3 percent to 56 percent of total male management ranks.  Throughout the survey periods, the number of women holding non-management roles remained stable at 49 percent.

The pay gap remains significant,  the report notes that full-time women managers earned  81 cents for every dollar their male counterparts earned.  The study also compared the wages of managers who are mothers to the salaries of managers who are fathers and found an even wider gap, with the mother managers earning 79 cents for every dollar earned by the fathers who are managers.  This could explain why fewer women managers are parents.  In addition, only 59 percent of women managers report being married, down significantly from the number of male managers who are married, reported at 74 percent.

The pay gap is greater in some industries.   Women in construction and financial services made only 78 percent compared to men in the same position, while women in public administration fared better.  Though not equal, women in public administration made 87 cents for every dollar earned by male managers.

"When working women have kids, they know it will change their lives, but they are stunned at how much it changes their paycheck," noted Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D) NY  in a New York Times article on the survey which was commissioned by the Joint Economic Council of Congress at Maloney's request.

The study does not hypothesize about the reasons for the reported  pay and gender gap, noting only that, "Some of the unexplained differences in pay seen here could be explained by factors for which we lacked data or are difficult to measure, such as level of managerial responsibility, field of study, years of experience, or discriminatory practices."

Sources:

Government Accountability Office Report: Women in Management, Female Managers' Representation, Characteristics and Pay

WSJ Blogs, The Juggle: Slow Progress for Women in Management

New York Times : Still Few Women in Management