Research shows that female project managers make less than their male counterparts, but we may get more maternity pay.

The Arras People 2011 Benchmark report is out – and it shows some interesting facts regarding pay.
Female project professionals make the most of the PS30k-PS40k salary range. Women who earn more than PS65k have a rare opportunity to get a salary. Only 15% of women make over PS50k.
Male salaries stagnate between PS30k-PS50k, with 47% of male project members falling within this category. Another 40% earn more than PS50k.
It is fair to say that you will likely find more women in support or project co-ordinator positions or part-time jobs. There are interesting parallels when you look at those who identified themselves as project managers.
Gender balance is almost equal between men and women who earn less than PS30k. Female project managers typically earn between PS30k and PS40k.
Gender balance is evident again in the PS40k-PS50k range. However, as shown in the overall analysis, 30% of male project managers earn more than PS50k, while only 12% of female managers are.
Maybe it’s because we get paid less to manage small, low-cost projects. There is something wrong.
Contractors:
The gender pay gap in contractors is increasing. Last year, 38% of women earned PS349/day, while 32% of men earned this amount. More men are now in the higher-paid bracket of PS350+ per daily, and 49% of women fall within this bracket.
Only 15% of female contractors make between PS500-PS749 per day, as opposed to a third for men.
Is maternity leave an excuse for sexism or is it?
According to the survey, “These are fascinating changes, but it may be in part because of the distribution of gender across the roles.” This could be true. One respondent stated that ageism, sexism, and discrimination were “still permitted” in the contract market.
Just to be clear, sexism at the workplace is not permitted, but you only need to talk informally to women to understand that discrimination of any kind is still a part and parcel of working life.
Alistair Tebbit is the Institute of Directors spokesperson. He believes that sexism in work will worsen with the EU’s vote to increase maternity leave to 20 week on full pay. He stated that it was not desirable for the EU “to create a large tax in effect on employing women” in an article in The Star. The link has been removed since June 2020. “Such a move is unlikely to improve women’s prospects in the workplace.”
MEPs also voted for two weeks of paternity leave for men at full pay. The European Council will now have to discuss the proposals. This could take some time.
While I support laws that increase maternity pay, I also want to see more effort put into enforcing the existing equal pay legislation. Women, pregnant or not, have 58 years to wait until they can earn the same income as their male counterparts. I hope we can do better than this.
This article was first published in 2011.