Hemuneration: When Men Make More Money Than Women
April 21, 2010
He-myu-ne-ray-shun [noun.]
The shocking fact is that male meeting planners out-earn female meeting planners by a whopping 37-per-cent average.
Having worked in this industry for over 15 years, been involved in the planning and execution of over 300 meetings and events, and currently managing an events team comprised entirely of women, I can personally confirm that the national remuneration differences are not based on male vs. female skill sets. Fact is, in many cases, just the opposite is true. So why the large discrepancy?
Is it generational? If you agreed that male meeting planners are generally older, have more experience, are more senior and thus earn more, then you could presume women will take over those senior roles and today’s inequality
will fix itself over time.
Is it the glass ceiling? Even though the women’s movement turned 99 years old on March 8th, with International Women’s Day, a recent study by the Financial Post revealed that 45 per cent of public companies have no female board directors at all.
Are the responsibilities not equal? Do more men own businesses and/or carry more responsibility on average? Do men work more hours? Do more women work part-time? If a man clearly has a more senior meeting-planning role, then it can’t be a surprise his remuneration is higher.
Is it education or accreditation? Do men have more post-secondary education and/or do more men have industry accreditation(s)? There is ample research to substantiate that individuals with higher education earn more, on average.
We know from our M&IT 2010 Market Report that eight out of 10 planners in Canada are women, and it’s no secret five out of six 2010 M&IT Hall of Fame winners are women. In an industry clearly dominated by women, why is there such a large gap in remuneration?
I look forward to hearing from you on this.
M&IT Salary Survey Part 1: The Great Salary Divide
M&IT Salary Survey Part 2: How Do You Compare?
M&IT Salary Survey Part 3: Remuneration vs. Responsibility
M&IT Salary Survey Part 4: Geographical Differences
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2 Responses to “Hemuneration: When Men Make More Money Than Women”
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April 26th, 2010 at 11:57 am
Your editorial asks why there is such a large gap in remuneration? For lots of reasons.
First, I still believe women don’t value their services, knowledge and expertise as much as men do.
Second, I think men still see women as those who only handle the details and not the strategic side of planning, whether that planning is a conference or a business strategy.
Third, men start out with higher salaries. Period!
Fourth, men generally don’t take time off to have babies or stay at home (though this is changing).
Finally, it’s about education. And the world has been trying to educate others about women and equal pay for far too long.
It doesn’t seem to matter what the UN or the Canadian government puts into place – women still lag behind.
How do we stop this?
Women, when you look for a job, I suggest get some background into average salaries. Know what to expect and don’t settle for less.
If you are self-employed, don’t be afraid to ask for what you are worth when bidding on projects.
And don’t be so flexible that you lose dollars and are feeling like you have been taken advantage of – because you have, if you don’t present yourself for what you are worth.
April 22nd, 2010 at 4:34 pm
I have a question about the roles and areas of responsibility women have in the industry, but first I would like to put forward some of my observations.
There are areas of responsibility in any company regardless of the industry. Sales, administration, logistics, marketing, business development are the first that come to mind. Some of these areas are directly tied into sales and can be measured accordingly.
Previous to my working in the expo/meeting industry, I worked for a prestigious retail furniture store in Toronto. I was given the option of two management positions, both at the same level of authority and initial remuneration.
Administrator of the office and Human Resources or Assistant Sales Manager; I chose Assistant Sales Manager because along with managing sale staff it involved sales and the recovery of cancelled sales. My value was directly tied to the money I brought into the company and eventually I earned more than the Administrator.
Individuals working in sales and business development can justify the dollars they earn because the figures speak for themselves and are fairly black and white, where other roles of responsibility have more grey areas.
The question I have is; are women working in roles where they are directly and visibly augmenting the bottom line or are they working in roles that do not clearly define their contribution?