Recently a topic has been circulating the national news about pay disparity in the United States between men and women. The number that seems generally agreed upon (if our statistically-inclined experts can ever agree upon anything) is about 79%. That is the percentage of a man’s salary that a woman receives in this country for doing the same job.
It’s a pretty tough number to swallow - 21% pay difference. That’s like working a whole day every week for free, just because you are a woman. I haven’t studied gender pay disparity in other countries, and I’m sure in some places it’s worse, but it did start me thinking. What is the pay disparity at Breakthrough Technologies?
So I broke out my trusty Excel and ran a few queries. I thought about a lot of factors but decided to rule out any compartmentalization, as it would just create noise. If I look across all jobs, all titles for all full-time employees, our pay disparity is 7%.
Frankly, I was surprised. We have a lot of women in high-paying positions, and I thought it would be closer to zero. I still think it’s quite good, though when compared to the national average. Although I think within a position, there is equity between men and women here, I do feel that we have groups of women who are more pervasive in job categories that are simply compensated less.
At Breakthrough, we are committed to diversity. Our mantra is the best idea wins. Not the best male idea, or the best idea from the best-connected person to management. The best idea. Period. Often the best ideas come from high-performing teams that capitalize on their own intellectual and cultural diversities.
Breakthrough is also committed to the notion of broadening access to STEM training for everyone in our society. There is no downside to this, and the joy of creating technical work is something to which we should all have access.
Clearly, our industry and our own practices have a way to go still. My partner Randy and I are committed to building this business and improving the lives of everyone who joins us equally, regardless of race, gender, or religious or social categories. We will continue to monitor and observe, and report back to you, our observing public.
We are a work in progress and excited to see what more we can do to improve ourselves and our communities!