Salary Data Shows Women Value Themselves Less Than Men

New figures from specialist global executive search and interim management company, Norrie Johnston Recruitment, highlight the gender pay gap.

Senior candidates on Norrie Johnston Recruitment’s database were asked for their average salary expectations. Their responses suggest that in like for like positions, female candidates have a lower salary expectation than men.

Salary Expectations

When comparing average salaries of non-executive directors, men expect a salary that is 69% higher than women in the same position.  In fact, across almost all of the roles, where it provides recruitment services, senior male executives expect higher salaries.  Notably a male Finance or Chief Finance Officer expects to achieve a 29% higher salary than a woman at the same level. Similarly male change management executives expect a salary that is 24% higher than their female counterparts. Positions in IT and Customer Services deliver the smallest gap, but still there’s a gap never the less. The only area where female senior executives have a higher salary expectation than men is in the sphere of marketing.

In response, Norrie Johnston Recruitment has developed a guide containing advice from highly successful, inspirational and high earning women, to share the secrets of their success.

Award-winning computer scientist and tech sector figure head, Dr Sue Black is one of the contributors to the guide and says; “when it comes to salary negotiations, aim high. For some jobs – typically experienced-hire positions – you’ll be asked about your salary expectations. Find out what a typical salary would be for the job in question, then ask for 10% more.  This is particularly important when you’re starting your career – the difference of a few thousand when you’re 21 can turn into 20, 30 or 40 thousand difference later in your career.”

Fair judgement is vital according to the famous doctor, author, television presenter and advice columnist, Miriam Stoppard, who has also contributed to the guide and says; “insist on being judged according to the same criteria as men and being rewarded in the same way and on the same scale.”

The Guide is timely, David Cameron has recently announced plans to tackle the issue by forcing large companies to disclose salary data, and whilst there are more women-led businesses than ever before and a record number of women in work, on average, a woman still earns around 80p for every £1 earned by a man.

“Many women appear to struggle to develop their careers at the pace they would like or deserve;” says Graham Oates, Chief Executive of Norrie Johnston Recruitment. “As an interface between organisations and the talent they employ, we are keen to help them leverage the full potential of both women and men. Equally, we want to ensure that all of our candidates are fairly evaluated for all roles and are properly remunerated based on the value that they can bring, irrespective of gender. The Guide is a small step as part of this commitment.”

The Secrets of my Success guide is available from the company’s website and contains advice from successful senior female executives, business leaders and entrepreneurs:

• Roberta Jacobs, CEO & Board Member
• Jo Moffatt, Managing Director, Woodreed
• Miriam Stoppard, doctor, author, television presenter and advice columnist
• Cathy Dunbabin, Director, Opendoorz Ltd
• Debbie Edgar, CEO, Dragon Infrastructure Solutions
• Suzanne Noble, Founder of Frugl
• Sarah Morris, Owner, Director, HR2YOU
• Dr Sue Black, Radical thinker, passionate social entrepreneur, #techmums Chief Evangelist
• Lara Morgan, Motivational Speaker, Author, Mentor, Venture Capitalist
• Marian Bossard, Senior Vice President, Global Markets Events at Toy Industry Association (TIA)

Download the Secrets of my Success guide here.

For more information about Norrie Johnston Recruitment visit www.NorrieJohnstonRecruitment.com or call 0207 118 0540