Analysis of over 71,000 vacancies listed on Trade Me Jobs has suggested women are still less likely than men to apply for six-figure salary roles. Head of Trade Me Jobs Jeremy Wade said there had been little development in the gender differences for job applications for three consecutive years. “After looking at job applications between July and September this year, we found that applications for six-figure salary roles were still largely dominated by men. For roles with a salary of $100,000 or more, just 37 per cent of applications were from female candidates.”
Mr Wade said at the other end of the spectrum, the $40,000-$60,000 salary band is much more even, with women making up 52 per cent of applications.
“There are a couple of schools of thought around why we see more men applying for higher paying roles,” he said. “We know from our own data that traditionally female-dominated sectors like nursing and teaching are paid less than male-dominated professions like engineering or IT. We see nursing roles have an average salary of $57,991 and teachers $57,641 while engineers earn $76,537 and IT professionals $111,512.
“Another theory revolves around confidence,” Wade continued. “The thinking is that men are more likely to apply for a role even if they only meet 50 per cent of the criteria in the job description, while women typically want to be sure they can meet all the requirements before they’ll apply. This means more men land more of these roles.”
Mr Wade said it was not about blaming any profession or organisation, but important to continue to shine a light and encourage more diversity in the workplace. “We need to have more conversations about what might be stopping women from getting into these high-paying industries and how we can change this. Diversity increases productivity in the workplace and the quality of decision-making so it’s important for all of us to address this.”
Mr Wade said in sectors like IT, almost three quarters of applications were from men. “When we look at executive and general management it’s a similar story, with men still making 63 per cent of applications. In science and technology, on the other hand, applications were evenly split with females making up exactly half.”
Mr Wade added that females dominated applications in office and administration, and education, making 72 per cent of applications in both sectors. “There are some signs that traditional gender stereotypes are breaking down with over 64 per cent of applications for accounting roles in the last quarter from women. That’s up from 56 per cent back in 2016.”
