​Software Engineering, an industry that was historically dominated by men. Yet the tide is turning with more women expressing an interest in STEM subjects at university and steady growth in the number of women working in the industry itself. However, there’s still a lot of work to be done, and the lack of female representation throughout the industry is still a sticking point today.

Uniting Cloud’s 2022 Industry Report sought to delve deeper into the current state of the market and uncover where improvements can be made to encourage diversity.

Our findings revealed a 31% gender gap in favour of men among professionals with six to ten years’ experience. This is a stark contrast to the 4% gender pay gap between men and women with less than two years’ experience.

At junior levels, the gender pay gap is manageable. More and more women are undertaking STEM courses and degrees, so they tend to join companies in similar roles at similar pay to their male counterparts after graduating. Two key drivers of the gender pay gap start to push salaries apart as specialists climb the career ladder: Maternity Leave and Internal Promotions.

Attracting Talent: Maternity Leave Matters

Only 8% of respondents who helped formulate the data behind our Industry Report noted receiving enhanced maternity or paternity leave. It’s not something at the forefront of businesses minds when they seek top talent, yet it should be heavily scrutinized before searching for diverse talent. Quality maternity leave options not only encourage females to actively apply to new job roles but also give them and their families a choice in the future. An attractive proposition.

Bias and Internal Promotions

Promotions are usually based on subjective notions and unconscious opinions. Few evaluations on employee performance are formulated where anyone in the business can pick them up and it be clear that the employee deserves a promotion. Managers should provide enough evidence so that another person reading the performance evaluation can see the evidence upon which the manager bases the judgement. Reducing bias with evidence-based criteria will reduce the number of employees overlooked for promotions or a pay rise, closing the gap on pay discrepancies.

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Closing a pay gap is good for a business’s bottom line in the long term. It helps your business attract and retain top talent, improve employee engagement, and make an organisation diverse and inclusive. For more information on hiring and recruiting diverse talent, please download the 2022 Software Engineering and DevOps Industry Report or contact us.