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April 26, 1999

Gender Gap Is Smaller In Technology

By Jennifer Mateyaschuk

omen appear to be making more progress in terms of pay equity in the IT arena than in other industries.

The Department of Labor estimates that in the general workforce, women are paid about 24% less than men. Not so in IT. According to InformationWeek Research, the median salary for women in IT staff positions is $50,000, $5,000 less than for men, a difference of about 9%. In IT management positions, the median salary for women is $68,000, $4,000 less than that for men, a difference of about 5.5%. The difference in median salary increases for men and for women is negligible. Women were given raises 1.1% greater than those for men in staff positions, but 1.1% less than those for men in management positions.

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Higher salaries and greater equity are drawing more women to the IT ranks. "About 12% of the technology executives we placed last year were women," says Vici Wayne, a recruiter for Christian & Timbers. "That's a lot more than we've seen in the past."

Lauris Nance, CIO of Public Service Company of North Carolina Inc., says she sees a growing number of women joining the IT ranks and taking on project-management roles. Three out of eight of Nance's direct reports are women, she says.

Survey results show women are as satisfied with their positions as men are, despite the salary difference. Says Nance, "Women may be just as satisfied with their positions even though they're being paid less because they see the gap between men and women is getting better."