Working on a postgraduate dissertation titled “Investigating the driving forces behind the gender pay gap in the UK” has led me to delve deep into numbers, statistics, individual women’s experiences, and stories regarding gender-based discrimination. I have felt shocked, disgusted, and appalled – why does being a woman still mean having a more difficult go at life in 2022? How come it is so easy for companies to get away with this?
However, I stumble onto another closely related issue after writing the first few pages. I was working on a chapter about intersectionality, meaning that a person’s social and political identities combine and overlap to create different modes of discrimination and privilege. And unfortunately, we can observe that when multiple factors are combined – e.g., race, gender, disability – the bias rate tends to be higher, as reflected in pay gap statistics. And so, you are likely to face a higher pay gap if you are a gay woman, a disabled person of color, or a queer immigrant. And it is intersectionality that brought me to look at all the specific pay gaps and compare numbers, and there was one that stood out to me: the LGBTIQ+ pay gap.
It is tricky to pinpoint the current LGBTIQ+ pay gap and size precisely. That is all attributed to inconsistent data, insufficient research, and clarity on the issue. However, in most Western countries, the LGBTIQ+ pay gap stands at around 10 – 20%, highly depending on the country, industry, company size, and other factors. The average, however, stands at a shocking 18.4%. To give some context, the current gender pay gap is about 7%.
The gender pay gap is a massive issue, and 7% is still significant – especially in yearly wages. The LGBTIQ+ gap is more than twice as big, yet it seems that no one is talking about it. That can be easily showcased: when I type “Gender pay gap” into Google, it immediately spits out 1,900,000,000 results. With the “LGBT pay gap”, however, it is 5,420,000 – that means 300 times less. Almost no concise studies, no clear information, no research.
One of the most unified pieces of data comes from an HRC Foundation analysis. The data come from United States respondents in the 2021 LGBTIQ+ Community Survey, a nonprobability cross-section of more than 23,000 LGBTIQ+ adults surveyed in May and June 2021.
The HRC study revealed that median earnings were about $900 weekly, about 90% of the $1,001 median weekly wage a typical worker earns in the United States. That accounts for a 10% LGBTIQ+ pay gap in the United States.
But as mentioned earlier, the LGBTIQ+ pay gap, similarly to the gender pay gap, correlates with multiple factors, such as race, class, and disability, and the combination of these factors results in even higher rates of discrimination.
It might therefore be no surprise that the gap was the lowest among white LGBTIQ+ workers, reaching 3%. In black LGBTIQ+ workers, however, the gap was a shocking 20%, and in Native American LGBTIQ+ workers, it was 30%. And the most significant pay gap of all the groups was among those identifying as transgender, leading to a shocking 40%. In addition, that number is the highest among transgender women. A very high number also comes with those identifying as non-binary, genderqueer, genderfluid, or two-spirit – just over 30%.
The big question is – what contributes to the LGBTIQ+ pay gap? Is it solely a result of discrimination and prejudice?
Firstly, research shows that members of the LGBTIQ+ community tend to choose less prejudiced workplaces. For example, gay men are more likely to avoid occupations that are more male-dominated than other men (which includes the best-paid jobs).
Another reason is prejudice and discrimination that comes from employers, as shown by a US experiment. Participants were asked to evaluate CVs, some of which contained references to LGBTIQ+ activities while others did not. Many, especially men participants, penalized CVs that included an LGBT+ activity.
And lastly, there is workplace discrimination that comes from co-workers. For instance, a 2017 Stonewall and YouGov survey found that 18% of LGBTIQ+ staff in the UK had been a target of negative comments or conduct from work colleagues in the previous 12 months because of their sexual orientation.
All of these reasons are preventable if a good company policy and effort on the side of the management team are ensured.
5 Tips for managers on LGBTIQ+ inclusion:
Review your policies for LGBTIQ+ inclusion – LGBTIQ+ inclusion should be a core part of your Equality and Diversity policy; however, having a separate policy for LGBTIQ+ inclusion is even more apparent. It is important to ensure that all your policies are LGBTIQ+ inclusive, for example, your policies on parental leave, adoption, health care about the transgender transition process, and pensions.
Provide LGBTIQ+ training as part of equality and diversity training –Training helps ensure your policies are heard and understood across the organization and is a powerful tool to educate everyone on LGBTQ+ issues.
List your pronouns – Listing your pronouns (e.g., in emails) normalizes not assuming someone’s gender
Incorporate gender-neutral language in company documents and databases. Use software that allows managers to choose from a range of default gender options or add gender information for an employee.
Celebrate LGBTIQ+ history and events – Celebrate LGBTIQ+ History Month, Pride, or Trans Day of Visibility just as you would other important days in the calendar. They also serve as great learning opportunities for your staff.
At Genderscope, we care about solving our clients’ less visible and talked problems in the workplace. We provide an innovative organizational, legal, and policy gender consultancy to help them understand and utilize their unique gender dimension. Drop us a line to talk about your workplace challenges!
Magdalena Adamkova
Social Media & Communication, Genderscope