Equal Pay Day Survey: 51% of Women Dissatisfied with Salary

When it comes to money, it’s not always the same for men and women. Our internal data shows women are more likely than men to owe $60,000 to $200,000 in student loans. There’s also the gender wage gap, which shows women generally earn 80% of what men earn. This gap is even wider for women of color.

The American Association of University Women (AAUW) defines the gender pay gap as a “…result of many factors, including occupational segregation, bias against working mothers, and direct pay discrimination. Additionally, such things as racial bias, disability, access to education, and age come into play. Consequently, different groups of women experience very different gaps in pay.”

In April, Equal Pay Day serves to highlight the gender pay gap and inequality. It always falls on a Tuesday to illustrate how much further a woman needs to work into the following week to earn the same as a man.

We set out to look at what factors contribute to the lack of equal pay and how it affects the Student Loan Planner® community. Read on to learn our key findings about equal pay and how women feel about their salaries, what they believe contributes to lack of equal pay and how they’d use that money if they earned more.

Key Findings

• Women are more likely to be dissatisfied with their salaries. Fifty-one percent of women, compared to 46% of men, say they’re dissatisfied with their current salary.
• Women are less likely to know what their colleagues make. Fifty-five percent of women, compared to 60% of men, knew how much colleagues in a similar position make.
• Thirty-one percent of women don’t believe they’re being paid equally to male colleagues in similar positions.
• Twenty-nine percent of women said they’ve discovered a male colleague in a similar position earned more than them.
• Fifty-one percent of women would pay down their student loans if there was equal pay.
• Fifty-eight percent of women believed sexism, lack of transparency and fear of negotiating contributed to lack of equal pay.

Wage inequality in the workplace

When it comes to equal pay, employers play an important role in whether women earn the same as men. Our survey showed women were twice as likely (28% compared to 14%) to report that their employers weren’t doing enough to close the wage gap.

When it comes to how women would react upon finding out a male colleague is earning more is where it gets interesting. Sixty-seven percent of women said they would ask for a raise, 13% said they would look for another job, 8% would say and do nothing and 1% would leave the job without having another lined up.

A number of respondents already faced the experience of learning a male colleague earned more. In fact, 29% of women surveyed reported they have found out that a male colleague in a similar position was earning more.

Seven percent put down “other,” with comments ranging from asking for a job revaluation to asking why the colleague was making more with similar responsibilities. Nearly all respondents who responded “other” and filled in their own response put down some version of talking to their supervisor, comparing fair market pay and evaluating skills.

What we’ve found in our data is that wage inequality varies by profession. For example, we found 49% of male dentists make more than $150,000, whereas only 30% of women earned that salary. We also found 59% of male lawyers make six figures, compared to 45% of women earning six figures. In social work, women tend to make more. The starkest difference seems to be in the teaching profession where men earn more than women.

Barriers to equal pay

There are various factors that contribute to the lack of equal pay. Our survey illustrated the top barrier for women was money-related, such as high student loan debt or the cost of raising children, which triggered a fear of losing their job (41% of women, compared to 29% of men).

Other barriers to equal pay women face included:

• Market rate is unclear (16%)
• Fear of missing out on a projective job (5%)
• Company politics, e.g. boys club (5%)
• Male-dominated industry (6%)

Another 20% put down not applicable with 8% saying “other,” which included responses such as providing childcare, gender bias, lack of diversity in leadership and ageism.

Some women reported that having a child, planning a wedding and domestic responsibilities also affected access to equal pay. As of now, there is no requirement on paid parental leave, so in some cases, things like planning a wedding or taking care of family falls on women’s shoulders.

Aside from these barriers our female survey respondents face, we asked what factors contributed to lack of equal pay:

• Lack of transparency (16%)
• Being afraid to negotiate (13%)
• Sexism (6%)

A full 58% of women put all of the above — believing sexism, lack of transparency and fear of negotiating contribute to lack of equal pay.

Three percent of women said “not applicable or none of the above,” and another 4% of women said “other,” citing reasons such as emotional labor (such as making appointments and planning birthdays), domestic duties and having children as well as women facing one or more biases, such as being a woman of color.

The issues related to wage inequality and the factors that play into it are nuanced. All of these factors combined paint a picture that offers insight into the issue of lack of pay.

Asking for more pay to close the wage gap

In order to close the wage gap, one action to take is to ask for more pay. We found 51% of women aren’t satisfied with their current salary, compared to 46% of men.

According to the survey, a similar percentage of men and women ask for more money, with 38% of men and 41% of women asking for a raise. Although our data shows women are more likely to ask for a raise, the amount they ask for varies compared to men.

Thirteen percent of women, compared to 9% of men, asked for raises of up to $2,000. Fourteen percent of women and 10% of men asked for a raise between $2,000 to $5,000.

Men and women found equal footing around asking for $5,000 to $10,000, with 9% of men and women asking for that amount.

Six percent of men and 5% of women asked for $10,000 to $20,000 while 1% of men and women asked for $20,000 to $30,000.

But when it came to asking for big raises — in the case of $30,000 or more — men were more than two times as likely as women to ask for that amount.

Women are also slightly more likely to have their requested raise approved (29%) compared to men (25%), which might be due to the fact that women ask for smaller raises than men.

What we found in our survey is that women are asking for raises. Not only that, but more women than men are negotiating higher pay for a new job. We found 57% of women and 50% of men negotiated what an employer offered to pay for a new job. The starkest difference is how much men and women are asking for. As noted above, women tend to ask for less when negotiating compared to their male counterparts. Men were more than twice as likely to go big and ask for $30,000 or more. Women were more likely to ask for smaller raises.

Closing the gender pay gap

It’s clear there are a multitude of factors that contribute to the gender pay gap. From women asking for less to dealing with more domestic and childcare responsibilities, on average, women are still earning less than men. What can help is a shift in workplace culture, additional transparency and continued conversations around equal pay.

Companies can take the lead to ensure their men and women are being paid equally for the same roles. To start, companies can audit the salaries of its male and female employees. Is there a stark difference in wages among similar professions but different genders? If so, action is in order.

One example of a company leading the way is SalesForce. The company’s CEO, Marc Benioff, realized there was a discrepancy in wages and committed $6 million to fix the problem and ensure salaries were equal among men and women.

Additionally, men can do their part by sharing salary information with female colleagues, advocating for promotions for women and giving credit where credit is due.

Women can also be empowered to close the gender pay gap by:

• Checking out market value on PayScale.com.
• Negotiating regularly (don’t get approved for more pay? Negotiate other benefits like time off, remote working days, etc.)
• Starting the conversation about pay among male and female colleagues.
• Knowing your worth and when to walk away.

About our survey

We received 750 responses from our Student Loan Planner® mailing list, 63% identified as female and 37% identified as male. Out of the respondents, 68% owe more than six figures in debt and 80% have graduate degrees.

According to the survey, a similar percentage of men and women ask for more money, with 38% of men and 41% of women asking for a raise. Although our data shows that women are more likely to ask for a raise, the amount they ask for varies compared to men. Thirteen percent of women, compared to 9% of men asked for raises of up to $2,000. Fourteen percent of women and 10% of men asked for a raise between $2,000 to $5,000.

Men and women found equal footing around asking for $5,000 to $10,000, with 9% of men and women asking for that amount.

Six percent of men and 5% of women asked for $10,000 to $20,000. 1% of men and women asked for $20,000 to $30,000.

But when it came to asking for big raises, in the case of $30,000 or more, men were more than two times as likely as women to ask for that amount.

Women are also slightly more likely to have their requested raise approved (29%) compared to men (25%), which might be due to the fact that women ask for smaller raises than men.