The Gender Pay gap in 2024
On International Women’s Day I like to bring light into the Gender Pay Gap within the UK design industry. How did things shape up this year?
I'm sad to say there have been even bigger increases in the pay gap for lots of creative industries…
GRAPHIC DESIGNERS
Women earnt 1.7% less than men, an increase of 0.3% from 2022WEB DESIGNERS
Women earnt 27.7% less than men, an increase of15.8% from 2022CREATIVE DIRECTORS
Women earnt 12.3% less than men, an increase of 3.7% from 2022
ARTISTS
Women earnt 3.2% less than men, a decrease of 5.2% from 2022
PHOTOGRAPHERS
Women earn 3.7% less than men, a decrease of 2.8% from 2022.
Is the Gender Pay Gap getting any smaller?
The Gender Pay Gap saw a large increase among employees aged 30 to 39 years, where the pay gap increased from 2.3% to 4.7%. This is the highest value of the gender pay gap for this age group since 2009.
Fewer women in their 40s and 50s are in occupations such as managers, directors and senior officials, at an age when pay for these occupations typically increases.
In the UK, only 12% of creative directors are female, despite 63% of graphic design students being female.
So why are there not enough women in senior roles within the design industry?
1. THE RESPONSIBILITY OF CHILDBEARING
According to research by That Works For Me, only 24% of women go back to work full time after having children, and the number of women in management roles drops by 32%. This is likely to be due to cost of childcare, and companies not offering the flexibility and resource needed to be able to successfully do both.
2. LACK OF DIVERSITY IN MENTORS & IDOLS HISTORICALLY
Open a design history book, and you’ll see that almost all the famous designers mentioned are white men. With a lack of representation among their role models, underrepresented people can be deterred from pursuing creative positions. Role models are of huge importance when brining inspiration into places where representation doesn’t exist.
3. SEXISM & RACISM IN THE WORKPLACE
There are studies that show that companies are often consciously or unconsciously biased in favor of candidates who are cis white men, which leads them to be hired, getting raises, and receiving promotions. While this is changing, there is still a pay gap today between candidates who hold the same job titles. Women & non-binary people of all racial and ethnic groups earn less than white men, and studies show there is an even larger wage gap for BIPOC.
4. THE ‘BACKLASH EFFECT’
The backlash effect is a well-documented negative reaction toward women who are perceived as counter-stereotypical because they engage in “masculine” behaviors during the performance of their jobs. For example women can sometimes be described as bossy, blunt or emotional, while on the other hand men would be described as assertive, concise and passionate.
This not only limits women’s aspirations, but also undermines their professional performance.
What can we do?
KEEP STRIVING FOR EQUALITY IN DESIGN.
HELPFUL RESOURCES:
https://www.kerningthegap.com/
https://www.creativeequals.org/
https://weareshesays.com/
https://ladieswinedesign.com/
https://www.unitedindesign.com/
REFERENCES:
https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket
https://www.launch-studio.co.uk/insights/international-womens-day-2023-women-in-design
Ladieswinedesign.com/#about
https://www.creativeequals.org/cost-of-childcare-crisis
