Women are promoted
more often than men but
receive smaller pay rises
when it happens, claims research by the Economic and Social Research Council
(ESRC).
On average a man being promoted
will receive a wage rise of 4.7 per cent, whereas for women the figure is only 1.3 per cent.
The report suggests that men
get bigger salary hikes than women as employers tend to match their wages to
outside job offers.
It finds that the trend is part
of a general policy of encouraging men to work harder and stay with the company.
"Women are about 20 per cent more likely
to be promoted but despite this they are not able to catch up with men’s
earnings," said co-author of the
report, Marco Francesconi of the ESRC.
Female staff are also more
likely to find themselves at the lower points of the pay scale for their new
grade and consequently find their careers hampered by a "sticky floor" as opposed to a "glass ceiling", the report suggests.
"Women who get a job offer
may find that the salary paid by their existing employer is not matched. This
could be because women are assumed to be more ‘loyal servants’ and less likely
to move jobs in response to an offer," added Alison
Booth of the Institute for Social and Economic Research, which contributed to the research.
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By Phil Boucher
