Addressing the gender confidence gap

Strategic Pay’s analysis of 187,000 workers shows an overall gender pay gap of 18.5 per cent. At CEO level it’s higher, at 32.7 per cent. We know it’s worse still for Māori and Pasifika women. Jess Stuart writes here about what is within our control to lessen this gap and how we can own our space when we get there.

International research shows that a more diverse workforce leads to better decision-making and a healthier bottom line. Worker satisfaction and retention are much higher when pay and opportunities are fair. Our aim is for inclusive workplaces that flourish due to diverse skills, experience and backgrounds. So why aren’t we there yet?

Many organisations now conduct their own pay audits; we have policies around leadership quotas, pay transparency and flexible working. We undertake unconscious bias training, mentoring and sponsorship programmes and focus on our diversity and inclusion agendas. The progress has begun, but there’s more work to do.

Initiatives like Mind the Gap are pushing for public reporting to get Aotearoa on the same page as Australia and the United Kingdom, which are mandated to report their pay gaps. It’s made a difference with what gets measured getting done! Then there’s Iceland, which in 2018 became the first country to make it illegal to pay women less than men.

As we continue making progress, what can we do while we wait for our organisations to catch up? I’m an advocate for focusing on what we can control and, as individuals, that is often ourselves!

I believe a big part of closing the gender gap in terms of leadership, pay and equal opportunities lies in our ability to close the gender confidence gap. It’s not just about being given seats at the table but believing that we deserve to take them and are capable of doing so.

I have worked with many leaders in my years in senior HR roles across the globe, and I’ve been one myself. Apart from our organisational ecosystems, the biggest barrier to women succeeding in leadership can sometimes be our own thoughts and expectations.

We can place massively unfair expectations on ourselves. To work hard at work but not feel guilty if we can’t be at the school gates at 3pm or not feel bad for arriving at work at 9am after the school drop off. Research shows that many of us are still doing more than our fair share at home, too.

We’ve also had decades of masculine role models in leadership, which means we now tread a fine line: be more assertive (but risk being labelled a bully), be vulnerable (but risk being labelled weak), and all this while being encouraged to embrace your authenticity! Psychologists refer to it as the double-bind, a dilemma in which an individual receives two conflicting messages.

Add to that, if we’re high achievers, like many on a leadership trajectory, the chances are we also encounter Imposter Syndrome. According to the International Journal of Behavioural Sciences, 70 per cent experience Imposter Syndrome, a psychological phenomenon that leaves us feeling like we’re not as good as people think and a persistent fear that one day we might get exposed as a fraud.

It often leads to waving away praise and downplaying our achievements. It causes us to lean out rather than lean in, we’re reluctant to take credit for our work, ask for a pay rise or apply for the promotion to avoid rejection or ‘being found out’.

Organisations can help with their pay policies, audits and transparency, and we shouldn’t take the pressure off here. In addition though, if we don’t ask, we don’t get, and this is the bit we control. How many of us negotiated our pay at the last opportunity or have asked for a pay rise? Fifty-seven per cent of men said that, when they got their offer, they negotiated the price; for women that figure is just 7 per cent (Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever, Women Don’t Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide, Princeton University Press, 2021).

While we know a gender pay gap exists, I also believe there is a gender confidence gap. This is one we can control. By empowering women to take their seats at the table, build self-efficacy, believe in their abilities and develop their skills, we help address both.

Top tips for owning your space

• Believe in yourself and your abilities – you got here for a good reason.

• Have firm boundaries.

• Build resilience and prioritise self-care.

• Take credit where its due and celebrate your success.

• Be authentic and be true to your values.

• Support others – lift as you climb.

• Don’t be afraid to ask.

• This includes asking for support and delegating.

• Leverage your strengths.

• Set realistic expectations.

• Know that it doesn’t have to be perfect.

Jess Stuart is an international speaker, coach and author of four personal development books. Jess believes that tapping into your potential doesn’t mean doing more or having to be different. It’s uncovering what’s already there and being enough as you are. She is well known as an Imposter Syndrome expert, has a background in senior HR roles and a decade working in leadership development.