Diversity Study Shows Gender Wage Gap Widened In 2019

According to a multinational diversity study, the gender pay gap grew since 2018, with men holding better wages and higher positions than women.

Data From 26 Organizations Across The World

London-based All-in Diversity Project issued on November 17 a multinational diversity study which states that men tend to get higher wages and positions, despite women accounting for nearly 50% of gaming industry workers.

However, all-in’s second report shows that in the past two to three years, gaming companies have made a “huge leap” in acknowledging that more diversity is fundamental to their success, according to All-in co-founder Kelly Kehn.

“Now we’re at the “how”, that’s where a lot of businesses are getting stuck.”

The study presents data from the end of 2019 to the beginning of 2020, as it was completed just before the Covid-19 pandemic.

An array of gaming companies fund the non-profit organization, which studied data from 26 organizations operating in the US, Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, and Australia, for a total of nearly 126,000 employees and more than 150 brands.

Men Have Higher Salaries Than Women in 2019

Women occupy 46.5% of the gaming industry positions but have fewer responsibilities or wage increases than their male counterparts.

Only 15% of CEOs or managing directors are women. They account for 23% of directors, vice presidents, partners of C-level positions, the report says, with 26% of department heads being women. Female managers and team leaders/supervisors represented 39% and 34% of the positions, respectively. Women also account for 48% of entry-level employees.

“The gender pay gap is real and, if anything, appears to have widened,” the recent report says.

In a 2018 survey, participants were asked to communicate on the number of employees by gender between seven wage categories (< 25,000 to > 200,000 of the local currency).

The survey showed a balance between men and women in the two lowest ranges (under 25,000 and between 25,000 and 50,000), but that men were earning more in the higher salary ranges in 2018. However, men were better paid than women in every range in 2019.

Only about 12% of women employees earned 50,000 or more per year, compared to 25% for men.

“Only three years on, the business case is irrefutable, if [companies] want to be successful, if they want to be sustainable, if they want to be good corporate citizens and build that employer brand, diversity/inclusion is a big piece.”

Christina Thakor-Rankin, All-in Diversity Project co-founder

New Report Expected Early Next Year

The nonprofit organization plans to release a report for early 2021, about job losses related to the pandemic and policy changes – including working hours, home office, and sick leave.

The other All-in co-founder, Christina Thakor-Rankin, announced that the next study will analyze the possible changes in workplace dynamics due to the impact of Covid-19 on some populations, against the potential addition of two new social classes of workers (working from home compared to those who do not). She added that the virus “makes us change the way in which we think about work”, with “a lot of unknowns.”