{"id":9143,"date":"2023-07-19T14:07:49","date_gmt":"2023-07-19T14:07:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mouthymoney.co.uk\/?p=9143"},"modified":"2025-03-03T09:10:52","modified_gmt":"2025-03-03T09:10:52","slug":"gender-pay-gap-how-to-ask-for-a-raise-in-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mouthymoney.co.uk\/pensions\/gender-pay-gap-how-to-ask-for-a-raise-in-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Gender pay gap: how to ask for a raise in 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Mouthy financial planning expert and founder of Money Means<\/a> Helena Wardle looks at the gender pay gap and reasons why you should be asking for that pay rise in 2023\u00a0<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"Gender<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The gender pay gap took a real hit in the latest figures for 2022\/23, the largest increase since 2018. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2022, women in the UK took home 9.4% less than men. Four in five (80%) of businesses paid their female staff less than males.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The gap is huge in some industries (IT, automotive, engineering) but non-existent in others (pharmacy, domestic services, primary education), but the glass ceiling is thickening as the gap goes into reverse. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Women who want to climb the career or pay ladder face barriers. We all know this. PhD papers, books and whole government departments are dedicated to the subject so we\u2019re not going to crack it in ~700 words. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re just going to ask a question: what do you value? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The confidence paradox<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Writing in Harvard Business Review following publication of his book on the topic, psychologist Dr Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic offered three popular excuses people give for the lack of women in big jobs: 1) they\u2019re incapable 2) they\u2019re uninterested and 3) system prejudice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But he also offers a wildcard fourth idea rooted in society\u2019s problematic relationship with confidence. People are, he says, unable to discern between confidence and competence, thus the quiet aren\u2019t as likely as the loud to be noticed and rewarded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

See, women outperform men in terms of emotional intelligence. That reads like a wonderful asset to have in the arsenal but emotional intelligence is associated with humility and modesty. Those are two traits we don\u2019t overly value at work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has been proven (again and again) that humility lends itself to good job performance, while arrogance and overconfidence correlate with underperformance, but herein lies the paradox: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What it takes to get a big job, or a raise, or an opportunity is the exact reverse of what that person needs to perform the role well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Smile pretty and play it safe<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

That women are humbler than men may be nature, but it\u2019s almost certainly nurture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reshma Saujani, chief executive and founder of Girls Who Code and author of Brave, Not Perfect (a New York Times bestseller), believes humility and risk-aversion are seeds planted in girls from a young age. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe raise our boys to be brave, but our girls to be perfect,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saujani writes that girls are traditionally taught to avoid risks, smile pretty, stand back and play it safe while boys are encouraged to play rough, aim high, take risks and fear not. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a little old school in the mix here too. Freud wrote that humans naturally want to recognise and promote brave, confident and even narcissistic people. We see hubris and leadership as peas in a pod. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Silent wheel, time to squeak<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A Hewlett Packard workplace study found men will apply for a job if they meet 60% of the criteria, yet women will apply only if they meet 100% of the criteria. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pew Research Centre found that one in three men (32%) have asked for a pay rise in recent days compared to far fewer women. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A cost-of-living crisis may be the right moment to consider not what society values but what you yourself value. If that\u2019s competence, and you embody exactly that at work, then male or female it might be time to test what it is your employer values. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We can probably all agree that, still today, the squeaky wheel gets the grease but maybe humility isn\u2019t the wheel that stays silent. Maybe it\u2019s the wheel that picks the right moment to squeak. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Practical steps<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Seeking a pay rise or more responsibilities at work isn\u2019t just a matter of valuing yourself or picking your shot, there are practical steps too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think about the following before, during and after exploring a pay rise: <\/p>\n\n\n\n