The Harvard Business Review, May 2013, featured an article on the salary gap between women and men CFOs two years after starting their jobs. The key findings included:
- there was no gap in salaries in the year they were hired
- two years later, women trailed their male counterparts by 4.5-5%.
HBR proposed four ways to prevent this happening:
1. move – or at least look as though you are willing to. Stay in touch with headhunters, cultivate networks and stay visible to potential new opportunities
2. compete within the firm. Show that you are willing to move within the firm, seeking opportunities for additional responsibilities.
3. get it in writing. Ask for a contract cause that ensures you receive equal pay increases to men of comparable rank in comparable firms.
4. do your homework. Find out comparable payrates of others and bring it to the table when appropriate. Pay packages of public C-suite execs are a matter of record.
The research was based on 1598 newly hired CFOs at US public companies.
Source: HBR, May 2013, p30
