Average female tech salary less than males regardless of role or experience

Women in the technology industry are paid less on average than their male counterparts, regardless of their job role or experience, Computer Weekly has found.

The 2017 annual Computer Weekly salary survey, which asked its readers in the UK and Ireland about their careers in the tech sector, found women in the technology industry earn less, on average, than men. The survey found the average salary for women in tech was £59,209, compared with the average male salary of £78,599.

Men in the tech industry continue to earn more, on average, than women, regardless of the number of years of experience they have, the research found, with women who have less than three years’ experience making approximately £18,000 less per year than their male counterparts.

The gender pay gap in the technology industry is nothing new, and it has been found pay gaps between men and women in the industry commonly increase as positions become more senior.

According to Computer Weekly’s research, the problem does not average out as experience increases, with women with 30 years or more of tech experience making, on average, £70,188 per year, whereas men with the same amount of experience are making £83,723 on average.

The average annual salary of women in the tech industry also drops around the middle of their careers, with women who have between eight and 12 years of experience making more, on average, per year than a woman with 13 to 19 years’ experience.

Men’s salaries, on the other hand, see a small drop in average annual salary at between four to seven years of experience, and then see increased average salaries as time goes on.

Despite efforts to encourage women of all ages into the technology industry, the number of women in tech has remained the same over the past few years, and many claim it is significantly lower than the number of women in IT in the 1980s.

Year-on-year, the number of women responding to Computer Weekly’s survey has dropped, from 18% in 2016 to 17% in 2017.

The research also found women earn less than men in most IT job functions, despite being in the same role.

This gap is significantly bigger in some roles, including tech sales and marketing roles, where women make, on average, £70,771, compared with £129,006 for their male counterparts, and senior management roles, where women are paid £71,125 – less than half of the £151,846 average for their male counterparts.

For IT managers, the gap was slightly smaller, with women making £5,905 less than their male counterparts per year.

But for general IT staff, the gap was smaller still, with women making £178 less than their male counterparts.