The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day on 8th March is #PressforProgress. It’s a call-to-arms to push for gender parity.

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It comes at a time when the gender pay gap has exploded into the spotlight. With Carrie Gracie highlighting the wage inequality at the BBC, senior women from a variety of different industries have come forward to share their own gender pay gap stories.

 

But it’s not only the experienced women at the top of their careers who are impacted. In November last year, research by the Fawcett Society revealed that the gender pay gap for women in their twenties is five times greater than it was six years ago.

 

It was widely believed that the gap among younger women had almost been eradicated, but it actually grew from 1.1% in 2011 to 5.5% in 2017.

 

For Anna, 24, the pay gap between herself and a male colleague was one of the reasons for her decision to leave her job at an online publication. Despite having a similar role, his salary was significantly higher than her’s.

 

“I asked my company for a raise to match his, and their argument was he has more experience than me ‘on paper’. Despite all his 'extra experience', none of it is applicable to our title - incidentally, we both do slightly different roles but mine involves more responsibility and more skill.”

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She says her main frustration is that she had to help him with his job every day. Her conclusion is that “maleness seems to outweigh experience. It doesn't seem to matter how hard you work, how much you teach yourself, or, simply, sheer talent.”

 

Kate Oliver, 26, blames the culture of male-dominated work environments. She works in policy and public affairs in the charity sector, and has noticed how much “informal networking” takes place between male colleagues at the pub. “It seems sometimes like women have a different set of professional rules to adhere to.”

 

Oliver has also had experience of being paid less than a male colleague, despite being in the same role and having more experience.

 

“I know that a lot of other younger women feel the same but are worried about saying something in case they appear to be playing the ‘gender card’. In my experience, it’s not that these men are trying to hold women back, it’s that they’re not open to actually asking where the problems are.”