The gender pay gap is closing but barely – here’s why

One hundred and thirty-four years. Five generations. That’s how long it will take to achieve gender parity, according to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2024. The World Economic Forum measures gender parity across four dimensions – health, education, politics and economics or work.

The two dimensions where the gaps are largest are those where progress is, some argue, most significant at this time – “economic participation and opportunity” and “political empowerment”. Closing the gaps in these areas leads to more equitable decision-making and better growth, with a World Bank estimate noting it could lead to a 20 per cent rise in global GDP.

Though the gender gap is closing – it now stands at 68.5 per cent – the collective rate of progress has slowed down. Over recent decades in Ireland, there has been significant progress in reducing the gap in terms of representation in leadership roles in the workplace, but progress is stagnating in some areas. According to Grant Thornton, at current levels gender parity across senior roles globally will only be achieved in 2053 at the earliest.

One of the influencing factors in this is the motherhood penalty, which accounts for up to 80 per cent of the gender pay gap. This penalty refers to the disadvantages women face in the workplace as a result of becoming mothers, such as wage reductions, diminished perceived competence and fewer career advancement opportunities compared to their counterparts who do not have or provide care for children.

“While we are seeing some tangible progress in Ireland, and globally in terms of increasing rates of women occupying senior leadership positions, there is still some way to go to reach gender parity, particularly in key decision-making C-suite roles and mid-management levels,” says Siobhan Noble, managing director of Product and Customer Success at Carne Group.

“We know there is no skills or competency gap between boys and girls at school, university or work entry level. Girls perform as well [and sometimes even better] as boys across all subjects, including STEM subjects. However, there are a number of core systemic issues that create blockers for females across higher ranks in the workplace,” she says. One unavoidable key issue Siobhan highlights is the fact that “women are still the only ones who can birth children”.

“While men play a role increasingly in childcare duties, we still remain the primary caregivers in the home. Further, we are having children later in life… usually at a point when our training is complete and we are advancing up the leadership ladder. While childbirth and caring duties are highly valued in our society, they come at a price as taking a break at this crucial point often has a detrimental effect on career advancement for women.”

She explains what many women leaders will have experienced in their career – this is further exacerbated upon a woman’s return to work. “Extra flexibility is required due to additional responsibilities at home. We usually have to accept that it is not possible to rear a young family and advance your career at the same time – as a result of this, many women can remain stagnant or even regress at this point. In addition, especially in the case of multiple children families, access to and expense of childcare can sometimes make a return to work no longer financially feasible.” 

Supporting families at work is at the heart of the work of Tracy Gunn and Michelle O’Keeffe, co-founders of Platform 55, a HR platform transforming how organisations support today’s family at work. Winners of The Pitch 2024, a national business competition powered by Samsung and supported by IMAGE Media, they highlight that 55 per cent of the workforce are parents, and 75 per cent will have caring responsibilities at some stage, so “supporting today’s family at work isn’t just important, it’s the right thing to do”.

“Gender equality is complex, but two impactful actions to help drive change. We need to rethink attitudes to part-time work and change the narrative for dads,” they explain, echoing Siobhan’s sentiments. “For many parents, working a three- or four-day week is essential to balancing family and career, yet it’s often seen as a ‘career killer’ that disproportionately affects women.

We need to challenge the idea that part-time roles mean reduced commitment. Why can’t you be both senior and part-time? Flexibility benefits everyone,” they say. Research from Platform 55 shows fewer than 10 per cent of dads take their full family leave entitlement, reinforcing the stereotype that parenting is a “female role”. “Actively encouraging men to ‘parent out loud’, by taking parental leave and being visible caregivers, can help challenge outdated norms and share responsibilities more equally.”

Tracy and Michelle note that “while progress is evident at senior levels, we’re still losing talented women at middle management.” This slowdown, or breakdown, of the talent pipeline is especially evident in some sectors, such as STEM. As a leader in this field, this pipeline is of special interest to Alessandra Sala, president of Women in AI and senior director of AI and Data Science at Shutterstock in Dublin. “The gender gap data is clear: women face systemic roadblocks to career growth and without real interventions to establish balance, we’re perpetuating inequities instead of addressing them,” she says.

“It’s absolutely critical to support a pipeline of talent, especially when we consider that many companies today take a passive role, expecting a healthy AI talent pipeline to appear organically rather than actively investing in it. A more systematic focus on education is essential, particularly in stimulating young girls and women to pursue careers in AI – the very talent these companies desperately need.”

As a leader in the area of talent recruitment and retention at a time when skills are a key concern for organisations, Aine Fanning, chief sales and marketing officer at Cpl, shares the importance of organisations taking a proactive approach. Headquartered in Dublin, Cpl is a global provider of talent solutions and sees that the acquisition and retention of female talent is high on the agenda for many organisations. “Through our experience within the full talent services spectrum at all levels… we have seen clients make a significant impact in attracting, retaining and promoting women when they have taken a multi-pronged approach, including inclusive practices throughout the recruitment process from job description to interviews and onboarding, as well as purposeful culture changes in male dominated teams or environments, and also the physical environment,” she explains. 

All the leaders interviewed for this article agree that in order to drive true change and balance, governments and companies must tackle these issues through new and enhanced policies on maternity and paternity leave, childcare, carers’ support and more. “New legislation on pay transparency, gender pay gap reporting and the CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive) is keeping equality front and centre,” say Tracy and Michelle. “These measures are driving accountability and encouraging organisations to take meaningful action. While there’s still work to do, the focus on systemic change is a step in the right direction. When we get it right, everyone benefits: business, individuals, and the next generation.”

Ahead of International Women’s Day, which has the theme of Accelerate Action for gender equality, Siobhan encourages all female leaders to aim high. “It is the perfect time to remind ourselves why gender parity is so important. Apart from it being a fundamental human right, all the evidence points to not only better business and financial outcomes, but a better workplace and boardroom, where there is more creativity and diversity in thought, decision making and problem solving, greater innovation and a more inclusive and balanced culture.

“We all have a role to play when it comes to gender parity and we, as female leaders, must work closely with our male peers as our allies to drive sustainable change and progress. We all know what is measured is managed, so we need to see more ambitious targets being set going forward,” she says.

This article originally appeared in the Spring 2025 issue of IMAGE.

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