SCOTTISH women working in the technology industry are willing to accept an average minimum salary that is almost £20k less than males.
The research carried out by careers marketplace, Haystack, comes days after a damning report was published by think tank IPPR Scotland exposing the inequalities in pay and conditions between men and women in the country.
Looking at the minimum expected salary of 1010 of their current users in tech, the study revealed Scottish women working in the industry expect an average minimum salary of £22,000 per year compared to men who expect £40,714 – a difference of £18,714.
While Scotland has the biggest expected salary gender gap between males and females in the industry, women in the West Midlands actually expect more than men for the same roles, with their minimum expected salary being £37.2k – £462 more than the males!
When it comes to regions in the UK which also have a large expected salary gap, the South West of England sits narrowly behind Scotland with a difference of £14,377. Women in the East Midlands are also prepared to accept a much lower minimum salary than that of their male counterparts, £25,250 compared to £37,217 – a difference of £11,967.
The minimum expected salary of men and women working in the tech industry by UK region:
| Rank | Region | Female | Male | Difference |
| 1 | Scotland | £22,000 | £40,714 | £18,714 |
| 2 | South West England | £25,556 | £39,933 | £14,377 |
| 3 | East Midlands | £25,250 | £37,217 | £11,967 |
| 4 | London | £38,154 | £47,039 | £8,885 |
| 5 | North West England | £30,154 | £38,366 | £8,212 |
| 6 | Yorkshire and the Humber | £33,200 | £41,400 | £8,200 |
| 7 | Wales | £32,800 | £37,455 | £4,655 |
| 8 | East of England | £36,800 | £40,316 | £3,516 |
| 9 | South East England | £41,444 | £44,848 | £3,404 |
| 10 | Northern Ireland | £27,250 | £28,667 | £1,417 |
| 11 | North East England | £34,947 | £35,200 | £253 |
| 12 | West Midlands | £37,200 | £36,738 | -£462 |
Could the issue stem from a digital skills gap among the genders?
When analysing the roles that pay the most in tech and what skills they require, Haystack identified the ten most lucrative tech skills to have in a stack.
When their users’ skills were analysed, it was discovered that more men than women had the most lucrative skills listed in their experience, potentially affecting their earning potential.
| Rank | Tech skills | Average salary for job with skill | % males with skill | % females with skill | Difference |
| 1 | Docker | £58,000 | 12.33% | 4.70% | 7.63% |
| 2 | GIT | £54,600 | 20.70% | 17.45% | 3.25% |
| 3 | Java | £53,770 | 13.14% | 8.72% | 4.41% |
| 4 | AWS | £52,296 | 15.23% | 6.04% | 9.19% |
| 5 | C sharp | £49,770 | 13.95% | 8.05% | 5.90% |
| 6 | Python | £49,260 | 28.95% | 22.82% | 6.13% |
| 7 | React | £48,700 | 17.21% | 17.45% | -0.24% |
| 8 | JavaScript | £48,040 | 35.58% | 38.26% | -2.67% |
| 9 | SQL | £46,500 | 19.42% | 14.09% | 5.32% |
| 10 | CSS-3 | £43,970 | 25.70% | 20.13% | 5.56% |
Mike Davies, COO and co-founder at Haystack, said: “Studies have shown that women are more likely to accept job offers faster than men, meaning they are less likely to negotiate on the offered salary. And with many job adverts not disclosing the offered salary as anything other than ‘competitive’, as long as what is on offer matches their minimum, women are more likely to take a role without question.
“This is what perpetuates the gender pay gap. If women go into an interview with a lower expected salary and have been found to accept roles faster than their male counterparts, they will always be accepting less money than men going for the same job. Whereas men, with a higher minimum expected salary and more likely to negotiate, will walk away with a higher salary.
“Tech organisations need to start thinking about how they can put their best foot forward and not shy away from publishing salaries. We’ve found that this not only increases the overall application rate but also means that more women are happy to step up and value themselves accordingly, rather than relying on misaligned information.”
