Nike and Intel sign equal pay pledge
bizjournals.com
bizjournals.com
These companies already have 'equal pay' for 'equal work'. Google and Amazon have published their figures at 99.6% equality.
Ergo - the 'pay gap' - does not exist, or is at least misrepresented.
The 'gap' is a function of people doing different work.
Now - there may be a degree of unfairness with respect to advancement, specifically, men are more likely to be employed in senior level positions.
But it's unfair to characterize even this issue in simplistic 'equal' terms. In high tech, those with tech credential have a significant advantage. Given this, the fact that only about 15% of Eng. grads in the US are female, creates a credibility issue around the 'equal' problem.
If those willing to obtain the necessary credentials are skewed in one direction, is it really fair, or even 'equal' to skew the balance in the opposite direction? Is this 'equality' or 'ideology'?
"Companies that sign the pledge must conduct an annual study of gender pay and review hiring and promotion processes for bias, among other steps."
At least this part, seems reasonable.
But it's a very fine line between: 'making sure we are fair and equal' and 'promoting women, because, well, we need our numbers to balance'.
Finally, of course, there are the optics of the situation. However much companies believe they actually need to do this is one thing, the other is, the kind of 'corporate image' they want to present to the world.
In 2016 - there are very drastic differences between genders - 'socially constructed' or not - they exist. I know very, very few women who want to create a new company - or at least go so far as to actually try to do it. This could be a function of many things (role models, networks), including many factors and complex ways in which we are socialized into the world. That said - it definitely indicates a 'funnel problem' which cannot be realistically avoided by industry participants.
We need thoughtfulness on this one, not populism.