Dive Brief:

• After considering all factors that influence compensation outside of gender, the gender pay gap for men and women overall shrinks to 97 cents on the dollar, according to a study.
• However, “Inside the Gender Pay Gap," from Payscale.com, reports that the gap widens for certain groups of female workers, mainly executives, women with children, and women with higher academic degrees. For example, women with doctorates earn 95 cents for every dollar their male colleagues earn.
• Lydia Frankk, senior director, Editorial & Marketing at PayScale.com, writes at Harvard Business Review that as responsibility increases, so does the pay gap for women. For example, while "women at an individual contributor level only earn 2.2% less than men working in similar roles, the gap widens for managers/supervisors, directors, and executives."

Dive Insight:

Frankk says that why it happens is hard to pinpoint, but the fact that it does should convince employers to evaluate pay appropriately. Employers should take a look at market pay for the position and compare internally to male colleagues in similar roles, particularly when a promotion is involved.

Frankk adds that managing the issue requires long-term thinking. She recommends steps employers can take right now to ensure their organization is "being proactive and intentional about correcting gender pay disparities (or any pay disparities really)."

In the end, communicating clearly about compensation is one of the top predictors of employee attutides, including “satisfaction” and “intent to leave.” Adopting some "level of transparency around your compensation strategy and practices shows employees, regardless of gender, that you care about getting pay right," she writes.