The glass ceiling IS real: Study confirms women get smaller bonuses even if they perform as well as men

  • Research combined the results of 200 studies between 1985 and 2013
  • Found that gap in pay grew alongside the number of men in profession
  • Women got better performance reviews in jobs requiring routine tasks

By Ellie Zolfagharifard For Dailymail.com

Published: 12:12 EST, 15 October 2015 | Updated: 13:36 EST, 15 October 2015

Women are still struggling to match male salaries in the workplace, according to a new study.

Researchers have found that female employees receive smaller raises than men, even when their performance is equal.

The study backs previous research which claims that, regardless of position of profession, the glass ceiling still exists for women when it comes to pay.

Women are still struggling to match male salaries in the workplace, according to a new study. Researchers have found that female employees receive smaller raises than men, even when their performance is equal

Women are still struggling to match male salaries in the workplace, according to a new study. Researchers have found that female employees receive smaller raises than men, even when their performance is equal

'It was not that women systematically under-performed relative to men,' explained Aparna Joshi of the Penn State University, who led the study.

'In fact, we found no significant difference in the performance of women and men holding similar jobs.'

'What happened instead was that employers systematically under rewarded women who performed relatively similarly to and sometimes even higher than men.'

The research combined the results of 200 studies on salary and performance that took place between 1985 and 2013 across a range of jobs.

The study backs previous research which claims that, regardless of position of profession, the glass ceiling still exists for women when it comes to pay. 'It was not that women systematically under-performed relative to men,' explained Aparna Joshi of the Penn State University, who led the study

The study backs previous research which claims that, regardless of position of profession, the glass ceiling still exists for women when it comes to pay. 'It was not that women systematically under-performed relative to men,' explained Aparna Joshi of the Penn State University, who led the study

It found that men got higher evaluations on how they performed when they held complex jobs in prestigious occupations with industries where women were severely under-represented.

Women tended to get higher performance evaluations in jobs requiring routine tasks and when either their occupation was gender balanced or their industry had a higher number of women.

WOMEN NOW EARN MORE THAN MEN, BUT ONLY UNTIL THEY'RE 35 

Women now earn more than men until they turn 35, when the tables are turned, new figures show.

Official data found full-time women earned more than their male colleagues in their 20s and early 30s.

But at the age of 35, the trend is reversed and men then earn more money for the rest of their working life.

The gender pay gap then widens in their 40s, 50s, and 60s, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Experts said women were often punished for having children by finding themselves locked out of promotions and pay rises, despite returning full-time and to the same role.

In prestigious occupations such as law, consulting, and academia, women and men received similar, or slightly higher performance reviews than men.

But men were still rewarded significantly higher than women.

The gender gap in the link between performance and reward grew alongside the number of men in the profession and the complexity of the job.

Women were rewarded at higher levels than men and received higher performance reviews in only one setting: industries with a high proportion of female executives.

The 'best' work setting for women, the study found, is one in which their rewards are judged in much the same way as men's, in a routine job located in an occupation with a roughly equal share of women and men.

Another 'ideal' setting for women is an industry with a high share of women in executive positions.

According to the authors, there was one industry with a higher than average representation of female executives: healthcare.

Joshi notes that women have come as far as they can in closing the skills gap, the burden of action now must shift to employers to make changes.

He suggests including accountability checks into performance management and compensation practices so that women don't get left behind when it comes to their pay checks.

Joshi also suggests implementing industry-wide networking programs that help women gain access to social resources and support.

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