Gender

"People still have this belief that when moms are employed, it's somehow detrimental to their children," says Harvard Business School Professor Kathleen McGinn, who led the groundbreaking study. "So our finding that maternal employment doesn't affect kids' happiness in adulthood is really important."

There is a gender gap in pay. The average woman earns less money than the average man. The gap worsens at the top, when considering the highest earners. The gap has improved slightly over time, but it has nevertheless persisted over many decades. While researchers have pointed to a number of factors to help explain the gap, such as differences in labour market experience achieved by men and women and what occupations are chosen by men and women, a sizeable and persistent ‘unexplained’ gap remains (Blau and Kahn 2017).

Women earn less than men at every level of employment, an inequality that has persisted for decades. This column examines one potential factor, namely, a sizeable gender gap in self-promotion. It considers four possible causes for this gap – performance, confidence, strategic incentives, and ambiguity – and while none can explain the gap alone, they do shed light on some of the labour market perceptions women may internalise over time, and to which employers should be sensitive in hiring practices.