LGBTQ Wage Gap Exposed
According to a new study conducted San Francisco job search company, Hired, LGBTQ technology workers earn significantly less money than their straight counterparts.
Per the data, heterosexual men make more than all demographic groups, followed by LGBTQ men, non-LGBTQ women and finally, LGBTQ women, respectively.
While the pay gap is enormous, it is significant. For example, straight men in tech earn an average annual salary of $120, 412. LGBTQ men, however, typically earn around $3,000 less.
The average pay drops considerably for women, with non-LGBTQ women making $7,879.00 less and LGBTQ women earning a whopping $10,901 less than heterosexual men.
The findings were based on Hired's data, collected from a mix of 120,000 job offers from 8,000 participating companies in the past 12 months. Optional, self-reported demographic survey also were used from the company's 1 million-plus job seekers.
Per a report in Yahoo News, the tech recruiting firm declined to specify exactly how many job seekers identified as LGBTQ.
More: People with “gay voices” less likely to be hired
“Just like race and gender, biases against individuals who identify as LGBTQ still exist in the workplace today,” said Jessica Kirkpatrick, a data scientist at Hired and author of Hired’s 2017 wage inequality report. “When you combine LGBTQ bias, gender bias and any other bias, there is a compounding effect. That’s why women who identify as LGBTQ are ultimately paid less than other cohorts. We see that salary expectations follow the same trend, which is likely a result of candidates basing their salary requests off of what they are currently being paid, rather than what the market value is for their years of experience and skillset. This approach just perpetuates the wage gap.”
Hired's report offers a unique window into an area that doesn't get covered much at all in the media – the wage gap for LGBTQ workers.
Yahoo’s senior finance correspondent, JP Mangalindan, adds the following:
“To be sure, Silicon Valley has made significant strides when it comes to high-profile members of LGBTQ community. Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook famously came out in late 2014. The sexual orientation of billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel, who is also a member of President Donald Trump’s transition team, has long since been known among tech circles, with Thiel calling himself “proud to be gay” at last year’s Republican National Convention. Meanwhile, heavyweight tech journalist Kara Swisher, executive editor of the tech site Recode, has proudly identified as a member of the LGBTQ community for a long time, as well.
Persons who identify as LGBTQ are employed in many areas of technology, including communications, space, digital e-commerce, computers and more. Read our report on the 15 ways LGBT people touch straight lives everyday for more insight.
h/t: Yahoo and New Now Next
