LGBTQ+ women are the most likely to be living “paycheque to paycheque,” according to a new study report from Robert Walters.
In comparison to women of other sexualities, it claims that LGBTQ+ women are often the most dissatisfied group when it comes to conversations about salary, promotion, and their job.
The survey was conducted among 6,000 professionals and found out that 18 per cent of LGBTQ+ women are more likely than men to live “paycheque to paycheque”; are 10 per cent less likely to be promoted and lack the most confidence in the workplace when it comes to requesting pay raises or promotions.
Lucy Bisset, director of Robert Walters says: “We have been carrying out this research annually for three years now, and whilst there are some improvements to be celebrated – we continue to see the presence of negative experiences of minority or marginalised groups in the workplace.
“The dial has been pushed on gender pay transparency – but this report highlights a more concerning issue that for LGBTQ+ women, it appears to be much harder for them to even approach the idea of negotiating for a better salary or a promotion.
“These differences cannot go on, and in light of Lesbian Visibility Week [this week] I urge all employers to start diving deeper into the experiences of LGBTQ+ professionals in the workplace.”
More than half of women who identify as LGBTQ+ (55 per cent) feel that their income is not a fair indication of the job they accomplish in comparison to males who identify as LGBTQ+ (43 per cent) and men who are heterosexual (42 per cent).
According to the Robert Walters report’s analysis of earnings, 26 per cent of LGBTQ+ males and 30 per cent of straight men make more than £55k annually, compared to only 11 per cent of LGBTQ+ women.
Again, LGBTQ+ women claim lack of confidence as a hurdle; this time, 25 per cent of them say they lack the courage to boast about their own accomplishments or hard work, compared to only 16 per cent of heterosexual males who stated the same.
A quarter of LGBTQ+ women (23 per cent) say they are “not at all aware” of what they must do to get a promotion, and another 17 per cent say they require management guidance to better grasp the process.
The research also discovered that 53 per cent of LGBTQ+ women had not negotiated greater pay when they joined or while working for their present job; a quarter cited a lack of confidence or embarrassment as the primary reason for not negotiating for higher pay, the highest of any sexual orientation.
Coral Bamgboye, head of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion at Robert Walters Group, comments: “It would be amiss of me to not admit that we ourselves at Robert Walters are on our own journey of improving everything surrounding equality, diversity & inclusion.
“Much like ourselves and the setting up of multiple D&I councils and working groups around the world, our goal is to first hear what our LGBTQ+ professionals have to say and to get them involved in the solution,” she says.
“Hesitation or fear on this matter from employers won’t serve to shift the dial on some of the shocking statistics featured in this report.”
The report concluded that a fifth of LGBTQ+ women report that their organisation does not have initiatives to help them feel part of a connected community of colleagues, higher than any other sexual orientation, despite record levels of financial investment and human resources being put into diversity & inclusion strategies.
Robert Walters is one of the world’s leading global specialist professional recruitment and recruitment process outsourcing consultancies and the core brand of the Group.
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