David Watt: Equal chances are the key to equal pay

We need to find a way to give women and men the same opportunities, and create equal chances to take the same career paths that currently seem to be less available to young women. The senior management posts and highest-level specialist posts in so many fields still seem significantly dominated by men.

One way to do this is to change the grass roots narrative. We must tell girls from the earliest age that they can be anything they want to be; from train driver to football player; and from nuclear scientist to chief executive

Young girls should only be limited by their ability and their desire: never by their gender.

Our society needs to change its attitude, and in many cases its practices, to ensure that girls get to progress in significantly growing numbers, starting in the home and then through pre-school, school and further education.

It is widely acknowledged that STEM careers are male dominated, in the UK just 15% of engineering graduates are female. The figures are 19% for computer studies and 38% for maths. The shortfall is hardly surprising when we consider that only 13% of the overall UK STEM workforce is female and there are relatively few female STEM role models as a consequence.

We all need to embrace and encourage a fundamental change in attitude, and deliver a new atmosphere of equality, not just in business but across all of society. By creating senior role models across traditionally male dominated sectors, we can foster a new attitude in girls and young women, encouraging them to pursue a career that they may not have originally considered.

Some of this change will come naturally in time, but we need it sooner than in a generation or two. Women need to be correctly recognised and valued, and we need to realise their potential for the benefit of our economy.

Research conducted in 2015 showed that a more diverse and inclusive workforce helps business by bringing new skills, creativity and innovation, and achieving higher staff retention. Moving towards parity at top positions is not only likely to help the company’s performance, it could bring in added tax revenue. The same study estimated that closing gender gaps in work could add £150 billion to UK gross domestic product in 2025.

Unfortunately, there are still businesses in Scotland which pay male staff a higher rate than their female colleagues for the same job. We should be tracking down the offenders in this area, where like for like jobs are not paid the same, as it is unacceptable.

The IoD strongly supports the principle of equal pay and the need to create a better balance between male and female participation in the workforce so as to broaden the talent pool available to employers.

Measuring pay gaps is very complex, and averages can be misleading as peculiarities of industry, companies, geographies or circumstances make such comparisons unfair.

Governments should focus on affordable and accessible childcare, encouraging more girls to study STEM subjects and providing better careers advice in schools. Policymakers should also focus on provision of leave and other measures which could help spread the strain of caring for children or the elderly.

Ultimately, a concerted effort must be made to challenge cultural norms and encourage more men and women to enter jobs which are outside conventional gender roles. Publishing crude averages alone will not tackle the root causes of the gender pay gap. There are numerous ways to improve the prospects of women in business, but these must be done as part of a package of complementary measures designed to aid real change and advance the cause of women in the workplace.

David Watt is executive director of IoD Scotland