Tech Wage Gap: White Men Outearn Everyone Else In Industry, Black Women Make The Least

In what should be a shock to no one, white men outearn women and all other race groups in the tech industry, while black women make the least, according to a new study. The data was analyzed by Hired, a job site for those looking for tech positions, such as engineers and software developers.

The study, which coincides with Equal Pay Day 2017, is based on 120,000 salary offers and other data.

Gender Wage Gap In The Tech Sector

The study found 63 percent of women receive a lower salary offer than men for the same tech job. The number has improved slightly compared to last year’s Hired report, which was 69 percent, but it shows how the wage gap continues to affect women. Women are offered salaries which are four percent less than men on average, with some companies offering 50 percent less, the study found. Data shows one of 10 job openings offered men salaries at least 20 percent higher than those offered to women.

Read: Diversity At Apple: Minority Hiring Requirement Proposed At Apple Shareholders Meeting Shot Down

Women are affected even in the beginning of the hiring process, impacting access to opportunity. Companies interviewed only male candidates for a certain position 53 percent of the time, compared to six percent when reversed.

“Even when controlling for the fact that our candidate pool skews more male, we still found that women were underrepresented in the interview pool two-thirds of the time,” the study said. “Long term, these kinds of biases during the hiring process may contribute to the gender disparity we see in the tech industry, like the fact that women are twice as likely as men to leave the space.”

Salary negotiations also impact the gender wage gap. When looking at final salary offers, the study found the gender wage gap increases from 4 percent to 5 percent.

There is a good time for women though. When women with four years of work experience or less ask for more money than men they actually get the salary, making $1.08 for every dollar a man with less than one year experience makes.

Read: How To Make Sure You're Getting Paid A Decent Wage

However, women are affected by the wage gap when they have six years of experience, which may be around the time they begin having children. Previous research has shown women’s salaries are likely to decline after having children, whereas men’s salaries increase.

White Men Make More Than Everyone Else

White men earn more than all other race groups, the study found. White men are offered the highest salaries, while black women are offered the lowest. For every dollar a white male makes, a black woman is paid 79 cents. Males of all races make more than women, except in one case: white women are offered two percent more than black men.

Hired released a breakdown of the wage gap by race and gender:

LGBTQ Candidates Make Less

The study also found non-LGBTQ men outearn all other categories, followed by LGBTQ men, non-LGBTQ women and LGBTQ women.

Hired’s data analysis comes after a previous study by OpenMIC which detailed the lack of diversity in the tech industry. It also follows Apple shareholders decision to vote against a proposal to implement an accelerated recruitment policy at the company that would increase diversity at senior levels and its Board of Directors.