Survey: Finance Women See No Progress in Pay Parity

Almost 100 percent of the respondents to a survey of women in finance believe that women are being paid less than men for comparable work.

The figure, 96 percent of the 259 members of the Financial Women's Association who took part in the survey, is identical to that reported by the FWA in 1998. That shows "that the perception of pay parity has not improved in almost a decade," according to a release issued by the 1,000 member association Friday.

While the group couldn't document actual pay disparities, "perception is really important," Lily Klebanoff Blake, the group's president, told CFO.com. "It may well affect decisions by our members" in terms of the career moves they make. Blake said the group consists of a number of corporate and nonprofit CFOs, and "the full range" of other financial executives, as well as accountants, lawyers, and Wall Street managers.

Almost two-thirds of the respondents think their gender holds them back in their career. "They cited a lack of access to informal networks of decision-makers, to mentors, to the types of assignments that are critical for career advancement, and for entrepreneurs, to the funding sources needed to start a business among the reasons," according to the association, which counts a few males among its members.

In another finding, 83 percent of the respondents cited the presence of performance-based pay as an important factor in their job choices, a considerable hike from the 69 percent who felt that way in 2002.