Female wage gap in PE
I have joined an infra PE boosting that they are an equality employer and took a pay cut because of good culture only to discover that I make less than male colleagues. We also make slightly less than market. In my class one guy was promoted, another had a 15% higher base than me, despite a stellar review. I am very angry and feel exploited, my image on good culture fell apart and want to fix this totally unfair situation. I feel especially betrayed by my manager who is a true mentor and sponsor and cannot understand how he could let this happen. I am the only female member on our team. Have you had a pay gap problem? If so what steps have you taken? Were those successful? I am acutely aware of our industry's 25-30% female wage gap but this hits me in the face. Oh, happy women's day btw.
You have every right to feel exploited. You’re getting paid less for equal work. I think the best next step would be to talk to your career mentor honestly about the situation. The promotion may be a bit harder to argue, but if the guy next to you is getting the more pay at the same level, for the same work, that is the definition of the wage gap. I would also bring up how the fact there is ONE woman at the first, is indicative of a culture predisposed to this behavior. Negotiate and if you feel like there is no future for you at this firm, go somewhere else. There are plenty of PE infrastructure firms dying for diversity
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Not sure how you found out how much the other male Associate makes, but if he told you, I would say something about how discussing salaries is important for pay-equity and had these conversations not happened, you wouldn’t have even known there was a gap. A lack of pay transparency is a tool that has been utilized to underpay women and minorities for years, so don’t feel like that’s something you can’t speak up about
Unfortunately, even top bucket women regularly get exploited across all industries. A friend who is incredibly smart and is regularly marked as a top performer recently found out that males a level BELOW her were making more than her (think Associate vs VP in IB). This is at one of the top 20 largest consulting firms in the US and is well known for being a great firm (I dont want to get too specific).
My advice: Find the people you are close with at your fund that are the same level and compile data points. Present this data to your manager and ask that he advocate for you IMMEDIATELY. No waiting until year end, or until bonuses are paid out, you want your compensation to align with others at your level. My major assumption here is that the colleague making more than you has a borderline identical background and YoEs. I also dont know how big your fund is, and if you both joined at the same time. These all weigh into how you are treated.
Regardless of how your manager responds, it may be time to consider jumping ship. The PE market is so hot right now I doubt youll have a problem given your pre-existing experience. Your firm should compensate you fairly or you should leave. Compensation has been why I have left every firm except one throughout my career. You are probably extremely bright and hardworking, so your compensation should reflect that. PE is an uphill battle for most women, so you need to feel comfortable advocating for yourself. I have a few female friends in PE and have read a good bit about how awful it is to work in PE for many women at top PE funds.
If you aren't comfortable pointing out your specific coworker (totally understandable, he was just trying to be helpful after all), you can instead talk about market compensation as a whole. Here's a LitCap Buy Side Comp Survey - feel free to use this to say you're underpaid relative to market. Also raise the point of high junior talent turnover if that's been an issue at your firm, and just say, "I think junior turnover would decrease if we paid closer to market".
Also, I would comment that if I found this out at my firm, my trust would be irrevocably broken and I'd start job searching immediately. You are a valuable resource. Especially in the current environment, they should be bending over backwards to keep you. If they aren't, 100% guarantee there is some other firm out there that will.
Things that never happened - Season 1 on Netflix
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At Jr level, ppl with same seniority have same base pay, as simple as that. Unless you’re omitting something (ie he got in beginning of the year and you at the end, or he had made a significant contribution / threatened to leave and got a pay bump). If it’s just as you say, you can just threat to leak the story to the press and GPs are aware that if it happens, in 0.5 seconds 80% of LPs won’t be interested in doing business with the fund anymore. But I continue to believe that this is made up / twisted in some ways
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I think this doesn't belong to this thread, sorry.
my guy, have you ever seriously tried to befriend a single woman in your entire life? i say this not in a satirical or in a mocking way, but ask yourself: do you see women as real people? like real human beings with ambitions, feelings, and experiences that exist outside of their relations with men?
just a couple of offhand thoughts on the questions you're posing
why does menstrual cycle matter if what you're evaluated on is output? if she is getting stellar reviews, then clearly she's productive enough
if you're a man who is actually less productive around attractive women, you should probably seek professional help. either way, it's not on women that you can't be professional around them
why single out prolonged maternity leave when men also take paternity leave? shouldn't both parents be able to take equal time off and contribute the same amount to raising their kid? maybe 2 in 4 women wouldn't have to quit their jobs if their baby daddies stepped up and actually helped out, but i guess you aren't really considering the idea that men should also be parenting their own kids? lol
your "ruthless capitalistic" point of view is a bad take because you failed to consider that you don't see women as real people. you take for granted that men shouldn't have to control themselves around women, that women's biology means they're less productive (which is clearly not true), that women should be the primary caretakers of children instead of men. you wouldn't assume any of this in your "analysis" of women in the workplace if you viewed women as real people
Just chiming in with sympathy. My best advice (as I've been in a similar situation). Ask for what you're worth- confidently- be ready to walk if it doesn't happen within a reasonable time (3-6 months). While waiting start interviewing because generally once this happens the feelings change (on your part). At least mine did. Finally in my life I'm paid fairly and valued. Finally. But I'm 42 and have been dealing with this same type of shit long enough. Discussing pay amongst coworkers is a right and protected right. It's not out of bounds to say directly you know you are paid less than the rest of the team without mentioning names. I've done it before and it's worked for me but I had to wait and make sure I was not going to take a lot of bullshit. Having other options cooking in the background gave me the confidence to act so I suggest you start shopping around to see what offers you are able to get. Best of luck.
Wow… this is concerning. As a current undergrad going into IB who will probably have to exit into PE or some type of corporate finance to move back home, this scares me.
Questions for women on this thread (and apologies if this is derailing it)-
Do you feel like you “fit in”? I can be bro-y, but a lot of these places are all guys. Do you feel excluded when it comes to out-off-office activities? Boutique IBers also probably have some insight into this.
Have any of you had experience getting married/starting a family in high finance? I’d love to get married and have kids in a few years but continue with my career. Do you think these places are supportive or even do the bare minimum (I.e. don’t discriminate, give adequate leave, won’t fire you, will still promote).
Thanks to all the women who have already contributed to the thread!
It's not easy- but TBH it's way better than it was 15-20 years ago. Find a firm that actually believes in diversity and respect. Im married and have a child but I'll tell
you honestly that it has been an uphill battle of being marginalized and not heard and underpaid. I am routinely the only women and youngest on my team- and I'm in my 40s so not that young anymore.