Analyzing Gender Wage Gap Impact on Australian Financial Industries

This research report investigates the impact of the gender wage gap on the performance of businesses within the Australian financial industries. It begins by defining the gender wage gap and highlighting its significance, emphasizing its adverse effects on income inequality and the quality of life for women. The report outlines the project's objective, scope, and research questions, including the impact of the wage gap on business performance and potential government initiatives. A comprehensive literature review explores existing research on gender wage gaps, their causes, and the government's efforts to address them through legislative changes. The methodology section details the use of qualitative and quantitative research designs, data collection methods (primary and secondary data), and ethical considerations. The report also includes a time schedule, research limitations, and concludes with a discussion of the findings and recommendations for addressing gender wage inequality. The report uses both primary and secondary sources to collect the data and uses the random sampling technique for analysis.

Running Head: Business Research
Business Research
Impact of the gender wage gap on business performance in Australian financial
industries

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Project Objective.............................................................................................................................3
Project Scope...................................................................................................................................4
Literature Review............................................................................................................................5
Research Questions/Hypothesis.......................................................................................................6
Research Design and Methodology.................................................................................................7
Research Limitations.......................................................................................................................9
Time Schedule (Research Plan).....................................................................................................10
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................12
References......................................................................................................................................13

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Introduction
Gender wage gap is defined as the gap between the payments made to the different employees
working at the same position due to gender difference. Gender wage gap and gender inequality is
a major issue which is affecting the quality of the life of employees at the workplace. Gender pay
gap has acted as a perplexing issue for the Australian labor market. Gender wage gaps have
resulted in income inequality and adverse impacts on the quality of life of women. Gender wage
gaps are considered as direct discrimination (WGEA, 2018). Different legislative changes have
been implemented by the government of Australia so as to cope with the issue of gender wage
gap inequality. These legislative changes were targeted at the equality of pay for the equal work.
Attention has been paid to the issue of inequality in wages due to gender so as to ensure that the
impact of this issue is reduced by reducing the number of cases (WGEA, 2017).
This research program will discuss the concept of gender wage gap, its impact on the
performance of the business in Australian financial industries and measures taken by the
government for solving the issue. Data will be collected regarding the impact of gender wage
gaps on the business performance. Data will be assembled with the use of different methods or
approaches. Quality of the data is based on the methods selected for the process of data
collection.

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Project Objective
Gender wage gap is an important issue which has affected the quality of the workplace as well as
lives of the employees. Impact of the gender wage gap can be seen in the performance of the
employees which create an impact on the performance of the business. Various initiatives have
been taken by the government of Australia for coping with this issue. This research program has
been conducted with a motive to analyze the effect of the gender wage gap on the performance
of the business in Australian Financial Industries. This research program will develop knowledge
of the effect of gender wage gap on the performance of the employees.

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Project Scope
The focus of this research program is on a collection of the data regarding the gender wage gap
in Australian financial industries. Qualitative research analysis will be done for the collection of
the data related to the impact of the gender wage gap on the performance of the business in
Australian financial industries. Issues related to gender wage inequality will be covered in this
research program and impact of the individuals, households, and nation. Gender wage gap and
inequality has deleted the quality of life of the employees and there is a need to take initiatives
for coping with the issue in a better manner.

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Literature Review
Gender wage gap is the gap between the remuneration paid to the employees on the basis of their
gender. There has been a rise in the number of cases of gender wage gaps which has resulted in
adverse impact on the economic condition of the employees and performance of the organization
(Bailey, et. al., 2016). The growth of the business is getting affected due to the increase in the
gaps between the wages of the employees of different genders. Impact of the gender wage gap
has been seen on the education level of the females, decrease in the performance of the female
employees, fall in the number of female workers, job promotion chances and affects the
reputation of the business (McElhaney & Smith, 2017). Lack of equality in the payment made to
the female employees affects their satisfaction level and restricts the female employees from
enrolling in educational courses. Job promotional changes are offered to the male candidates
which affect the growth chances of the female employees. Labor literature has placed their focus
on gender wage gaps (Cassells, et. al., 2009).
According to Kurtulus & Tomaskovic-Devey (2012), government of Australia has
formulated different policies and taken initiatives for the purpose of ensuring that the equal pay
is made to every employee irrespective of their gender. There are various factors which affects
the gender pay gap and these factors include discrimination while taking hiring and paying
decisions, lack of flexibility at the workplace, difference in the nature of the work and greater
time out of the workplace for women (De la Rica, et. al., 2010). Government of Australia has
constructed different legislations for ensuring that gender differences are not creating impact on
the payment. Changes in the legislations took place in the year 1980 and 1990. In the year 1990,

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attention was paid to the issue for enhancing the quality of workplace (Cardoso & Winter-
Ebmer, 2010).

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Research Questions/Hypothesis
Research questions are constructed with a motive to assemble data for the research program.
Research questions prepared for this program are mentioned below:
Primary Question
 What is the impact of gender wage gap on the performance of the business in Australian
financial institutions?
Secondary Questions
 What are the impact of gender inequality on the employees and business?
 Which initiatives can be taken by the government for dealing with the issue of gender
wage gap and gender inequality?

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Research Design and Methodology
Research design or method: Qualitative and quantitative research designs will be used in this
research program. Qualitative research is based on the exploratory research design in which
focus is on identifying the various aspects related to the issue or problem. Clarity will be
provided to the different factors, motivations, and opinions. An insight of the issue will be
provided in a better manner. Semi-structured and structured methods will be adopted for the
accumulation of qualitative data. Qualitative research data will be assembled with the use of
primary and secondary sources (Turkenburg & McAuley, 2013). Qualitative research analysis
will be done for the purpose of developing knowledge of the effect of gender wage gap on the
performance of employees and business.
Data collection: data assembling is crucial for every research as the quality of the research is
based on the quality of the data collected. Two methods of data collection will be used for the
collection of quality data. Primary as well as secondary data will be assembled in this research
on the basis of which research will be executed. Primary data can be explained as the raw form
of data collected by the researcher directly from the respondents. Primary data is less preferred as
it is less reliable. Primary data is the first-hand data which is based on the views or thoughts of
the respondents (Thomas, 2015). Secondary data can be explained as the second-hand data
collected by the researcher from the secondary sources or the work of other researchers
(Johnston, 2014). Secondary data is a more reliable form of data as it is authentic and does not
get affected by the views of others (Rahi, 2017).
Procedures and techniques: analysis of the data will be done with the application of the
random sampling technique. Random sampling technique is an effective approach which is used

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so as to ensure equal opportunity to every sample of the population (Alvi, 2016). This will ensure
that the analysis is done in an effective manner.
Research strategies: a sequence will be followed for the purpose of conducting the research and
covering every aspect. It is vital to conduct the research by executing every activity in a series
(Subedi, 2016).
Research timeframe: the success of the research is dependent on the completion of the research
program within the limited timeframe allocated. Completion of the research within the allocated
timeframe will help in maintaining the relevance of the research program.
Collection of data and targeted market: a collection of the required data will be done with the
use of primary and secondary sources. Primary data will be accumulated by forming a
questionnaire. This questionnaire will be presented to the 20 employees for the organizations so
as to analyze the impact of the gender wage gap on the performance of the business in Australian
Financial Industries. Secondary data will be accumulated by using secondary sources including
internet and newspapers.
Ethical consideration: ethics can be defined as the process of identification of the right and
wrong so as to conduct the research in a better manner. During the execution of the research
program, the focus should be on protecting the interest of the different stakeholders of the
research. Ethical aspects considered while conducting this research covers confidentiality,
unbiasedness, honesty, and fairness.

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Research Limitations
Research limitations are the factors which act as a challenge and create an impact on the
research. These limitations are not under the control of the researcher. For the purpose of
eliminating the impact of these limitations, strategies or approaches need to be adopted. Research
limitations should be considered so as to ensure that these are not affecting the quality of the
research. Research limitations identified during the execution of this research include a shortage
of time, biasedness, lack of availability of the resources including finance and human resource
and lack of permission to access the data.

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Time Schedule (Research Plan)
Serial no. Activities Date of
initiation
Duration
(in days)
Date of
completion
Description
I) Taking decisions
regarding the
topic of the
research
19 January
2018
1 19 January
2018
The topic for the
research will be
chosen in this
phase.
II) Preparation of
the outline for
the research
program
20 January
2018
3 22 January
2018
Plans will be
outlined so as to
execute the
research
accordingly.
III) Execution of the
plans as per the
outline prepared
23 January
2018
7 29 January
2018
Plans outlined
will be put to use
for the execution
of the research
and attaining the
objectives framed.
IV) Choosing data 30 January 2 31 January Data collection

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assembling
methods
2018 2018 methods will be
analyzed and
selected.
V) Initiation of data
assembling
process
01
February
2018
6 06 February
2018
Data collection
methods will be
used for the
collection of the
required data.
VI) Analysis and
evaluation of the
collected data
07
February
2018
4 10 February
2018
Data assembled
will be analyzed
and evaluated for
drawing reliable
data.
VII) Conclusion and
recommendations
11
February
2018
1 11 February
2018
Conclusions will
be based on the
data analyzed and
evaluated.
Recommendations
will be made on
the basis of the

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analyzed data.
Gantt chart

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Conclusion
Thus, it can be concluded from the above discussion that gender wage gap has been considered
as a huge issue affecting the performance of the employees, organization, and environment at the
workplace. Impact of the gender wage gap can be seen on the access to education, promotion,
and budgets of the households. This research program has covered the impact of this issue on the
businesses in Australian financial institutions. The government of Australia is focusing on
resolving the issue and promoting gender wage equality for eliminating the cases of
discrimination. Impact of the gender wage equality can be seen on the growth of the economies
which are export-oriented and semi-industrialized.

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References
Alvi, M., 2016, “A Manual for Selecting Sampling Techniques in Research”, MPRA.
Bailey, J., Peetz, D. & Strachan, G., 2016, “Academic pay loadings and gender in Australian
universities”, Journal of Industrial Relations.
Cardoso, A. R. & Winter-Ebmer, R., 2010, “Female-led firms and gender wage policies”,
Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol. 64 (1), pp. 143–163.
Cassells, R., Vidyattama, Y., Miranti, R. & McNamara, J., 2009, “The impact of a sustained
gender wage gap on the Australian economy”, NATSEM University of Canberra.
De la Rica, S., Dolado, J. J. & Vegas, R., 2010, “Performance pay and the gender wage gap:
Evidence from Spain”, Discussion Papers 5032, IZA.
Johnston, M. P., 2014, “Secondary Data Analysis: A Method of which the Time Has Come”,
Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries, pp. 619 –626.
Kurtulus, F. A. & Tomaskovic-Devey, D., 2012, “Do female top managers help women to
advance? A panel study using EEO-1 records”, Annals of American Academy of Political and
Social Science, 639, 173.
McElhaney, K. & Smith, G., 2017, “Eliminating the Pay Gap: An Exploration of Gender
Equality, Equal Pay, and A Company that Is Leading the Way”, University of California.

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Rahi, S., 2017, “Research Design and Methods: A Systematic Review of Research Paradigms,
Sampling Issues and Instruments Development”, International Journal of Economics &
Management Sciences.
Subedi, D., 2016, “Explanatory Sequential Mixed Method Design as the Third Research
Community of Knowledge Claim”, American Journal of Educational Research, Vol. 4, No. 7,
570-577.
Thomas, J. A., 2015, “Using unstructured diaries for primary data collection”, Nurse researcher,
vol. 22, no. 5, pp. 25.
Turkenburg, J. P. & McAuley, K. E., 2013, “Data collection and processing”, Acta
Crystallographica Section D, Vol. 69(7), pp. 1193-1194.
WGEA, 2017, “Australia’s gender pay gap statistics”, Workplace Gender Equality Agency.
Available at: https://www.wgea.gov.au/sites/default/files/gender-pay-gap-statistics.pdf
WGEA, 2018, “What is the gender pay gap?”, Australian Government.