Gender Pay Gaps and Untapped Talent
A clear look at how gender pay gaps waste human potential-and what it takes to unlock it.
Credit: ThisisEngineering on Unsplash
Despite decades of policy effort, men and women continue to experience persistent gaps in pay, promotions, and career progression. These gaps reveal more than unequal treatment - they highlight how economies systematically under-utilise women’s skills.
Our research demonstrates:
- The economic costs of talent misallocation when women face barriers to reaching their full potential.
- How unequal reward structures emerge early and compound over time.
- Why narrowing gender gaps is essential not only for fairness but for productivity, growth, and innovation.
This theme synthesises evidence on the labour-market structures that embed inequality and the reforms needed to unlock the full potential of the workforce.
Research focus:
Gender pay gaps aren't only about unequal treatment - they're also about unequal information.
Our research shows that many women underestimate what they could earn elsewhere, which reduces bargaining power and helps keep pay gaps in place. Improving transparency about pay and opportunities can help unlock untapped talent.This work draws on Worker Beliefs About Outside Options by Simon Jäger, Christopher Roth, Nina Roussille, and Benjamin Schoefer, which studies how workers understand their pay prospects. Using data from Germany, the researchers show that many employees are overly pessimistic about what they could earn by changing jobs - allowing low-paying firms to persist.
In the study, around half of those surveyed believed they were earning close to the median pay for their occupation, when in reality only 20% actually were.
