Mars versus Venus is still in effect in the workplace, with female workers continuing to report gaps in pay and career advancement opportunities, according to a recent CareerBuilder.com survey. Thirty-five percent of women say they are paid less than male counterparts who have similar experiences and qualifications in their organizations, up from 31 percent in the company's 2003 survey. The CareerBuilder.com survey, "Men and Women at Work 2006" included more than 1,400 women and over 575 men working full-time.

Comparing age groups, younger female workers reported less instance of pay disparity at their employers. Thirty percent of female workers age 21 to 35 say they are paid less than equally qualified males. This compares to 35 percent of female workers in the 36 to 50 age bracket and 43 percent of female workers in the 51 to 65 age bracket.

"The perceived inequality women are experiencing in the workplace extends to career progress," said Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources at CareerBuilder.com. "Thirty-two percent of women report their employers offer less career advancement options to women than men. The good news is we are seeing more and more companies remedying recruitment, compensation and promotion practices to provide the same opportunities to all workers, regardless of gender and cultural background."

When asked to identify the cause for the disparity in pay and upper mobility, 27 percent of women attribute it to being less apt to schmooze with management. Twenty-one percent say management shows favoritism to the opposite sex while 10 percent point to seniority.

Men also reported a gender bias in pay levels and career advancement, but on a smaller scale. Eight percent of men say they are paid less than their female counterparts who have similar experience and qualifications and 15 percent say their employers afford women more career advancement opportunities in their organizations.

Survey Methodology

The CareerBuilder.com survey, "Men and Women at Work 2006," was conducted from February 21 to March 6, 2006. Methodology used to collect survey responses totaling more than 575 men and more than 1,400 women working full-time involved selecting a random sample of comScore Networks panel members. These Web Panel members were approached via an e-mail invitation, which asked them to participate in a short online survey. The results of this survey are statistically accurate to within +/- 2.61 percentage points for the women and +/- 4.08 percentage points for the men (19 times out of 20).

About CareerBuilder.com

CareerBuilder.com is the nation's largest online job site with more than 20 million unique visitors and over 1 million jobs. Owned by Gannett Co., Inc. , Tribune Company , and The McClatchy Company , the company offers a vast online and print network to help job seekers connect with employers. CareerBuilder.com powers the career centers for more than 850 partners that reach national, local, industry and niche audiences. These include more than 170 newspapers and leading portals such as America Online and MSN. More than 250,000 employers take advantage of CareerBuilder.com's easy job postings, 18 million-plus resumes, Diversity Channel and more. Millions of job seekers visit the site every month to search for opportunities by industry, location, company and job type, sign up for automatic email job alerts, and get advice on job hunting and career management. For more information about CareerBuilder.com products and services, visit http://www.careerbuilder.com/ .

  Media Contact:
  Jennifer Sullivan
  (773) 527-1164
  Jennifer.Sullivan@careerbuilder.com

SOURCE: CareerBuilder.com