Male workers are more likely to seek job progression, says research

British men are more confident than women in furthering their career, new data has revealed.

According to a report by job search engine, Adzuna, the career progression confidence gap between the genders widens with those who have more than 10 years’ experience in the workplace, with men twice more likely than women to hold a higher position.

The research studied 500,000 CVs that were submitted via Adzuna’s ValueMyCV tool, comparing the gender and estimated pay grade with a number of years’ experience.

“Gone are the days when men expected to bring home the bacon and women tended to focus their skills on the home. Most employers realise women are integral to the economy and success of this country,” said Doug Monro, co-founder of Adzuna.

“True career equality for men and women is still, sadly, a work in progress though. Seeing men with 10 years’ experience twice as likely to seek job progression, and men with the same experience in C Suite positions almost six times as likely to find an improved role shows we have a way to go in educating women on their real value in this day and age.”

Men with up to five years’ experience are paid on average £5,000 (21 per cent) more than women, while men with five to 10 years’ experience are paid on average £7,000 (25 per cent) more, and men with 10 plus years’ experience achieve on average £13,000 (42 per cent) more in their annual salary.

Elsewhere, C Suite men are almost six times more likely to apply for a job that furthers their career than women.

Adzuna also studied how confident men and women are when asking for a pay rise – data showed that 37 per cent of women are courageous enough to ask, while 48 per cent of male workers have broached the subject.

Monro added: “According to the most recent statistics from the TUC, women on average work 67 days a year for free because of the current pay gap. This must be addressed, and now: otherwise we are in danger of not affording women the credit and financial return they deserve.”