
The pay gap between men and women is shrinking, but not in one critical area.
by Frank Kalman
May 20, 2015
The pay gap between men and women closed significantly last year, touching a record low. But the pay gap persists in an area that increasingly represents a huge portion of workers' overall compensation: bonuses.
According to a report from the U.K.'s Telegraph, a recent study shows that while women still earn slightly less than their male counterparts in terms of salary, men are awarded bonuses almost twice as high as those handed to women.
Specifically, the bonus discrepancy is most profound for workers who are within five years of earning an MBA, as pointed out in a study by benchmarking website Emolument.
Men who are within five years of earning their MBA are awarded an average bonus of about $78,000, while women average a bonus of about $42,000, according to the study.
This is a big deal, especially as the war for talent extends beyond companies' ability to offer notable salaries. For many companies, bonuses are a great way to lure talent that is seeking more than a high salary. And bonuses appear murky in terms of data collection and reporting, leaving more firms open to dictate how they dole out bonuses without the traditional public scrutiny that comes with salary.