Gamasutra, Salary Survey Results
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Gamasutra announced the results of their 2014 salary survey
"Gamasutra recently polled over 4,000 game developers worldwide, asking them the question: How much money did you make?"
The FULL results (.pdf format)
Replies
When I compared my salary with male collegue before I never notice any inegality (except drop coming from different position or experience level)
Far simpler, sadly: men are far more direct and overconfident, which makes them ask for higher salaries in the first place. It's accepted, they get away with it while if a womand tries it she might get laughed at. Sad, but true in most instances.
Personally, I'd opt for salary levels if I were to run a studio so this wouldn't be an issue.
But that's me, working in Dutch psychiatric care for a meager 29.000 a year.
That might play a factor in some cases, but I think it comes down to other factors. For instance, various studies reveal that men in the workforce take fewer days off. The reason is simple: Men have fewer reasons to take days off.
Typically, women take more time off to deal with issues like children, elderly relatives at home, pregnancy/maternal leave, and women are 42% more likely to take a personal/sick day off than men, according to a study by the Office for National Statistics in the UK.
It's also been shown that women in the workplace work fewer hours, as they account for most of part-time employment. Men not only take more full-time employment positions, but they tend to go for the riskier positions, which generally pay significantly more.
Most brain surgeons are male. Most mental health care therapists are female. But brain surgery's the much more complicated discipline, being the far riskier job with harder education and higher urgency, which merits significantly more money. Scientists have attributed this factor to males' neurological tendency to being risk-takers.
An internal Hewlett Packard study found that women only applied for jobs when they had 100 percent of the qualifications for that job. Men, meanwhile, applied when they had 60 percent of the qualifications. The men aimed higher and got greater reward for it. Companies place greater confidence in those who work longer and take good risks, which reflects in general salary difference. Even as you say, men are more direct with asking for salaries, that goes back to being risk-takers.
But, conversely, it's also been shown in a few studies that women who work careers without issues like pregnancy and family make noticeably more than women who do, with salaries comparable to their male counterparts. When women performed like their male counterparts, they typically saw the results of their male counterparts.
There are legitimate issues of gender gap out there, but lot of the gender wage gap issue is a disregard to statistical evidence of the factors involved. Women can make more money--they just typically take less time and fewer risks to better do it.
I also personally think some of the issue here results from what I can only call a "career culture" fostered from childhood.
Many men and women alike are choosing this industry thanks to its wider availability of education and new accessibility of advanced tools. This, along with this industry being one of the fastest-growing in entertainment, contributes to game development's appeal as a career option where it might wouldn't have, say, even just ten years ago.
But still, for many, if not most, guys in the industry, they grew up in a culture of game dev long before its modern appeal. I was only 13 when I wanted to become a Miyamoto. I've had like 14 years since of getting familiar with my career path. My case is common among other guys in this industry. But not too many ladies can say the same. Many determined their path in the industry later in life. Long experience doesn't at all necessarily translate into talent, but I think such "culture" translates into where the industry's confidence lies.
You have to wonder why we just don't see very many fantastic female character designers like Tits around yet. Or why you'd still be lucky to find a female game programmer. I think it's because the industry has a perception of males enjoying a "career culture" longer, where most guys started practicing game creation in their early teens. Compared to that for the ladies, where you'll be lucky to find a woman with even 5 years of industry-related experience.
The ladies have a lot of stigma to refute. I really hope it gets easier for them.
im just saying, the things you list are just symptoms of societys view of what is male and female.
Again, I'm not saying there aren't some legitimate issues of unfair gender gaps between males and females. There are cases.
What I am saying is that, for MOST of the gender gap issue, there are also statistically-verified factors involved, as well.
Source: http://goo.gl/QNQ0Bz (Just one of many sources available, for both North American and European society.)
Women tend to work fewer hours at safer jobs, often times to deal with family more. We're also seeing a sharp increase of single mothers, which further complicates the issue. It's got little to do with how women are raised. It's got more to do with the fact that more women raise families.
Men are usually either single and unmarried, divorced without custody of the kids, or married with children where the wife helps care for the kids. This gives them more time at work, which is a better career advantage.
And it's not just true for men. In observed cases where young WOMEN were also single, without families, and worked the same kind of hours as their male counterparts did, their careers tended to do as well as their male counterparts, and sometimes better. sources: http://goo.gl/R4BRFd http://goo.gl/4aiX8w
So, in short, if you're a woman who wants a solid career--DON'T HAVE KIDS! lol This is probably just why more couples are waiting longer to have families later.