Ann Francke is the CEO of the Chartered Management Institute, which has increasingly become a feminist campaigning organization under her leadership.

Our thanks to Ian for pointing us to a newspaper story concerning a CMI report about the gender pay gap among managers. Ms Francke is quote as saying:

Working for free two hours a day is unacceptable. While some progress is being made, it’s clear from our research that Lord Davies is right to target the executive pipeline. Having more women in senior executive roles will pave the way for others and ensure they’re paid the same as their male colleagues at every stage of their careers.

No mention is made in the newspaper report (or in the feature on the matter on the CMI website) of gender-typical differences or freely-made choices in areas such as the following, which could account for most if not all of the observed gender pay gap:

• work ethic. Dr Catherine Hakim, a renowned sociologist, published a paper in 2000 showing that four in seven British men are work-centred, but only one in seven British women is. Details here.
• allied to the above, women’s relative preference (compared with men) to work part-time
• professional discipline e.g. managerial positions in Finance tend to pay more than in female-dominated Human Resources, because the supply/demand position tends to be tighter for Finance positions
• degree of experience and expertise, which correlates with age. The report states, ‘The research showed there were fewer older women in executive positions.’
• sector – public or private? Two thirds of private sector employees are men, two-thirds of public sector employees are women
• firm size
• firm market sector
• individual scope of responsibility e.g. a ‘manager’ may have responsibility for one member of staff or 500, an annual budget of £1 million or £500 million…
• job characteristics leading to higher pay e.g. extended periods spent away from home, unsocial hours, unpleasant and/or dangerous working conditions…

And so it is that Ann Francke is the latest in a series of feminists to win our Lying Feminist of the Month award following comments about the gender pay gap. Her award certificate is here. The full list of award winners is here.