The concept of a gender pay gap in Nigeria often surfaces in feminist conversations. While many government organisations base pay on experience and qualification, what happens in workplaces that use different metrics? This month, commemorating International Gender Pay Gap Day, a HumAngle survey suggests that the gender pay gap may not be as alien to Nigeria’s employment system as some might assume. 

The anonymous survey garnered 84 responses from women aged 18 to 56 across the country. Of these respondents, 52 believed that men and women are paid equally in their workplace, while 18 believed that gender pay gaps exist. 

Twenty-two per cent of the women in the survey said they have been employed or held roles where they believed their salaries were lesser than they should be because of their gender. One respondent working in consulting and non-profit said, “At my last organisation, women were paid far less than men on the same level as then, even in cases where the women had more experience or education.”

This is not an isolated experience, and for some, this knowledge came as a surprise, “I got to know while discussing with a colleague in the same entry role who is being paid three times what I was offered as a starting salary even though we had the same level of experience and if any, I was performing more responsibilities than him,” another respondent narrated. 

The survey findings echo global research. The 2022 Global Gender Pay Gap report ranks Nigeria 123 out of 146 in gender equality. This is considered an improvement because the country has seen a decrease in gender disparity in terms of opportunity subindex and economic participation. Still, sub-Saharan Africa needs 98 years to close the gap completely.

Meanwhile, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Nigerian women account for 70 per cent of the country’s poorest population despite accounting for 49.3 of the global population, with women earning 45 per cent less than male colleagues.

For some women, their age and marital status also had a considerable role. “Firstly, I was a young person, and so they believed I did not have many responsibilities to cover, unlike married women. Secondly, the man among us was paid highly because he has kids and is believed to have more responsibilities than the rest of us.” Five respondents cited being unmarried and the assumption that they had “no responsibilities’’ as a reason why they were paid less.

Another woman believed her age and desperation for a job also contributed to her exploitation, especially after finding out she was paid less than half of what an older male colleague was paid, even though she had a higher academic qualification. 

When asked if they have been denied promotions because of their jobs, a freelance lawyer participating in our survey said, “Well, not technically a promotion; I have had cases stolen from me because of my gender. One time, I was told to chill because ‘the case was going to be tough’, which was ridiculous because it was my job.” It is not unheard of in corporate legal spaces to have incidences like this, making it harder for women to prove a gender gap exists because it is subtle and indirect. 

The lawyer also added she had never been in a position to negotiate her salary because the lawyers at the firm she worked for do not have a contract of employment. 

A healthcare worker had something to say on this matter. “It was in a hospital. The disparity in pay was over ₦100k, and he had housing and transport allowance. But I worked more shifts.” 

“In videography, men are generally paid and respected more. It is a male-dominated field,” says a freelancer who works in the entertainment industry.  

Globally, the gender pay averages under 69 per cent, with Iceland having closed 91 per cent of the gap. Despite the progress, the country’s Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir joined other women for a national strike in October 2023 to protest the gender pay gap.

In Nigeria’s tech industry, a research by One Campaign, a global advocacy group and the Center for Global Development shows only 30 per cent of 93 surveyed technology companies surveyed were owned by women, with over one-third of these companies not employing women at all. 

For some, the gender pay gap manifests in more subtle ways. One woman in real estate and construction explained: “The HR brought up the issue of onsite work and referenced salary expectations between my colleague and me, even though I will be on site for the same hours as my male colleague in the same role. They alleged I wouldn’t be up to the task due to my gender and due to him doing the heavy lifting.”

She said she “found it ridiculous as the male colleague wasn’t doing any ‘heavy lifting’” in addition to the same supervisory role they both held. 

Interestingly, another woman had a different experience of the gender pay gap. “My employer was paying me ₦5,000 higher than a male colleague who I am over eight years older than at the bar,” she said. 

Though the survey sample was small, it cuts across different sectors and educational backgrounds and still points to the work that must be done to cover gender disparities and the pay gap within the country.