Publishing’s Controversies and Challenges

In publishing, there are lots of problems like reaching and keeping a new or same audience,
increased competition and wrong reviews or information.
Our topic is “THE GENDER PAY GAP IN PUBLISHING”.
We would like to present the issue connected with men earning more money than women in
publishing.
The gap widens with more senior titles: entry and some mid-level positions pay almost equal
salaries for men and women, but with management positions, the difference could be $20,000
or more. ↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓

For example, “In the UK, Penguin has noted in its

2020 gender pay gap report that women earn 86p
for every £1 that men earn. At HarperCollins, it’s
91p: £1, at Bloomsbury 80p: £1.”
The books industry may be dominated by women,
but men are reaping the rewards, as the UK’s
largest publishers reveal a “STARK” divide in
pay.
For instance, “The biggest disparity was seen at
Hachette UK, where the median gender pay gap
was 24.71%, and the mean gender pay gap was
29.69%.”

Pay gap reasons:

1. The most significant factor of pay gap is discrimination. Even if in most
developed countries gender – based pay is illegal, there can be found some cases
when men employers believe that women cannot be as good specialists as men are
and pay lower salaries.
2. Not less essential reason is, different range of experience. To comment, the
majority of women spend their time carrying children and doing other different
unpaid obligations at home. Therefore, they usually have less work experience
rather than men.
3. Another reason, which is differences in hours worked, is closely connected with
the previous one. It happens because some women crave to have a work but also
they do not want to abandon their scions, therefore women choose to search for
part time job.
What publishers are doing to close the gap and what they should be doing?
o As well as reporting the mandatory
figures through the government’s
gender pay gap service, almost all
companies publish a more extensive
report on their websites to explain
their findings, measures taken and
any planned steps going forward.
o The most popular measures
publishers are taking to minimize
the gap are offering leadership
development training and
workplace flexibility. They're also
establishing networks and providing
mentoring schemes.

How to address the gender gap in SEO publishing?

1. Widen your pool of female writers.
Women can reach out to the SEO community and invite active content creators to contribute
to your platform.
2. Connect with more female SEOs.
The talent is abundant on social media. You can search for them, connect with them, and start
conversations.
3. Follow people who promote women’s voices.
The Women in Tech SEO community and my own #SEOWomen Twitter threads are both
fantastic resources for female talent.
4. Make your pitching process transparent.
Show people how to get their content in your publication, and make inclusion a key part of
your editorial plan. Your readers are less brand loyal than ever, and increasingly go to brands
that match their values.

REFERENCES:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/mar/23/gender-pay-gap-figures-reveal-big-
publishings-great-divide
https://thesyp.org.uk/2020/08/the-gender-pay-gap-in-publishing/
https://archive.foliomag.com/men-still-earn-significantly-more-women-publishing/
https://www.lidia-infante.com/post/gender-gap-in-seo-publishing
https://www.moneyunder30.com/strategies-for-narrowing-the-gender-pay-gap