The gender pay gap in Finland can be significant, even among men and women with the same degree, according to an Yle salary comparison tool (in Finnish).
For example, a male business graduate earns 7,600 euros a month on average, while a woman holding the same qualification gets 6,000.
On average, the gender pay gap in Finland is about 16 percent, with women earning 84.4 cents for every euro a man makes, according to Statistics Finland.
Over the years, different approaches have emerged to explain salary differences between men and women in Finland.
Paula Koskinen Sandberg, an assistant professor at Aalto University, outlined the most common arguments in this discussion:
Men work longer hours than women and therefore earn more.
Jobs men like are more productive than those preferred by women.
"In Finland, there is a long-held belief that the salary levels in female-dominated fields are naturally lower because they are linked to the public sector and are seen more as a cost rather than productive work," Koskinen Sandberg explained.
This line of reasoning, however, does not explain why women with the same degree still earn less than men.
According to Koskinen Sandberg, organisational hierarchies tend to repeat themselves, with more men at higher levels and more women lower down in the structure. In other words, men are more often promoted than women and end up in managerial positions.
In addition, men and women often work in different types of companies, with different compensation levels.
From personal to political
But the gender pay gap still raises many questions. Akava, the labour federation representing university graduates and other highly skilled workers, has been especially focused on the unexplained pay gap, Koskinen Sandberg said.
"Employer organisations, on the other hand, have often emphasised that there is no significant pay gap, as professional segregation and career choices explain the differences," she said.
At the same time she said she believes that over the past ten years, the discussion about pay gaps has changed.
“[Previously] the sentiment was that individuals needed to pursue better-paying sectors. The underlying assumption was that the salary levels of different fields were correct and could not be changed,” she added.
More recently, there's been a deeper discussion about gender pay gaps.
"Today historical and societal power dynamics are being recognised, such as how women's work has traditionally been valued," she said, adding that at the same time, the impact of collective bargaining agreements on salary levels has come into focus.
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