Only 912 women professionals were promoted or recruited into jobs paying at least Sh100,000 per month last year, in a clear indication of the pay inequalities that the fairer sex has to put up with at the workplace.
This number was lower than the 1,583 men who climbed into such super-paying jobs. Indeed, of the 74,293 Kenyans earning more than Sh100,000 a month in 2016, women were 27,154, making less than 37 per cent.
This state of affairs reveals that women are yet to break past the so-called glass ceiling, especially given that the Kenyan population comprises of more females than men.
Indeed, more women are going back to school and are getting into professions once perceived to be the domain of men like medicine, where enrolments show a near gender parity.
In the academic year 2016/17, there were 7,342 men enrolled for undergraduate medical courses at university against 6,944 women. This is a rosy picture that should reflect in pay and positions— technical and managerial.
Although more women are getting into corner offices of listed State agencies and other Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed companies, a more deliberate effort should be made to ensure that women are honoured for their efforts in the quest of building the economy and improving their lives.
Discrimination, in all its forms, should be kicked out of workplaces as fast as possible for Kenya to have an inclusive society where nation building is not derailed by gender-based inequalities.
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