In the lucrative tech industry, some have shrugged off the gender pay gap as a result of what economists call “occupational sorting,” which refers to men and women systematically sorting themselves into different kinds of geographic areas in tech and in different roles within the industry. But a study conducted by employment site Glassdoor suggests that this theory isn’t necessarily true. In fact, the study revealed that among 16 of the most popular tech jobs in the U.S., 12 roles had gender pay gaps that were above the U.S. adjusted average pay gap of 5.4%.
Glassdoor set out to create an apples-to-apples comparison of men and women in the tech sector, comparing the salaries of men and women in the same tech roles and adjusting for age, education, years of experience, location, year, job title and company.
“Our detailed analysis reveals that even when factors such as age, job title and location are controlled for there is still an unexplainable pay gap between women and men-and that isn’t acceptable,” Glassdoor CEO and co-founder Robert Hohman said in a statement.
Glassdoor chief economist Andrew Chamberlain explains that these gender pay gaps “cannot be fully explained by men and women choosing to work in different roles within tech.” He believes “the technology industry is at the forefront of innovation driving our economy, but it lags behind other industries when it comes to equal pay for equal work and experience.”
According to Hohman, the answer might be greater pay transparency, which he emphasized is “a critical step in illuminating pay inequities so that employers and employees can take steps to close existing pay gaps.”
Here’s a closer look at tech jobs where big gender pay gaps persist:
Editors’ pick: Originally published May 17.