Even though we have been talking about this serious concern for a long time, with the current scenario in consideration, we still have a long way to go – whether men agree or not.

Therefore, we asked women in our office to address this issue and reveal their take on how it exists and affects their working lives. Here we go!

1. “I think lack of confidence is the biggest issue in this gender pay gap. Men have this confidence in their capabilities and ask for money accordingly. Sometimes, they ask for more money than they are worth. I keep punching myself down thinking that they don’t even deserve it. How the fuck do you think you can ask for this much money? People are not great or even worse at their jobs, at the same level, and they earn way more. I know for a fact that this pushes me back and widens the pay gap between me and my male peers.” -Aakansha Pushp, Video Anchor

2. “Gender pay disparity very much exists, of course, that’s no doubt. The thing that annoys me, though, is the fact that companies make you feel like you’re imagining all of it. As if there’s no disparity. The only time they take a stand is when they want to seem inclusive in seminars – there’s no action in real life.” -Manya Ailawadi, Senior Staff Writer

3. “The companies will never acknowledge that there is a gap in salaries between men and women but if you work long enough, you figure out the trend. There have been times when men in the same positions as me, doing half as much work, were being paid 4 times I was – that’s not even an exaggeration. If you think about it, they have already made tens of lakhs more than me for being mediocre as hell.” -Ira, Editor

4. “While some professions very well pay women as much as (and sometimes even more than) men. That’s mostly a result of capitalism and the fact that it rewards ‘high-skilled’ labor and degrees. The rest of the world, the average person though, can’t fathom being paid as much as their male counterparts.” -Harshita Singh, Staff Writer

5. “I feel like this battle is a long one. I think one of the many reasons it still exists is that people still see managing household and parenthood as a woman’s job instead of a shared responsibility. The idea is that women are already preoccupied, so they won’t be ideal for a job. They won’t be able to justify the requirements because of other homely duties. This kind of problematic ideas stem from the orthodox assignment of gender roles, because of which many women have to fight to be valued or taken seriously to climb the corporate ladder.” -Vasudha Sabharwal, Senior Staff Writer

6. “Gender pay disparity is again another form of how society sees women as second-class citizens. Two people working on the same job title, but with different pay based on their gender is just ridiculous. How many times do women have had to say that equal opportunities and respect are a basic human need?” -Ishi Kanodiya, Assistant Manager

7. “Gender pay disparity is the perfect example of why women still need to fight for their rights! The people who fail to understand what’s the big deal are the ones who are too privileged to know what happens at the ground level. When you pay someone less for the same job just because of the gender, it shows how threatened you are to give them the power to surpass your life.” -Khushboo Vij, Social Media Executive

8. “Talented men who don’t have experience in terms of number of years are paid more than they even ask for. Talented women who don’t have experience in terms of number of years are called ‘lacking in experience’ and have to repeatedly ask to be paid half as much as their predecessors who were, you guessed it, men. So to say that gender pay disparity doesn’t exist is the same as saying there aren’t multiple wars going on right now.” -Prakriti Srivastava, Editor

9. “I’m strongly against gender pay disparity because it does not matter who is working – a man or a woman – but if they are doing the same work, then they deserve the same salary.” -Nidhi Tiwari, Junior Graphic Designer

10. “In every field, men are given more importance than women. Whether it’s a matter of salary or time, women are made to do more work and are paid less. This is very wrong as both should have equal rights.” -Sawan Kumari, Junior Graphic Designer

We commend these women for coming forward and sharing their views on this serious issue.