Women in 2016 were found to make nearly $20,000 less than men in the tech industry thanks to a recent study from the Brookfield Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship housed within the Ryerson University in Toronto.

Marilyne Aalhus, Executive Director for Airdrie Chamber of Commerce, says she believes women have had a difficult time trying to get wage equality in the tech field.

"In this particular industry, yes, but not only in this industry. I think women have obviously been climbing a steep hill and trying to build the same pay in many industries."

Aalhus says that although Canada has fought well for equality, there is still room to grow.

"I think in Canada we feel quite fortunate. We've made a lot of headway in the last 20 years but having said that, being a woman in business and trying to maybe prove ourselves a little bit more can be a challenge. When you see this type of study, in the tech industry particularly, there's something to be said. There's still a lot of growth and I think opening people's minds to understanding that these challenges are still there for women (is a good step)."

However, Aalhus does not recall any major struggles due to her gender in her particular position.

"With the MeToo movement and a lot of that being brought to light, it depends on who you ask. But on a personal level, I feel like I've had a lot of wonderful successes and I don't feel like I've had issues from the business point of view. Particularly, when it comes to being accepted as an executive director for the Airdrie Chamber of Commerce, that's been a very female-dominated role in the past. Depending on the industry where women want to be. I've also worked in media and that's also an interesting place for women to find themselves trying to climb the corporate ladder and I think there's always that sense of women possibly having to prove themselves a little bit more."

Aalhus has hope for the future with more and more women working to break into different traditional fields

"When I look at this tech industry, I think there's something to be said that there have been more men employed in this particular field over (its) history. Obviously, that's changing, women are now trained in all fields. Even when it comes to trades or different types of roles that women may not have typically played in the past, I think they're still trying to catch up and unfortunately are still facing this type of (wage gap) because it is a more male-dominated industry."

 

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