People should get paid based on their competence and the value they bring to their workplace but the race and gender pay gap says otherwise. The race and gender wage gap is not a new concept, it has all been in existence. In fact, we are making progress in closing the gap, we went from women earning 59 cents for every dollar men earned in 1963, and now 84 cents for a dollar.

One of the major reasons we have come so far in eliminating the disparity in pay between people from different backgrounds is because of constant wage gap evaluation surveys and taking measures to address the root cause of the survey data.

Let’s break down the tools you need to create an effective wage gap evaluation survey.

What Is a Wage Gap Evaluation Survey

There are so many factors that affect the wage gap- location, experience, industry, etc. However, the goal of a wage gap evaluation survey is to help you understand the disparities in pay between different groups of employees, focusing on gender differences.

Why Are Men Paid More?

It’s hard to answer a question like this at face value; there could be so many different reasons for this. Well, this question is exactly what the wage gap survey aims to answer. It highlights any potential biases or inequities in compensation practices within an organization. 

Why Wage Gap Evaluation Surveys?

Here is a list of things the wage gap survey to investigate:

• Pay Disparities: helps uncover differences in pay between genders or other demographic groups. The survey results show the difference between one demographic group and the other, e.g. white-collar workers and blue-collar workers in the US.
• Assess Fairness: Evaluate whether pay practices are fair and equitable for all employees. The survey helps check if the main reason for different earnings is because of their background or gender. For example, in an industry, where women with the same years of experience and qualifications are paid less than men, then the unequal pay is a stark reflection of the industry bias.
• Understand Root Causes: You can’t know the exact reason for pay differences in the labor force until you look at the factors influencing them. For example, one of the game changers that has helped close the gender pay gap is access to education and sponsorship opportunities for women.
• Inform Corrective Action: Knowing the difference and the cause of pay gaps enables you to develop a plan to address and eliminate them. For example,  initiatives like scholarship programs for students from diverse backgrounds so they can get the qualifications they need for high-paying positions.
• Monitor Progress: The pay gap between men and women has lessened from 59 cents to a dollar in 1963 to 84% to a dollar in 2024. This data exists because of the consistent wage gap surveys over the years.

How Much Do You Earn- What to Ask in a Wage Gap Survey

You need to ask very specific questions in your survey to gain insights into all relevant factors that underlie the pay difference and not just the gap itself. Here’s what you need:

• Demographic Information: Employees’ gender, race, ethnicity, age, educational background, and location.
• Job Roles and Responsibilities: job titles, duties, and required qualifications. This helps you know whether employees are paid fairly based on their contribution to their field.
• Compensation Data: base salary, bonuses, commissions, and other forms of earnings for the full picture.
  
• Performance Metrics: Performance evaluations, promotions, and tenure. This can highlight if the difference is influenced by how good employees are at their job or bias.
• Employee Perceptions:  Collect feedback from the employees about their organization’s wage policy. For example, what do they think the pay is fair, do they have enough opportunities and what’s their overall job satisfaction?

Tips for Designing and Implementing the Survey

Some best practices to help you create an effective wage gap survey:

Design Phase- What Are Your Objectives?

Clearly define what you want to study. This will inform your focus areas e.g. base pay, bonuses, promotions, and perceived fairness.

• How Do I Ask?

Asking people about their earnings is not exactly a banter conversation- most people are uncomfortable sharing it. So, you have them comfortable about telling you how much they make. You can do this by ensuring your questions are neutrally framed and assuring respondents of their anonymity.

Also, protect participants’ data by adhering to data privacy laws and regulations. A good way to do this is by using a survey platform like Formplus with end-to-end encryption to protect user data. The platform is also GDPR compliant ensuring that respondents’ data are protected.

• Test Your Survey

Before launching your survey, ensure you test it to spot any issues with it and make necessary changes if required.

Implementation Phase- How do I collect Data?

You can’t exactly walk up to people out of the blue to ask them for their income details. Here’s how to ask:

• Communication

Be upfront about the reasons for the surveys. Also, reassure employees about their data privacy and confidentiality. You can also encourage them by letting them know the importance of their input.

• Distribution and Data Collection

Study and decide the most effective channels for collecting feedback from participants. For example, email, internal portals, social media, websites, or physical interviews. Also, add a reminder and decline to fast-track the collection process.

You can also add an introduction to the survey to help respondents know what to expect from the survey. However, you have to be neutral and avoid leading the respondents to ask in a specific way.

• Statistics and Analysis

You’ve distributed your survey and have gotten responses, the next step is to analyze the data. You can do this with statistical techniques and adjust for factors that may skew the data. You can export your data from your form to an accounting software or do your calculations right on the spreadsheet.

For example, if the majority of your sample population has similar occupations and industries but different locations, it may not reflect the actual reasons for pay differences if your focus isn’t geographic region.

• Reporting

Create clear visualizations (charts, graphs) to present your findings- the estimated wage gap and the reason for it.

• Action Planning

You have gathered your data and compared the differences, the part is how to fix it. Highlight the reasons why the pay between colleagues doing the same work varies significantly. Next, outline effective tools to mitigate it.

After creating the action plan, continuously track its effectiveness after implementation. If the strategy is not working, it’s time to go back to the drawing board and start a new one.

Applications of Wage Gap Survey Results

The goal of wage gap surveys is not just to know the difference, it’s to know the difference, the reasons linked to it, and ways to close it. Here is how to apply your survey data:

Identifying Pay Disparities

The first thing is to know the problem you are trying to solve. This involves analyzing the data to know the specific areas where pay disparities exist, such as between genders, races, or job roles. Next is calculating a numerical measure of the wage gap, this will show the severity of the issue and the urgency to find a solution.

Understanding Root Causes

The survey also helps you pinpoint the specific reasons and biases for the pay disparities survey such as unconscious bias or systemic discrimination. You can also assess the fairness and accuracy of job evaluation processes and outline any inconsistencies.

Developing Targeted Strategies

In most cases, you have to implement fair policies and initiatives to close wage gaps. For example, sponsorship opportunities and training for less-paid people to earn qualifications that will place them in the same income bracket as their peers.  You can also study and identify any biases in performance evaluation and promotion processes, and then create new guidelines for assessing performance without bias.

Monitoring Progress

Regular wage gap surveys enable employers and organizations to document and monitor their progress in addressing pay disparities over time. The survey can also help identify any recurring issues preventing you from closing the gap.

Improving Employee Morale and Retention

Collecting feedback from employee about their wage pay gap can help foster transparent communication about pay equity and improve their trust and morale. It also portrays you as a company with fair pay practices and will help attract as well as retain top talent.

Free Template: Wage Gap Evaluation Survey Template

The Formplus wage gap evaluation survey template enables you to securely collect employee perceptions of pay equity, job satisfaction, and overall organizational culture to fair pay. Here’s how to use it:

1. Go the the Wage Gap Survey Template
2. Edit the questions to fit your survey objectives.
3. Customize the form look and feel by changing the color and font to fit your organization’s brand identity. This is completely optional if you are already comfortable with the form’s design.
4. Preview the form to see how it looks on different devices- mobile, desktop, and tab.
5. Go to settings and set a submission deadline and a reminder.
6. Share the form with employees or your desired population by embedding the form link on a webpage, sharing to social media, direct link in a workspace channel, social media, or a QR code.
7. Monitor and collect responses.

Measuring Wage Gap With Formplus

The first step to ensuring people are paid fairly is to know how less they are paid and why. Wage gap evaluation surveys answer these questions. They help us know how far we’ve come in narrowing the pay disparities across different groups and give people a chance to express how they are affected by the pay gap.

We hope this guide makes identifying employee pay gap and the reasons for it easier, here’s a free wage gap survey template to get you started.