Equal work, equal pay?

In recent years, American footballer and equality activist Megan Rapinoe made waves when she demanded equal pay for female athletes in soccer. This was controversial, as expected, but for me, an avid football fan, the issue was quite cut-and-dry.

You see, I'm all for equal rights. I believe that women can be equal to men in their endeavors. And I agree that the average female professional athlete would kick my aging butt in a game of football.

Unfortunately, I also believe in meritocracy - everybody gets paid according to the value they deliver. And Rapinoe's demands, in that context, made no logical sense.

Women in soccer.

Yes, the US Women's soccer team have won three Women's World Cup Finals, among other tournaments. They've accomplished a lot, and that's not up for debate. That said, it is also a fact that the Women's World Cup drew only a fraction of what the World Cup generated in terms of revenue.

Sports is a business first and foremost, pure and simple. Female athletes earning less probably isn't some kind of elaborate plot designed to keep women down. In order for women to earn as much as their male counterparts, the business of women's soccer would first have to bring in as much revenue. And in order for that to happen, women's soccer would have to enjoy the same popularity and exposure. And for that to happen, a lot more people would need to be interested in watching women's soccer in the first place. The FA can do better. But how much better is really a constraint of economics. Better equipment? Amenities? Access to training? Sure. But pay equal to that of the men? That would require substantially more funding. It's not something that can simply be conjured up out of nowhere.

The Programmer Equivalent of this situation

The Megan Rapinoe situation was brought to mind because recently, a friend remarked to me that someone with my years of experience should be earning a lot more than what I was currently drawing, because he had seen how much programmers were making in the bank that he was working in.

And it struck me as a very simplistic, very typical layperson thing to say.

When you examine this statement, it is extremely flawed on many levels. Years of experience does not mean the same thing in the software industry as it does in many other industries, mostly because the software industry changes so fast.

But the bigger point I wanted to make was this.

My company was not in the financial industry. Therefore, whatever value I provided to my company would not be anywhere on the scale of what a single programmer could bring to a bank, which probably rakes in at least ten times in revenue. And if remuneration is based mostly on the perceived value of what a professional brings to his or her organization, it stands to reason that I would not make as much as my counterparts in the banking industry.

And that was what came to mind when Megan Rapinoe's publicized efforts for equal pay were reported.

Conclusion

Higher pay for the sake of higher pay is nonsensical. The value has to be there. The same way women's soccer does not bring in as much revenue as men's soccer, an ICT Department in an average company does not deliver the same business value as that same department in a bank. And as such, that higher pay cannot be justified.

With many issues, I tie them to either football or software to form better analogies. But in this case, the parallels seem somewhat direct.

Show me the money!
T___T