More women need to get involved in the technology sector. That is according to the EU Commissioner for the Digital Agenda, Neelie Kroes.
The Commission says only 9 in 100 European 'app' developers are female. While just 19% of ICT managers are women, in comparison with 45% of female managers in other service sectors.
It says that since 'Equal Pay Day' was launched in 2011, there has been a marginal reduction in the pay gap from 17.5% to 16.4%. But the gap still stands at around 16% across Europe.
But the Commissions says the slight improvement is largely because the economic downturn has had a greater impact on some male-dominated sectors, rather than because of any rise in earnings for women.
Other factors include a lack of transparency in pay systems and a lack of clarity in the legal definition of work of equal value.
A recent report on the implementation of EU rules on the equal treatment of women and men found that workers often lack the information they need to make a successful claim for equal pay. This includes accessing information about pay levels for different categories of employees.
Countires like Austria, Belgium, France and Portugal have put mechanisms in place for promoting equal pay at the national level.
The Commission says attracting more women to tech careers is an economic imperative. If women held digital jobs as frequently as men, the European GDP could be boosted annually by around €9 billion, according to the study.
Ciara Eustace of the EU Office in Dublin says the number of women working in the technology area is rather low.
