The gender pay gap has stubbornly endured over the years, despite well intentioned efforts to improve matters.  What impact might automation have on things?  That was the question posed by new research from the London School of Economics that explored what impact investment into robotics had on the gender pay gap.

The study suggests that for every 10 percent rise in the number of robots operating in the workplace, there’s a 1.8% rise in the pay gap between male and female employees.  This is interesting, as the pay of both men and women increased as a result of automation, so it’s not a case of one sex being made redundant by the robots, but rather the gains of automation not appearing to be shared equally.

This phenomenon was especially pronounced in countries where outsourcing makes up a large proportion of the economy.  These countries were already marked by high levels of gender inequality.  By contrast, countries that typically outsource to other nations, where gender inequality is less

“At a time when policymakers are putting increased efforts into tackling gender gaps in the labor market, our evidence is important,” the researchers say. “Our results suggest that governments not only need to ensure that education and vocational training systems provide people with the right skills demanded in the future, but also need to pay attention to distributional issues. They need to increase efforts to make sure that women and men are equally equipped with the skills most relevant for future employability.”

The analysis revealed that men were more likely to work in high-skilled roles or that were higher up the organizational hierarchy.  This status, when then combined with the effects of automation, resulted in the gender pay gap widening.