Pay Inequality Starts at the Initial Offer.

This article examines a study into how gender pay inequality emerges at the earliest stage of hiring in an analysis of 738,000 initial salary offers made in the United States between 2017 and 2020. The study finds that women received initial offers averaging 5.5% less than men’s, even after controlling for job-related factors and applicant qualifications, with larger gaps appearing in occupations defined by stereotypically masculine tasks. These findings challenge explanations that attribute wage disparities to negotiation behavior and suggest that organizations should address bias in initial salary offers to improve pay equity.