The Globe and Mail quotes Sarah Kaplan who “argues that real change rests on making structural reforms to company hiring and promotion practices. At present, she says, employees who want to join the leadership track have to opt in and say, “‘I want to get promoted.’”

But she says preliminary findings by Rotman researchers show gender pay differences close when a company includes all mid-level candidates in the leadership track, leaving it up to individuals to opt out if they choose.

“Women tend not to opt in until they are 100-per-cent ready or because they know they are at risk of rejection,” Dr. Kaplan says. “It’s not because they are risk-averse but because they know the evidence is they are less likely to be promoted and don’t want to go up [and seek a promotion] unless they know they can nail it.”