The gender pay gap is economically irrational and yet stubbornly persistent. In 2022, it stands at 14.9% in the UK. While it is shrinking, the rate of closure is slow, varied and by no means consistent.

Focusing on the finance industry known for its gender pay disparity, Architectures of Inequality explores the efforts being made to fix the inequity and the factors halting progress for the future.

Rachel Verdin provides an original conceptual framework drawing on company data, organisational policy and the experiences of working women to illustrate how entrenched pay inequity remains. Chapters provide a comprehensive assessment of both legal and organisational interventions alongside the experiences of women working in a range of finance firms. Interviewees reveal their practical experiences of the pay, bonus culture and workplace initiatives that are designed to offset these gaps. Their insight demonstrates the organisational blind spots regarding transparency around pay and the factors that impede the utility of workplace policies.

Architectures of Inequality will be of interest to researchers from business, law, sociology and economics. More broadly this book may also appeal to those interested in equality, diversity and inclusion, including those seeking to understand how regulatory and firm-based initiatives have affected gender equality measures.