Gender Pay Gap

The gender pay gap in the security industry (and many others) can look contradictory at first glance, because two things are true at the same time:

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1. Equal pay for equal roles is generally enforced
Most security companies operate with structured pay bands. For example, a door supervisor, CCTV operator, or site guard role has a fixed hourly rate or a narrow range. This means:

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• Men and women doing the same job, at the same level, in the same company are paid the same hourly rate.

• This aligns with laws like the UK’s Equal Pay Act (now part of the Equality Act 2010), which requires equal pay for equal work.

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So at a role-by-role level, there often isn’t a direct “men paid more than women for the same job” issue.

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2. The gender pay gap measures averages, not like-for-like roles
The confusion comes from what the “gender pay gap” actually measures. It looks at the average earnings of all men vs all women across an organisation or industry.

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It does not compare identical roles. So even if pay is equal within roles, a gap can still exist if men and women are distributed differently across jobs.

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3. Male dominance skews the averages
The security industry has historically been male dominated, especially in higher-paying roles (e.g., close protection, management, specialist security)

 

Meanwhile women, who are underrepresented overall, are more likely to be in:

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• Entry-level roles

• Part time roles

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This creates a structural imbalance:

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• More men in higher-paid roles → raises the male average

• Fewer women in those roles → lowers the female average

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Even if every individual role pays equally, the overall averages will still show a gap.

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4. Pipeline and progression issues
Another key factor is career progression:

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• Fewer women entering the industry → smaller talent pipeline

• Fewer women moving into supervisory/management roles

 

This reinforces the imbalance at higher pay levels and keeps the average gap in place.