It is true that, as a demographic group, women get paid less than men. That’s because they still aren’t getting to the highest-paying jobs, functions, and industries, while men thrive in all three.

However, our data show that the gender pay gap differs from conventional wisdom. When we compare pay for men and women—first by job level; then by job level and company; and finally by job level, company, and function—the “gap” gets smaller and smaller until it all but disappears; in other words, a man and a woman doing the same job, in the same function and company, get paid almost exactly the same.

. . . .

By isolating the main factors that influence pay—job level, company, and function—we’ve found that the gender pay gap exists—but not in line with conventional wisdom. Instead, the deeper we drill into the data, the smaller the pay gap gets. And when we compare like with like—same job, same function, same company— it becomes so small it’s statistically irrelevant. (In some countries, it disappears altogether.)

Here’s what happens when we carry out this analysis on all the relevant records in our global database.*

Headline average pay gap: 18%

After we’ve controlled for job level: 7%

After we’ve controlled for job level and company: 2%-3%

After we’ve controlled for job level, company, and function: Under 2%

*We’ve based the numbers in this table on data we hold for more than 8 million employees in 33 countries.