A global survey shows woman are far more aware of perceived gaps in pay equity and equal opportunities than men.
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New Zealand-based recruiting company Hays surveyed 6000 people across 31 countries, including New Zealand, and found that only 18 percent of men believe there is a pay disparity based on sex, compared with 45 percent of women.
It also found 79 per cent of men believe the same career opportunities are available to all, compared with 52 percent of women.
Last week, a report from the consultancy firm Grant Thornton found the number of women in senior management positions was at an all-time low.
The chief executive of Hays, Alistair Cox, said the gap in perception could be an obstacle to change.
"We found that more women than men think the sexes aren't paid or rewarded equally, while more than double the number of women to men say the same career options are not open to both genders.
"This suggests that most people in executive and senior management roles - the majority of which are men - still fail to see any inequality when it comes to pay and career opportunities between the sexes.
"This makes it difficult to see how we will see any significant advancement in this area while the majority of people in senior roles do not recognise it as an issue."
Mr Cox noted that many organisations had specific programmes in place to address this issue, but questioned their efficacy.
"It has to be asked how successful these might be given that the majority of our survey respondents felt as though no imbalance existed in terms of pay or opportunities. Maybe this lack of recognition of the issue is the real obstacle to change."
Just 9 percent of respondents said implementing quotas would have a big impact, with the remainder suggesting that cultural change and practical measures, rather than formal quotas, are the answer.
To the end of June 2014, the raw wage gap was 14.1 percent, and when adjusted for seniority, age and occupation, 5.3 percent.
