Data-Driven Business Decisions

CHAPTER 18

Product Features, Nonlinear Relationships, and Market Segments

PAY EQUITY AT NTC: CASE BRIEFING

NTC are being accused of gender discrimination. They do not believe that they systematically discriminate against female employees. In fact, they even have some affirmative action built into their hiring protocols.

You are a quantitative consultant advising NTC. The professional body representing the plaintiffs is basing its claims on a data file that was freely provided by NTC. It gives the characteristics of 273 employees across the company, suitably stripped of identifying details to preserve confidentiality. The database includes all current employees, excluding senior management and nonprofessional staff.

Breaking the data down into males and females you find that males are paid around $10,000 per annum more on average than females. This is way more than the $4200 per annum being claimed. However, there are other things to consider, such as the experience and education of the employees, as well as their age—though age is not a legally valid consideration in employment decisions any more than gender.

You are to write a report that anticipates some of the uses that the prosecution might make of the data if the matter actually proceeds to court. You should list the possible analyses—from least to most sophisticated—as well as a critique that you can present in court. Ultimately, you need to understand exactly which features drive salary, to account for any gender differences ...