Tomorrow Woman and Tomorrow Man acknowledge that our offices are on the traditional lands of the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nations.
Acknowledgement of Country
Tomorrow Woman acknowledge that our offices are on the traditional lands of the Wurundjeri People of the Kulin Nations. We pay respect to elders past, present and future, and all First Nations people.
The gender pay gap doesn’t begin in the workplace, it begins in the classroom. By the time girls reach Year 9, many already believe they’re worth less, not because of ability but because of the subtle messages they’ve absorbed about leadership, ambition and value. From who gets called on in class to which careers are encouraged, schools play a bigger role than we realise. If you’re an educator, you hold the power to shift these patterns and plant the seeds of real equality.
By the time girls reach Year 9, many already believe they’re worth less.
Not because they’ve failed a test or missed a mark. But because the world around them, quietly, consistently, has taught them to aim smaller, speak softer and expect less.
It’s not always obvious. It’s in the career choices they’re nudged toward. The leadership opportunities they’re passed over for. The way ambition in girls is labelled “bossy” while boys are called “driven.”
And it shows up later, when they hesitate to negotiate their salary. When they’re overlooked for promotions. When they internalise that their work, their time, their voice… isn’t worth quite as much.
Today, Australian women still earn significantly less than men. On average, it’s about 78 cents for every dollar. That’s a gap of over $28,000 a year, and it doesn’t just happen by accident.
This isn’t about individual choices. It’s about structural messages. Messages that start early and shape the way young people, especially girls, see themselves in the world.
It’s why some girls shy away from high-paying fields. Why they’re less likely to ask for more. Why they often expect less from the outset.
If you’re an educator, this matters. Because long before women enter the workforce, they walk into your classroom. And the seeds of equity, or inequality, are already being planted.
In every classroom, there’s a curriculum we don’t talk about.
It’s not written in textbooks, but it’s there, in who gets called on. Who’s asked to lead. Who’s praised for speaking up, and who’s told to wait their turn.
Girls are often rewarded for being helpful, tidy, and polite. Boys are encouraged to take charge, to experiment, to be bold. Over time, those patterns shape who feels entitled to lead and who doesn’t.
Then there’s money. A topic rarely discussed, especially with girls. Financial literacy lessons often centre on budgeting and saving, but what about negotiating, investing, or recognising your value?
A UK study found that by the age of six, boys are already more likely than girls to ask for higher rewards, even when they’ve done the same work. It’s not that they’re more capable. It’s that they’ve been taught to back themselves. Confidence, not competence, is what widens the gap.
So by the time girls are choosing subjects in Year 10 or considering a pathway after school, many have already ruled out entire industries, not because they’re not good enough, but because no one ever told them they were.
This isn’t just local. It’s global.
Across the world, progress is slow. The World Economic Forum’s latest Gender Gap Report tells us that at the current rate, full economic parity between men and women is more than a century away.
123 years.
That means today’s students will spend their working lives in a world where men still dominate the highest-paid roles, where women still do the bulk of unpaid care, and where leadership still looks remarkably like it always has.
But there’s power in that number too. Because it reminds us that without intervention, the gap won’t close. Change doesn’t happen automatically. It happens intentionally.
And school is one of the best places to start.
No one’s asking schools to fix the gender pay gap on their own. But you do have enormous influence. You see young people at a time when their identities, values and beliefs are still forming.
Here’s how you can use that window.
Notice who gets encouraged to lead, and who gets told to be patient. Challenge praise that reinforces old roles, like calling girls “organised” and boys “assertive,” when they’re doing the same thing.
Introduce students to female leaders across industries. Use real-world stories not just from politics or science, but finance, construction, sport, entrepreneurship. Help girls see themselves in careers they might never have considered.
Go beyond pocket money and saving. Teach students how to value their time, how to ask for fair pay, and how to plan for their financial future. If we want pay gaps to shrink, students need to know what’s behind them.
Create environments where all students can speak up without fear of being shut down. Confidence grows in places where risk feels safe.
At Tomorrow Woman, we partner with schools across the country to deliver workshops that unpack gender norms and build self-awareness. We give students the tools to question the stories they’ve been told and replace them with ones that empower.
The gender pay gap is often talked about like it’s inevitable. Something that will just fade with time.
It won’t.
If we want girls to grow up expecting equal pay, equal opportunity and equal value, we have to name what’s happening. And we have to start while they’re still listening.
Because the gap doesn’t begin in the workplace. It begins in the way we raise, teach and talk to young people.
It begins in school.
And that means educators are not just part of the solution. You are the frontline of it.
Let’s help every student, no matter their gender, believe they are worthy of more.
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Tomorrow Woman is a social enterprise in partnership with Tomorrow Man and Tomorrow Architects. Our offices are located in Sydney and Melbourne – and we travel everywhere across Australia.
Acknowledgement of Country
We respectfully acknowledge the first custodians of the land on which we live and work, the Wurrundjeri People of the Kulin Nation. We pay respects to Elders past, present and emerging and to all First Nations People. Sovereignty was never ceded and treaties were never signed.
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