Women Promoted Faster at Lower Wages

According to a recent survey in England, woman are rising up through the ranks of the business world at a faster pace than men. The average age of women who are team leaders is 37; the same statistic for men is age 41 (according to the Chartered Management Institute). Although their rise is quicker, these women still earn less than men (a difference of 2,674 pounds). Towards the end of this article, the comment is made that companies need to make sure that promotions and salary are merit based and not dependent on gender. However, just because a correlative relationship between gender and salary exists in this survey does not necessarily indicate a causal relationship. The men were found to be older, which suggests that they could have more experience in the field. Perhaps these men have higher wages because they have more years experience. One must be careful not to draw conclusions that the evidence does not clearly support; rather, one should examine all possible causes of an effect. Which is more likely in today's world: these men are given preferential treatment in the form of higher salaries, or these men have more years of experience and therefore deserve higher wages? I'm interested to see what you think and the reasoning behind it.