Gender pay gap in Australia

Last updated

The Gender pay gap in Australia is a measure comparing the earnings of men and women in the workforce. In Australia, the principle of "equal pay for equal work" was introduced in 1969. Anti-discrimination on the basis of sex was legislated in 1984. [1]

Contents

Despite this legislation, the difference between weekly average full-time earnings rose over the last two decades, going from a low of 14.9% in 2004 to a high of 18.9% in 2015. [2] [3] The pay gap has since returned to 14.1%, potentially the result of two newer pieces of legislation, the Workplace Gender Equality Act of 2012 and the Fair Work Act of 2009.[ original research? ] Some labour organisations and researchers have criticised these Acts for containing significant limitations that hamper their effectiveness. In a 2015 paper in the Cambridge Journal of Economics, two labour market experts argued that the government's "wavering political commitment to equality legislation generally suggest gender pay inequity will remain a persistent feature of Australian employment." [4]

A report commissioned by the Australian Government in 2016 found that sex discrimination was the leading driver of Australia's gender pay gap, followed by longer interruptions in work-life for women, and industry and occupational segregation. [5] [6]

Cases and legislation

In 1902, a union campaign [7] lead to equal pay for women working in the newly-established Commonwealth Public Service as telegraphists and “postmistresses.”

In 1907, in Ex parte H.V. McKay , [8] more commonly known as the Harvester case, H.B. Higgins of the Commonwealth Court of Conciliation and Arbitration determined that "fair and reasonable" wages for an unskilled male worker required a living wage that was sufficient for "a human being in a civilised community" to support a wife and three children in "frugal comfort", while a skilled worker should receive an additional margin for their skills, regardless of the employer's capacity to pay. That wage was to be determined according to the needs of a male worker not according to the worker's value to the employer.

However, a "fair and reasonable wage" for a female worker was considered by Higgins in 1912 in the Fruit pickers case, [9] which rejected an application for equal pay for women, deciding that this would represent equal pay for unequal work. Higgins held that women should only be awarded the full male rate where there was the risk of cheap female labour displacing men, setting a common rate for fruit pickers of 1 shilling per hour. The work of packing at the factory was "essentially adapted for women with their superior deftness and the suppleness of fingers" and this apparently justified a lower minimum wage of 9 pence per hour, which would provide for the woman's food, shelter and clothing but not that of her family. [9] Until World War II, the female basic wage was, generally speaking, approximately 54% of the male basic wage. [10] The assumptions of a male bread winner and female domestic carer have been criticised as a deliberate policy of discouraging women in the paid workforce, reflecting a flawed understanding of work and care where the normative worker of the labour market is without responsibilities to care for others. It thus ensured the continuance of the women's inferior place in the paid work force, only entitled to equal wages if their work threatened the position of men. [11] [12]

Until 1969, legislation allowed employers to pay women a minimum rate of pay that was 25% less than male employees doing the same or similar work. In 1969, the first federal Equal Pay case [13] established the principle that where women perform 'equal work' alongside men they should receive equal pay, referred to as "equal pay for equal work". Importantly however equal pay was not applicable "where the work in question is essentially or usually performed by females but is work upon which male employees may also be employed". By 1972 only 18% of women workers, mostly teachers and nurses, received the benefit of the decision. [14] [15]

In 1972, the second federal equal pay case [16] widened the 1969 principle to equal pay for work of equal value in line with International Labour Organization's Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (100). [17] This meant that women were awarded the same rate of pay as men - no matter what work they were doing, as long as it was assessed as comparable in value. Some employers sought to avoid paying equal pay by reclassifying women's jobs onto a lower scale to men in similar work. [18] New South Wales (NSW) was the first Australian industrial jurisdiction to legislate for equal pay in the Female Rates (Amendment) Act in 1958. [19] In 2000, the NSW Industrial Relations Commission created Australia's first Equal Remuneration Principle (ERP). The principle provides an avenue for unions to seek redress where they believe work has been undervalued on a gender basis. In 2002, the Full Bench of the NSW Industrial Relations Commission fully ratified the Crown Employees (Librarians, Library Assistants, Library Technicians and Archivists) Award 2002, which incorporated pay increases of up to 26%.

The Commonwealth Affirmative Action (Equal Employment Opportunity for Women) Act 1986 was enacted to improve equity in the Australian workforce and establish the Affirmative Action Agency, with Valerie Pratt as its first director. [20] It aimed to promote equal opportunity for women in employment and eliminate discrimination by the employer against women. In 1999 the agency was changed to the Equal Opportunity in the Workplace Agency to administer the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999 (Commonwealth). [21] In 2009, an Australian House of Representatives Pay Equity Report called on the Commonwealth Government to elevate pay equity to be a clear objective of modern awards and recommended the establishment of a federal Pay Equity Unit and the conducting of mandatory pay equity audits for companies with 100 employees or more. [22]

In 2012, the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999 was replaced by the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012, which included the creation of the Workplace Gender Equality Agency. [23] This agency is charged with promoting and improving gender equality in Australian workplaces.

Studies

A 2009 report by the National Center for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM) prepared for the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs stated:

"Utilising robust microeconomic modelling techniques, based on a comprehensive and critical evaluation of several methodologies, we found that simply being a woman is the major contributing factor to the gap in Australia, accounting for 60 per cent of the difference between women’s and men’s earnings, a finding which reflects other Australian research in this area. Indeed, the results showed that if the effects of being a woman were removed, the average wage of an Australian woman would increase by $1.87 per hour, equating to an additional $65 per week or $3,394 annually, based on a 35 hour week." (The second most important factor in explaining the pay gap was industrial segregation.) [24]

Data collected by NATSEM for the Catalyst Australia publication, Equality Speaks, found that the gap between the average wealth of men and women also varies according to the occupations and industries in which they are engaged. [25]

According to industry, the largest gap in personal wealth between men and women is within the finance and insurance sector ($330 600 versus $88 500) where many women work. By contrast, there exists only a small differential in the construction industry ($63 500 versus $62 700) where few women work. In other industries where many women work, there are large wealth gaps: For example, in health and community services ($174 000 versus $68 000) and retail trade ($84 000 versus $34 000).[ citation needed ]

Turning from industry to occupation, other significant disparities are revealed. The greatest disparity between the average wealth of men and women is amongst elementary clerical, sales and service workers ($110 400 versus $19 900). Jobs that fall within this category include sales assistants, security guards and laundry workers. The smallest relative wealth gap can be seen in advanced clerical and service workers ($91 600 versus $83 500). Jobs in this occupational category include book-keepers, personal assistants and secretaries.[ citation needed ]

Economist Paul Miller explored the degree to which the Australian gender pay gap differs across the wage distribution and found that the gender pay gap was much greater among high wage earners than among low wage earners. At the top of the wage distribution (95th quartile) the pay gap reached 25% or more while at the bottom the pay gap was around 10%. He concluded that "the notion of a ‘glass ceiling', whereby women struggle to advance beyond some point in the more typical career path, is certainly prevalent in the Australian labour market." [26] In a similar study, Hiao Joo Kee found that the gender pay gap increased at higher levels of the wage distribution in the private sector – leading to her conclusion that a glass ceiling existed there – but that the gap in the public sector was "relatively constant" over all percentiles. Moreover, Kee found that the acceleration of the pay gap across the wage distribution does not vanish even after extensive controls. She concludes that the gender pay gap in both sectors was a result of differences in returns to the same characteristics between men and women. [27]

In November 2024, a government report revealed that Australia's gender pay gap narrowed marginally to 21.8%, a 0.6 percentage point improvement from the previous year. Despite this progress, women on average still earned A$28,425 ($18,590) less annually than their male counterparts. The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) noted that over half of employers improved pay equity for men and women performing the same roles.

In 2010 Australian females represented 50.2% of the Australian population and 45.3% of the workforce. [28] Trends within the Australian labour force have female workforce participants increasingly more educated than their male counterparts with more females completing year 12 and going on to university than males. In 2008, females made up 55% of students enrolled in Australian tertiary institutions. [29] In 2010, finance was the industry with the widest gender pay gap at 32.2%, followed by health care and social assistance at 27.2% and mining at 22.7%. [30]

Western Australia

Western Australia has the largest gender pay gap of any state or territory in Australia. As of May 2021, the gap was 21.9% in average weekly ordinary time between male and female earnings. [31]

A specialist Pay Equity Unit in Western Australia was established in 2006 to address the State's gender pay gap. The Western Australian Pay Equity team in the Department of Commerce developed the WA Pay Equity Audit Tool, a resource for employers to use in assessing workforce data and assist in the development of strategies to improve pay equity and female career progression in the workplace. [32]

In 2018, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported [33] on 2015-16 financial year data [34] that was released by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). In that data the ABC listed the top 10 occupations that had the biggest pay gaps, based on average taxable income. The largest difference between of male and female was Ophthalmologists of $330,933, whereas the largest difference between female and male was State governor of $117,528. The news article also lists the top 80 occupations where females have a higher taxable income than men.

2015-16 financial year.

Male highest differenceFemaleMaleDifference
Ophthalmologist $247,905$578,838$330,933
Otorhinolaryngologist $233,083$537,764$304,681
Cricketer$39,711$311,972$272,261
Musician - singer$38,002$306,580$268,578
Orthopaedic surgeon$198,081$451,265$253,184
Dermatologist$188,298$416,186$227,888
Plastic and reconstructive surgeon$255,336$481,517$226,181
Neurosurgeon$378,188$600,153$221,965
Cardiologist$266,805$484,086$217,281
Cardiothoracic surgeon$187,166$387,770$200,604

2015-16 financial year.

Female highest differenceFemaleMaleDifference
State governor$286,676$169,148$117,528
Futures trader$388,681$300,923$87,758
Gymnast$81,354$31,339$50,015
Bulldozer operator$106,899$76,283$30,616
Surfer$68,178$40,396$27,782
Master fisher $110,385$83,644$26,741
Apprentice - forestry$53,413$29,484$23,929
Goat farmer$66,127$44,495$21,632
Apprentice autoglazier$56,072$34,891$21,181
Saw sharpener$84,464$64,616$19,848

See also

General:

Australia:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Equal Pay Act of 1963</span> United States labor law of the New Frontier program

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 is a United States labor law amending the Fair Labor Standards Act, aimed at abolishing wage disparity based on sex. It was signed into law on June 10, 1963, by John F. Kennedy as part of his New Frontier Program. In passing the bill, Congress stated that sex discrimination:

Equal pay for equal work is the concept of labour rights that individuals in the same workplace be given equal pay. It is most commonly used in the context of sexual discrimination, in relation to the gender pay gap. Equal pay relates to the full range of payments and benefits, including basic pay, non-salary payments, bonuses and allowances. Some countries have moved faster than others in addressing equal pay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pink-collar worker</span> Someone working in the care-oriented career field

A pink-collar worker is someone working in the care-oriented career field or in fields historically considered to be women's work. This may include jobs in the beauty industry, nursing, social work, teaching, secretarial work, or child care. While these jobs may also be filled by men, they have historically been female-dominated and may pay significantly less than white-collar or blue-collar jobs.

Employment discrimination is a form of illegal discrimination in the workplace based on legally protected characteristics. In the U.S., federal anti-discrimination law prohibits discrimination by employers against employees based on age, race, gender, sex, religion, national origin, and physical or mental disability. State and local laws often protect additional characteristics such as marital status, veteran status and caregiver/familial status. Earnings differentials or occupational differentiation—where differences in pay come from differences in qualifications or responsibilities—should not be confused with employment discrimination. Discrimination can be intended and involve disparate treatment of a group or be unintended, yet create disparate impact for a group.

The gender pay gap in the United States is a measure comparing the earnings of men and women in the workforce. The average female annual earnings is around 80% of the average male's. When variables such as hours worked, occupations chosen, and education and job experience are controlled for, the gap diminishes with females earning 95% as much as males. The exact figure varies because different organizations use different methodologies to calculate the gap. The gap varies depending on industry and is influenced by factors such as race and age. The causes of the gender pay gap are debated, but popular explanations include the "motherhood penalty," hours worked, occupation chosen, willingness to negotiate salary, and gender bias.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women in the workforce</span> All women who perform some kind of job

Since the Industrial Revolution, participation of women in the workforce outside the home has increased in industrialized nations, with particularly large growth seen in the 20th century. Largely seen as a boon for industrial society, women in the workforce contribute to a higher national economic output as measure in GDP as well as decreasing labor costs by increasing the labor supply in a society.

Occupational inequality is the unequal treatment of people based on gender, sexuality, age, disability, socioeconomic status, religion, height, weight, accent, or ethnicity in the workplace. When researchers study trends in occupational inequality they usually focus on distribution or allocation pattern of groups across occupations, for example, the distribution of men compared to women in a certain occupation. Secondly, they focus on the link between occupation and income, for example, comparing the income of whites with blacks in the same occupation.

Occupational segregation is the distribution of workers across and within occupations, based upon demographic characteristics, most often gender. Other types of occupational segregation include racial and ethnicity segregation, and sexual orientation segregation. These demographic characteristics often intersect. While a job refers to an actual position in a firm or industry, an occupation represents a group of similar jobs that require similar skill requirements and duties. Many occupations are segregated within themselves because of the differing jobs, but this is difficult to detect in terms of occupational data. Occupational segregation compares different groups and their occupations within the context of the entire labor force. The value or prestige of the jobs are typically not factored into the measurements.

Gender inequality can be defined as the unequal treatment of individuals based on their gender. Individuals can be marginalised and discriminated from society and be restricted to participate in society due to their gender. Australian women, men, and transgender and non-binary people may all experience aspects of gender inequality. In 2017, Australia ranked as the 35th best country for gender equality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paycheck Fairness Act</span> Proposed law to address the gender pay gap

The Paycheck Fairness Act is a proposed United States labor law that would add procedural protections to the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and the Fair Labor Standards Act as part of an effort to address the gender pay gap in the United States. A Census Bureau report published in 2008 stated that women's median annual earnings were 77.5% of men's earnings. Recently this has narrowed, as by 2018, this was estimated to have decreased to women earning 80-85% of men's earnings. One study suggests that when the data is controlled for certain variables, the residual gap is around 5-7%; the same study concludes that the residual is because "hours of work in many occupations are worth more when given at particular moments and when the hours are more continuous. That is, in many occupations, earnings have a nonlinear relationship with respect to hours."

The motherhood penalty refers to the economic disadvantages women face in the workplace as a result of becoming mothers. This sociological concept highlights how working mothers often experience wage reductions, diminished perceived competence, and fewer career advancement opportunities compared to their childless counterparts. Studies indicate that mothers face a per-child wage penalty that exacerbates the gender pay gap. In addition to lower pay, mothers are often viewed as less committed and less dependable employees, leading to hiring biases, lower job evaluations, and reduced chances for promotion. These penalties are not limited to a single cause but are rooted in societal perceptions, workplace biases, and theories like the work-effort model, which posits that caregiving responsibilities reduce mothers' work productivity. The motherhood penalty is prevalent across various industrialized nations and has been documented across racial and economic lines, with women of color and those in low-wage jobs experiencing more severe consequences. Despite increased attention to this issue, the penalty has not shown significant signs of decline.

The social and economic changes in Thailand in the past decades have important implications for the quality and quantity of labor. The economic and non-economic roles of women in Thailand can be traced back several hundred years in Thai history, when there were traditional discriminatory attitudes towards women in the culture of Thailand. The transformation of Thailand's social and economic structure since the 1960s led to the gender disparities in Thai society. Recently, the position of Thai women in the labor market has improved a lot in comparison to the past as a result of modernization. In 2011, Thailand ranked 69th out of 143 countries in the Gender Inequality Index. In labor economics, gender inequality is widely discussed in terms of concepts of sex segregation and employment discrimination. Thai government and non-governmental organizations have put forth many policies and programs to address gender inequalities in the last few decades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gender pay gap</span> Average difference in remuneration amounts between men and women

The gender pay gap or gender wage gap is the average difference between the remuneration for men and women who are employed. Women are generally found to be paid less than men. There are two distinct measurements of the pay gap: non-adjusted versus adjusted pay gap. The latter typically takes into account differences in hours worked, occupations chosen, education and job experience. In other words, the adjusted values represent how much women and men make for the same work, while the non-adjusted values represent how much the average man and woman make in total. In the United States, for example, the non-adjusted average woman's annual salary is 79–83% of the average man's salary, compared to 95–99% for the adjusted average salary. The reasons for the gap link to legal, social and economic factors. These include having children, parental leave, gender discrimination and gender norms. Additionally, the consequences of the gender pay gap surpass individual grievances, leading to reduced economic output, lower pensions for women, and fewer learning opportunities.

The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) is an Australian Government statutory agency responsible for promoting and improving gender equality in Australian workplaces. The agency was created by the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 and provides employers with advice, practical tools, and education to help them improve gender equality. The Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 was enacted by an amendment to the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Act 1999, that changed its name to the Workplace Gender Equality Act and correspondingly changed the name of the Equality Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency. The Workplace Gender Equality Agency is part of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

Gender equality is the notion that each gender should receive equal treatment in all aspects of life, and that one should not be discriminated based on their sex. Gender equality is a human right, which is recognised under the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The gender pay gap in New Zealand is the difference in the median hourly wages of men and women in New Zealand. In 2020 the gender pay gap is 9.5%. It is an economic indicator used to measure pay equality. The gender pay gap is an official statistic published annually by Stats NZ sourced from the Household Labour Force Survey.

Gender pay gap in India refers to the difference in earnings between women and men in the paid employment and the labor market. For the year 2013, the gender pay gap in India was estimated to be 24.81%. Further, while analyzing the level of female participation in the economy, this report slots India as one of the bottom 10 countries on its list. Thus, in addition to unequal pay, there is also unequal representation, because while women constitute almost half the Indian population, their representation in the work force amounts to only about one-fourth of the total.

The gender pay gap in the United States tech industry is the divergence in pay between men and women who work in areas such as software engineering. In 2018, reports show that for every dollar the average man made, women only made 82 cents, and women from underrepresented communities earn even less. Despite applying for the same jobs at the same companies, women receive job offers that pay less than their male counterparts 63% of the time. The gap does not affect women of all races equally, and discourages women, specifically those that are underrepresented minorities, from continuing to pursue opportunities in the technology industry. The wage gap in the tech industry is a result of a multitude of factors including lower initial offers and lack of negotiations.

Jill Rubery is a Professor of Comparative Employment Systems at Alliance Manchester Business School (AMBS) at the University of Manchester. Her research focuses on comparative analyses of employment systems with a specialisation in gender and labour market structure. She was made a fellow of the British Academy in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Wages of Men and Women: Should They be Equal?</span> 1919 book by Beatrice Webb

The Wages of Men and Women: Should They be Equal? is a book written by English sociologist, economist, socialist and social reformer Beatrice Webb. It deals with equal pay for equal work and the basic principles that should apply to men's and women's wages. First published by the Fabian Society in 1919, the book is a minority report in which Webb criticizes the main purpose and findings of the War Cabinet Committee on Women in Industry. Webb was herself a member of the Committee, which was to investigate whether women who worked in occupations that had been considered men's work before the war were in fact receiving equal pay, and also to establish the principles that would determine the relationship between men's and women's wages.

References

  1. ↑ Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, "About Australia: Women—Towards Equality". Archived from the original on 6 February 2012. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  2. ↑ "Australia's gender pay gap statistics" (PDF). Australian Government. February 2018.
  3. ↑ "The Gender Pay Gap OVER THE LIFE CYCLE" (PDF).
  4. ↑ Charlesworth, Sara; Macdonald, Fiona (2015). "Australia's gender pay equity legislation: how new, how different, what prospects?". Cambridge Journal of Economics. 39 (2): 421–440. doi:10.1093/cje/beu044.
  5. ↑ Graduate Salaries 2012. Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 22 November 2015.
  6. ↑ "Why Australian women are still being paid less than men". Australian Government. 2016.
  7. ↑ a union campaign
  8. ↑ Ex parte H.V. McKay (1907) 2 CAR 1.
  9. 1 2 Rural Workers’ Union v Mildura Branch of the Australian Dried Fruits Association (Fruit pickers case) (1912) 6 CAR 61.
  10. ↑ Equal Remuneration Case [2011] FWAFB 2700 at [189].
  11. ↑ Owens, R Owens, Rosemary J "Women, 'Atypical' Work Relationships and the Law" [1993] MelbULawRw 18 at .
  12. ↑ Chapman, A "Industrial Law, Working Hours and Work, Care and Family" [1993] MonashULawRw 31.
  13. ↑ The Australasian Meat Industry Employees Union v Meat and Allied Trades Federation of Australia (Equal Pay case 1969) (1969) 127 Commonwealth Arbitration Reports 1142.
  14. ↑ "1969 Equal Pay Case". Sir Richard Kirby Archives. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
  15. ↑ Brenda Finlayson. Equal Pay – We’ve Come A long Way. Workers Online, Issue No 17, 11 June 1999.
  16. ↑ National Wage and Equal Pay Cases 1972 (1972) 147 Commonwealth Arbitration Reports 172.
  17. ↑ "C100 Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951". Archived from the original on 23 March 2010. Retrieved 23 March 2010.
  18. ↑ "1972 Equal Pay Case". Sir Richard Kirby Archives. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
  19. ↑ NSW Industrial Relations. A history of pay equity. Archived 2 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  20. ↑ "Valerie Pratt". Macquarie University. Archived from the original on 12 September 2009. Retrieved 9 April 2022.
  21. ↑ Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency. Overview of the Act. Archived 17 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  22. ↑ Parliament of Australia, House of Representatives. Inquiry into pay equity and associated issues related to increasing female participation in the workforce.
  23. ↑ "Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012". Australian Government. 2012.
  24. ↑ National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling. The impact of a sustained gender wage gap on the economy. Archived 9 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine Report to the Office for Women, Department of Families, Community Services, Housing and Indigenous Affairs, 2009, p. v-vi.
  25. ↑ Catalyst Australia, Equality Speaks Chapter 10, 2009
  26. ↑ Miller, Paul W. (2005). The Role of Gender among Low-Paid and High-Paid Workers. Australian Economic Review, Vol. 38, No. 4, pp. 405-417, quote p. 413-414.
  27. ↑ Kee, Hiao Joo (2006). Glass Ceiling or Sticky Floor? Exploring the Australian Gender Pay Gap. Archived 7 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine The Economic Record, Vol. 82, No. 259, pp. 408-427.
  28. ↑ Toohey, Tim, David Colosimo & Andrew Boak (2009). Australia’s Hidden Resource: The Economic Case for Increasing Female Participation. Archived 23 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine Melbourne: Goldman Sachs JBWere Investment Research, p. 3.
  29. ↑ Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. Student 2009 Full Year: Selected Higher Education Statistics. Archived 5 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  30. ↑ Australian Bureau of Statistics, Average Weekly Earnings. Catalogue 6302.0, Time Series Tables 10A & 10D.
  31. ↑ Australian Bureau of Statistics. Australia's Gender Pay Gap Statistics 2021.
  32. ↑ Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency.The Pay Equity Audit Tool. Archived 18 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  33. ↑ Women in these 80 occupations earn more than men, on average ABC News 27 Apr 2018.
  34. ↑ Taxation statistics 2015–16 ATO 03 Jul 2018.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.