SMEs represent a significant proportion of employment for Scottish citizens. It would be pertinent to know the success of closing the gender pay gap amongst Scottish SMEs. This could be used to inform plans for the economy such as through the Fairer Scotland for Women: Gender Pay Gap Action Plan to resolve “issues related to ethnicity, ability and socio-economic identities as well as incidents of discrimination” (Scottish Government, 2019).

SMEs may wish to benchmark themselves against competitors, national and UK statistics using data visualisations. Data may show that there are specific areas of industry with “biases in the recruitment, training and promotion of staff” (Delivering for Scotland, 2021) leading to suggested actions for SMEs to take to reduce the gender pay gap further. As flexible working patterns have become more popular post-pandemic, consideration of the gender pay gap between full and part-time employees should be undertaken.

An investigation into the gender pay gap within Scottish SMEs would minimise and/or confirm action taken against any “discriminatory practices that prevent women…from entering and/or progressing in work” (Scottish Government, 2021) has been successful. A focus on the work of SMEs compared with larger companies will highlight success or weakness in the Scottish Government’s Fairer Scotland for Women action plan and areas for improvement.