"we regularly test for pay parity based on gender – both men and women – and inclusive of ethnicity in the United States"

Interesting that we don't test for ethnicity parity outside the United States. Perhaps Cisco should try to go beyond what is legally required.

Also, I understand there may still be some age discrimination. In my experience, age is a plus, given equal performance. But I guess this is difficult to change.

What are those pay parity tests? How are they different than just a gender-blind test for performance? Do we just want to make sure that within a given grade, women and men get the same average pay (i.e. are we assuming the average performance must be the same)? Do we want to make sure that women and men are within the same percentage across grades?

Thanks for the discussions. It's a complicated and politically loaded subject, but the most transparency, the better.