Same work less pay for women

For decades, we’ve known that men earn much more on average than women, even if the woman is equally qualified. A new study exposes a new variation on that theme: just one year out of college, men already earn 20 percent more than their female counterparts; ten years out, the gap widens to 31 percent.

The gap can be attributed to a number of factors. For one, women do not always choose careers that are made up of traditionally high-earning positions like engineers, commission-based sales or even accountants, for example. In fact, women are over-represented in low-paying jobs, such as administrative assistants and artists to name a few.{{more}} Second, women often take time out from their careers to raise a family, which stunts their earnings growth. But even with those factors taken out of the equation, women still are not on a level playing field.

What can women do to close the gap?

• Negotiate. Men are more likely to negotiate a salary than women. Men will push the envelope and get as much as they possibly can while women tend not to ask for what they want.

Why not ask for more? Women tend to underestimate their value in the workplace and often end up with the proverbial short end of the stick. Unfortunately, too, if you do not up-negotiate your first salary, your earnings potential in the future (which is based on your past salaries) becomes much harder to accelerate.

Negotiation is not a dirty word. In fact, every woman should get into the habit of first realizing what they are worth and then making sure they are compensated accordingly. This is not the time for you to sit back and expect someone else to speak up for you! You are making a business exchange-your skills and talents for the company’s compensation. Don’t allow the company to bargain shop-that’s what you are doing when you fail to negotiate for your value; you’re essentially putting your skills up for a 30 percent discount. Some things should never go on sale, and your skills set is one of those things. Companies should always pay full price.

• Don’t get emotional, and do your research. Before you go barging into the corporate office crying out allegations of sexual discrimination, find out what the current pay rate is for your industry, company, position, geographic region and experience. These are all factors that affect the pay scale.

• And, make sure all things are equal. You don’t qualify for equal pay just because you are a woman. Make sure that you have the same qualifications as your male counterparts, that you put in the same time and produce the same quality work-that way, when you do ask for your increase, management cannot use those arguments against you.

• Karen Hinds President/CEO – Workplace Success Group, Toll Free: 1-877-902-2775; Tel: 1-203-757-4103
Karen@WorkplaceSuccess.com
www.WorkplaceSuccess.com
Creator of The Workplace Success Program (TM)