24 May, 2011

Know What You're Worth

Tired of the wage gap? I am. Women make seventy-seven cents for every dollar earned by a man who has similar experience, skills and education. Yes the organizational systems, paradigms and culture need to change in order for parity to be achieved, but more and more the conversation also includes an invitation to women to own their role in keeping the wage gap where it is.

The invitation, quite simply, is to do our own research, know our worth, and make the ask. The good news is, there is a whole generation of women entering the workforce that is already doing this. So find a woman who does it well, learn from her and let's tackle this puppy once and for all.

3 comments:

Katie West said...

This is an important post and well delivered too! Funny...we are just hiring a summer babysitter and I got the exact same response. Thank you for this!

Amanda said...

So important! I see this here in our intentional community all the time. For some reason, people with a spiritual bent (but especially women) also seem to be particularly prone to this problem. My thought is that, like love, money is a form of life energy and should be tended, nurtured, and valued as such.

Dana theus said...

Lael-
Great post and great advice. Over time I've found myself really torn on the question of equal pay. I'm noodling a blog post on the subject (of apologies too). Love your advice for finding out what you're worth so that when you go into negotiations you have relevant information. That way if you choose to accept less money, you will do it willingly and as a matter of choice. Power is choice and when we're in our power, the money is really not the issue at all.

Thanks for the provocative thinking.

Dana