What is the gender pay gap?
Often times when I hear about the gender pay gap, it is often associated with the concept of “Lower pay for equal work.” in regards to women obtaining less wages for executing the same level of effort as men. The data shows by and large that statement is not what makes the gender pay gap. The gender pay gap is a function of an equation that looks at the difference in earnings between women and men. I often struggle with some of the narratives around the gender pay gap because it is not comparing apples to apples. It is comparing entire gender populations to each other and we know that populations are made up of people with different jobs, different education, in various locations, etc.
While we see the gender pay gap is significantly less post-college, disparities in wages between women and men exist for a variety of reasons.
What contributes to the gender pay gap?
- Focus on family planning and caring for family members
Traditionally, women have been known as homemakers and as a result, by default, will spend a number of their working years family planning or being opted into caring for family members in need. Whether it is maternity leave or taking time off to support family, women can lose out on a considerable amount of income when they step away or reduce their workload. In contrast, many men are not found in these exact situations and instead continue to see continuous increases in raises, promotions, and bonuses during their working career years. - More women pursue higher education
As someone with three degrees, I have witnessed firsthand how women pursue graduate education at higher rates than men. New York Times reported “The rising gender gap in college education — currently three women for every two men — might turn out to be one of the most transformative trends of our time.” Transformative in a number of ways as many of those men opt out of pursuing higher education and begin building their career, ultimately increasing their pay and demanding more along the way. - Occupational segregation keeps the pay gap wide
The majority of jobs dominated by women pay less than jobs dominated by men. More often than not, women chose lower-paid occupations such as teachers, childcare workers, social workers, etc. that, to date, have a plateau in income earning potential. Some of these outcomes are attributed to the lack of early exposure boys and girls get to experience in their childhood and the perception formed early on by who they see doing what in life. It is much harder in life to be what you do not see.
How are women of color in particular affected?
While for so long the narrative of how women of color are affected by the gender pay gap has been overall dismal, my early and lose understanding of the gender pay gap along with the statistics on the limited number of women in STEM-inspired me as a Black woman to pursue an early career in engineering. I have been fortunate for most of my life to have not directly dealt with the negative ramifications of the gender pay gap but am not oblivious to the fact that it does play a bleak role for many women of color.
The Road to Zero Wealth report published by Prosperity Now and the Institute for Policy Studies revealed the median wealth of black Americans will fall to zero by 2053 if current trends continue. While for black Americans, including myself, education has been pressed on us as our ticket to financial freedom and an asset that no one can take away from us, for many education has not translated into more household wealth but instead it has translated into excessive student loans and delayed higher earning potential.
The impact of the gender pay gap has less to do with obtaining a higher single paycheck but the realities of a finance topic known as compounding, the ability for money to grow exponentially over time by the repeated addition of earnings to the original amount invested. If we don’t address the discrepancies in pay for women of color sooner than later, we will do a disservice not only to the women who rightfully deserve to be compensated adequately for their efforts but also to their families and generations down the road that are impacted.
What can women do to close the gender pay gap?
- Advocate for yourself
Some people call it negotiating, I like to call it advocating for your needs. In the last three jobs I have held, I have gone through three rounds of “advocating for myself”. What I reconfirmed from my experience are three things:
– Closed mouths don’t get fed
– It is HR’s job, in many cases, to get you for the lowest price possible
– You will not die if someone tells you no.
I enjoy the exercise of advocating for myself because it allows me to be introspective about all of the things I have accomplished and forces me to do the research to better understand what I can expect in a particular role. The practice of advocating for oneself is one that I believe all women should implement not only at the start of a job but during certain pivotal milestones throughout their career (work anniversaries, successful project completion, recognition by senior leadership).
- Seek higher-paying jobs
I am a huge proponent of everyone doing the internal work to identify why you are on the Earth. We are all uniquely designed to achieve different purposes and fulfilling various callings. The sooner we align with this mindset, the sooner we can propel ourselves to being paid at higher rates. When you love what you do, your work ethic reflects it, and thus your performance follows through. I believe you can make money and be in alignment with your passion. I started off my career as an engineer solely by looking at a list with the highest-paying jobs in America. I now make significantly more than many engineers at my same education level and age by pursuing my work as a business consultant, foodpreneur, and diversity investor.
- Identify mentors
I don’t believe in reinventing the wheel. For almost everything I have pursued in life, I had identified mentors who came before me and were willing to provide me with guidance on how to achieve my goals. I have mentors for many aspects of my life: career mentors, financial mentors, spiritual mentors, workout mentors, etc. These people help me to get a glimpse of what I can be. If you are seeking a higher-paying job, finding someone who is in one and understanding what they did to get to that space can be an extremely helpful and cost-effective way to help close the gender pay gap.
What should be done on a systemic level?
- Make salaries transparent
It shouldn’t be a secret when someone applies for a job what they can expect to receive. While for many jobs there are a number of credentials that go into determining a salary, if more companies were transparent about salaries or salary ranges they can afford, women would have more knowledge around what they can expect in the market. While influential in career decision-making, salaries are not the singular attracting factor people consider when choosing a job so this is not always a make-or-break point for someone. - Alter the school system timing and invest in high-quality childhood education
By extending the time of day and time of the year when the school system runs to coincide with the average working professional schedule, there is a less likely chance that a parent (usually the mom) will have to alter their work schedule. The average working parent is unavailable between 9 am – 5 pm, yet very few school system operating hours align with this timing. By altering, essentially extending, the time of schooling per day, students can increase their education exposure and peer interaction development, while a woman has more time to excel at her job. - Implement more gender-neutral learning in school
Providing early exposure to children to level-set their expectations can have a dramatic impact on how kids imagine themselves in the world. By creating more inclusive textbooks along with gender and culturally informative education tools, the greater the chance for children to consider pursuing higher-paying positions when they get older. - Increase the minimum wage
It’s hard to believe that we’re in 2022 and the minimum wage in America is still $7.25 when inflation is up nearly 6%. More than 15 years ago, I made $2.13 as a waitress in South Florida as a teenager. Granted back then my expenses were incredibly minimal, I worked alongside people who were earning their living off of this wage and providing a necessary service to patrons. By raising the minimum wage, it will help hardworking women like my former co-workers support themselves and their families.
