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| Gender discrimination steals a woman's future | Gender discrimination steals a woman's future |
| (7 months later) | |
| To modernize Jane Austen's famous line: it is a truth universally acknowledged that a woman in possession of a good fortune must have married or inherited it. | To modernize Jane Austen's famous line: it is a truth universally acknowledged that a woman in possession of a good fortune must have married or inherited it. |
| Well, OK, she may have earned it, but even if she did, the average fortune a US woman will accumulate over her working lifetime falls far short of what a man will make – a ratio of 36 cents to a dollar, actually. | Well, OK, she may have earned it, but even if she did, the average fortune a US woman will accumulate over her working lifetime falls far short of what a man will make – a ratio of 36 cents to a dollar, actually. |
| This wealth gap between genders is attributable to many factors, including (but not limited to) conscious and unconscious bias on the part of employers and institutionalized discrimination via the pay gap. Society might not yet be ready for the soul-searching required to tackle the former, but getting substantive legislation in place to tackle the latter would be a most welcome first step. | This wealth gap between genders is attributable to many factors, including (but not limited to) conscious and unconscious bias on the part of employers and institutionalized discrimination via the pay gap. Society might not yet be ready for the soul-searching required to tackle the former, but getting substantive legislation in place to tackle the latter would be a most welcome first step. |
| The good news is that in New York state, at least, solid moves are underway to close the pay gap. They could not come a moment too soon. | The good news is that in New York state, at least, solid moves are underway to close the pay gap. They could not come a moment too soon. |
| New York's governor, Andrew Cuomo, recently announced his Women's Equality Act, a key feature of which is to close the wage gap. As of 2011, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports (pdf) that a full-time, salaried woman earns on average 82% of a similarly situated man's income. | New York's governor, Andrew Cuomo, recently announced his Women's Equality Act, a key feature of which is to close the wage gap. As of 2011, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports (pdf) that a full-time, salaried woman earns on average 82% of a similarly situated man's income. |
| This long-standing pay gap, which seems to enjoy such universal acceptance (at least among employers), might be more palatable to women if we were eligible for a corresponding 18% deduction in market rents, utilities, and groceries to make up for it; but, of course, we enjoy no such compensation. | This long-standing pay gap, which seems to enjoy such universal acceptance (at least among employers), might be more palatable to women if we were eligible for a corresponding 18% deduction in market rents, utilities, and groceries to make up for it; but, of course, we enjoy no such compensation. |
| It's even less palatable when you consider that over our lifetimes, a college-educated woman loses anywhere between $500,000 and $2m in earnings (pdf) due to discriminatory pay practices. | It's even less palatable when you consider that over our lifetimes, a college-educated woman loses anywhere between $500,000 and $2m in earnings (pdf) due to discriminatory pay practices. |
| So what should women do (apart from never feel guilty again about letting a man pick up the check at dinner)? There are several advocacy groups, like the Wage Project (Women Are Getting Even), which offer resources and advice to women on their rights, how to negotiate better salaries, and their legal options should an employer discriminate on the basis of gender. This information can be very valuable, especially as a means to overcome lifelong socialization that teaches us to be polite and accepting – even though such behaviors do us no favors in the work place. | So what should women do (apart from never feel guilty again about letting a man pick up the check at dinner)? There are several advocacy groups, like the Wage Project (Women Are Getting Even), which offer resources and advice to women on their rights, how to negotiate better salaries, and their legal options should an employer discriminate on the basis of gender. This information can be very valuable, especially as a means to overcome lifelong socialization that teaches us to be polite and accepting – even though such behaviors do us no favors in the work place. |
| Suing unfair employers has also been made a little easier by the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, but I think everyone will agree: things have to get pretty bad before a woman would subject herself to the inevitable trauma of legal action. The onus to address discrimination should not be placed solely on the shoulders of the victim, but on those who perpetuate it. | Suing unfair employers has also been made a little easier by the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009, but I think everyone will agree: things have to get pretty bad before a woman would subject herself to the inevitable trauma of legal action. The onus to address discrimination should not be placed solely on the shoulders of the victim, but on those who perpetuate it. |
| Still, it's important to have the law on one's side when workplace discrimination becomes too much to handle. Dr Virginia LeBlanc, the former director of Indiana University's Hudson and Holland Scholars Program, recently filed a case against the university, alleging unfair pay, a hostile work environment, and preferential treatment toward men in salary and other practices. | Still, it's important to have the law on one's side when workplace discrimination becomes too much to handle. Dr Virginia LeBlanc, the former director of Indiana University's Hudson and Holland Scholars Program, recently filed a case against the university, alleging unfair pay, a hostile work environment, and preferential treatment toward men in salary and other practices. |
| When LeBlanc first discovered that her immediate predecessor, who was male, was paid a salary 240% greater than her own, (a fact not disputed by the university) she tried to resolve the matter internally. But she alleges that her attempts to do so were futile, and that the environment became hostile to the point where she felt she had no option but to leave and seek legal recourse. It remains to be seen how the case unfolds, but the current reality for Dr LeBlanc is that she no longer has a job. | When LeBlanc first discovered that her immediate predecessor, who was male, was paid a salary 240% greater than her own, (a fact not disputed by the university) she tried to resolve the matter internally. But she alleges that her attempts to do so were futile, and that the environment became hostile to the point where she felt she had no option but to leave and seek legal recourse. It remains to be seen how the case unfolds, but the current reality for Dr LeBlanc is that she no longer has a job. |
| Leaving a job where the environment is hostile is often the only option left to an employee. My very first job out of college was working at a radio station in Ireland, for which I had to operate the soundboard during broadcasts. I had two male colleagues, both of whom made it clear from my first day that they didn't want me around. I don't know what their reasons were, but they made my work-life impossible, even to the point of sabotaging the soundboard so that a show I was driving ended up off the air for five minutes – a major no-no in radio. | Leaving a job where the environment is hostile is often the only option left to an employee. My very first job out of college was working at a radio station in Ireland, for which I had to operate the soundboard during broadcasts. I had two male colleagues, both of whom made it clear from my first day that they didn't want me around. I don't know what their reasons were, but they made my work-life impossible, even to the point of sabotaging the soundboard so that a show I was driving ended up off the air for five minutes – a major no-no in radio. |
| Fortunately for me, the show's host seemed to understand what was going on, and I didn't get fired. But the damage was done. I didn't have the internal or external resources necessary at the time to deal with such hostility, so I did what many women do in similar circumstances: I quit a job that had been hard to get, and that I had really wanted to succeed at. | Fortunately for me, the show's host seemed to understand what was going on, and I didn't get fired. But the damage was done. I didn't have the internal or external resources necessary at the time to deal with such hostility, so I did what many women do in similar circumstances: I quit a job that had been hard to get, and that I had really wanted to succeed at. |
| This brings me back to that unconscious work place bias, which most women you talk to will be completely familiar with, and which many men you talk to will claim ignorance, or refuse to acknowledge that it even exists. I have no idea what can be done to remedy that – you can't legislate the invisible – other than to make as much noise as possible about it. There are definitive steps to be taken, however, to address what is visible: the wage gap can be closed, and we can make it impossible for employers to keep discriminating against women. | This brings me back to that unconscious work place bias, which most women you talk to will be completely familiar with, and which many men you talk to will claim ignorance, or refuse to acknowledge that it even exists. I have no idea what can be done to remedy that – you can't legislate the invisible – other than to make as much noise as possible about it. There are definitive steps to be taken, however, to address what is visible: the wage gap can be closed, and we can make it impossible for employers to keep discriminating against women. |
| So let's hope other states follow New York's example and start working immediately to stop disempowering women. It should go without saying that women's salaries are not pin money to keep us stocked with lipstick and botox injections; they're essential to our basic survival. And since marrying a fortune has become rarer than ever, women should at least be afforded an equal opportunity to earn them. | So let's hope other states follow New York's example and start working immediately to stop disempowering women. It should go without saying that women's salaries are not pin money to keep us stocked with lipstick and botox injections; they're essential to our basic survival. And since marrying a fortune has become rarer than ever, women should at least be afforded an equal opportunity to earn them. |
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