The Good News
Starting next month, NYC will offer online and in person Negotiating Skills for Women.
Back in 2017, NYC also banned employers from asking job candidates to disclose salary history, a question that often puts women and minorities at a disadvantage. This was to help level the playing field. No fixed research I can find on how we are doing on that front yet.
Iceland’s new law now puts the onus on employers to prove they’re paying their people fairly. When I traveled to Iceland this past spring (thankfully not on WOW airlines), I got to learn a lot about their society and culture. Their parliament is heavily women based.
In reality it should not be hard to prove equal pay for equal work. It starts with pay transparency. Personally, I don’t feel like in my corporate days that it was as obvious {to me} that I was paid differently or unequally to my male counterparts. Yet it is much more obvious now and many companies are striving for more pay transparency.
The Pay Gap Bad News
It used to be that women were not negotiating for their raises as often as men yet now the recent stats say that even when women do negotiate, unconscious bias often kicks in.
Women are told they are “too aggressive”, “being intimidating” or “bossy”
(How can we be perceived as ‘bossy’ when speaking about our value and our results?)
Yes, I still hear this recurring theme from my corporate women career coaching clients. Fortunately I can give them negotiating scripts, tips and techniques so they can “negotiate” their way through their negotiations more smoothly. Because sometimes how we say things and the words we choose is more critical than what we think to say.
…. and it is not just men against women. As women, we are often just as biased against other women as men could be. That is why we term it an unconscious bias. The BBC show “Analysis” did a great episode earlier this year on why (and how) women are biased against women, and what we can do about it.
Correcting the Pay Gap
I work with both professional men and women. My practice is almost 50/50. I get to hear a lot of what concerns us regarding our careers.
Do you know the wage gap often starts in the teenage years? It may start with babysitting.
Boys will tell you what rate they charge for example to cut your grass (often based on what their buddy is earning).
Yet many times teenage girls will say “whatever you think is fair/right”.
Think of how much money has been left on the table for girls and women over their decades of earning!
As parents, educators, bosses, and leaders we have to educate and also encourage girls, women, dads, moms, to get girls and young women to start early and to keep asking and practicing.
We all have to keep encouraging all of us to be committed to closing the gender pay gap. It hurts us individually, hurts our families, and our communities.
How is this affecting your career?
Want to speak more about improving or fast-tracking your career or leadership? Connect with me and let’s talk for 20 minutes.
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