Equal Work Deserves Equal Pay

By Roma Chandhok on December 15, 2012

Equal Pay Banner via thecontributor.com

In my lifetime, I am expected to make on average one million dollars less than a man doing the same job as me. For every dollar a man makes, a female makes 77 cents of that doing the same exact job.

Why, when I am just as smart, educated, capable, and competitive as a man, do I get paid less? Although, there are many factors that contribute to this, the most important thing to do is try to avoid this injustice so it does not happen to you.

The first step, which will decide your pay, is how well you can negotiate. The time between when you are offered a job and when you agree to take the job is the ideal time for you to negotiate your salary because that is when you have the most power. The wage gap between you and another employee at start might be small, but as time goes on, it only increases. So before negotiating your salary, do your research and know the average salary for job positions in your area by using websites such as www.wageproject.org and www.payscale.com. Knowing your value and what you’re worth is key when agreeing on your salary.

Employers assume that I will be leaving my job for some time when I have children. Will this affect my job? Because of this assumption, employers often divert females onto side tasks because they know that soon work will not be their focus. This is not okay. You might not even have kids or maybe you will adopt and your partner will decide to take a step back from his/her career to focus on raising the children.  Regardless of the situation, you should be able to get ahead in your job whether you have kids someday or not.

Since talking about salary at a workplace is often not appropriate, it is hard to tell if you are making equal to that of a man, or even, the rest of your coworkers. Make sure you do your research and talk to human resources so your paycheck is the exact same as the man’s in the cubicle right next to you.

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