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We think it is fitting to explore this issue during the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington and the Equal Pay Act!

Why Do Women Earn Less Than Men? – Part 1: Is It Our Fault? These embarrassing disparities between women’s and men’s pay just won’t seem to go away. One would think that the mere awareness that women continue to earn 82 cents for every dollar that a man makes for similar work would be enough to fix it….that all HR departments would be on it…they would conduct analysis and correct inconsistencies. But I guess it is just not that simple.

A new study conducted by Bloomberg of companies in the S&P 500 index, found that even women in the top ranks of corporate America earn 18% less than their male counterparts. The reason they conclude…women do not ask for more money.

Women’s apparent negotiating skill deficit starts at the onset of their careers. A study conducted by Catalyst in 2010 found that on average, men earn $4,600 more than women in their first post-MBA jobs.

The chart below shows salary discrepancies at different education levels.

Degree
Women’s weekly median earnings
Men’s weekly median earnings
Doctoral $1371  $1734
Professional  $1415  $1836
Master’s  $1125  $1515
Bachelor’s  $930 $1199
Associate’s  $682  $880

I need to point out that the salaries in the chart have not been adjusted for types of positions and it has been well documented that women often choose lower paying professions.

However a study conducted by the American Association of University Women, which did adjust for profession and other factors,  found that  just one year after graduation, college-educated women were on average already making $7,600 less each year than their male counterparts.

Experts recognize that it is not as simple as “poor negotiating skills” that account for these glaring differences.

Some of the key factors which we will explore in more depth in subsequent posts relate to a number of unconscious biases that continue to hinder women’s progress:

  • The aggressiveness risk (the potential consequences of being viewed as aggressive)
  • The performance factor (men are advanced based on potential, women on documented performance)
  • Differences in values and priorities (women don’t care as much about money as men?)