Women’s salaries still have a way to go to catch up to men’s salaries. Although there is more parity now in some careers, not all paychecks are equal. Some of that can be attributed to the types of job that women traditionally take. In many instances the types of work they do has been valued at a lower rate of pay. Why is that? I am not sure.
In other instances, they are just paid less, and they put up with it. The Washington Post published the results of a study conducted by the Journalists Union from publications owned by Dow Jones :
“The union that represents journalists at The Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch and Barron’s announced this week that Dow Jones, which owns the publications, pay men more than women in jobs of similar tenure.
Male staffers with up to five years of experience, for example, earn an average of 13.5 percent more than female staffers at the same level — and even slightly more than the category of women who’ve been on the job for twice as long.
The Independent Association of Publishers’ Employees 1096’s analysis found that, on average, full-time women at Dow Jones properties make about 87 cents for every dollar paid to full-time men. This includes everyone employed by Dow Jones who’s represented by the union — a group of about 1,400 across North America, including writers, copy editors and customer service representatives. (The union does not represent workers in supervisory roles.)
For comparison, women who work full time in the United States take home 79 cents for every dollar a man earns.”
Women are going to have to get better at asking for pay which is equal to that of men with the same positions, similar backgrounds and education. It would be nice to think that Employers would automatically pay women the same thing they pay men, but so far that has not happened.
Before you interview with a prospective employer, do as much research as you can to find out what people are being offered for the type of position you are seeking. Then, when you do receive an offer, you will know if you should accept it, ask for more, or just move on to the next company.
Jennifer Comer
