It’s no secret that women get paid less than men for the same job. Even with legislature put in place to combat pay discrimination in the United States, women are making a median of 84 percent of what men make. By the dollar, this may not seem as bad as it once was. It’s only a loss of 16 cents, not even enough to buy a hamburger.
However, Integrating Women Leaders (IWL) Foundation’s newest white paper “It’s Not Just 16 Cents: A New Look at What the Gender Wage Gap Really Means for Women” suggests otherwise. Their paper uses information from the American Association of University Women (AAUW), U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics to show that salary disparity doesn’t signify just a few missed hamburgers. Instead, it could make the difference in:
- Complete tuition/student loan coverage
- Fully paid off medical debt
- Retirement care
- A mortgage-free house
And the list can go on, so long as you can think of anything below $400,000.
What is the IWL Foundation?
As the name might suggest, IWL is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote gender equity and diversity. Its goal is to accelerate the advancement of all women in the working world and to pave the path for women’s individual and organizational growth. It has two main focuses: advocacy for self, which is about helping women on their leadership journey, and advocacy for companies, which is about elevating a company’s talent bench by building up women leaders.
In its research, IWL discovered that women miss out on upwards of $400,000 over the course of their careers due to the pay gap. Jeanette Thebeau, Executive Director and Chief Acceleration Officer, commented on these statistics in an interview, clarifying that, “In every way, the numbers we put in the white paper are conservative.” In other words, none of the information is overexaggerated. For certain ethnicities, such as Native Women women (who made 51 percent to the dollar in 2022, according to AAUW), the average is actually underrepresented.
“This idea that if you’re a woman doctor paying off your student loans—you could pay them off three times over. This is a lot of money, and if you happen to be a woman of color, it’s multiple times more,” says Thebeau.
What else does this reflect?
IWL observes that the economic disparity has other implications outside of convenience and luxury. The pay gap also points to an undervaluation of accomplishment, and this manifests as a much slower progression into higher-paying roles. While corporate America has seen a greater ratio of women in senior positions in the last decade, leadership positions such as vice president or director still see a weak ratio with greater salary disparities.
The problem feeds into itself. Women are not only being paid less, but their work is being seen as less valuable because of it. As a result, it is significantly more challenging for a woman to climb the pipeline compared to her male counterpart.
Thebeau notes that the conversation isn’t one of giving women more money. Instead, it’s a conversation about principle. “This is not [about] giving people a leg up,” she says. “It’s getting them to an equal starting place.” The goal is to level the playing field. In doing so, corporate America will see the deconstruction of the trends that prevent female professional progression.
The role of male presence
Self-advocation is only one-half of addressing the issue at hand. The other half rests on the shoulders of men and raising their awareness of their own biases through a process of training that IWL calls “allyship.” By activating men as allies, corporate America will see a positive change in momentum. Diverse hiring panels and inclusive business practices carry the potential to alter the narrative.
Thebeau uses one of IWL’s speaker’s analogies to convey the role of allyship:
“Mentorship is about your mentor shining a light on the doors that are available to you. They’re shining a light on doors that are options. Sponsorship is about the sponsor kicking the door in to help you get through that door if they are sponsoring you. Allyship is about everyone having access to the same doors.” This can take forms both big and small. It can be a widespread business practice, such as integrating routine diversity training, or it can be a local, like recognizing when another man consistently interrupts a woman on a Zoom call.
What female leaders can do
If you’re a female founder, IWL’s white paper has a handful of strategies that you can employ to maintain equitable pay. To ensure there are no discrepancies, you can conduct regular pay audits, promote transparency in salary calculations and routinely check in with employees of identical qualifications to ensure payment is being distributed appropriately. It might be common sense, but the more attention you place on maintaining equitable payment, the more you promote equitable growth.
Equity in the workplace can also be promoted by providing ample opportunity for career advancement. Making professional development, training and promotions within everybody’s reach is the gold standard to follow in terms of equity. This doesn’t guarantee that all women will progress into higher-paying positions, but it does demonstrate an inclusive culture that values diversity. In doing so, you, as a founder, create an environment that actively encourages and supports women and their progression toward leadership roles.
The problem that keeps coming back
With this, white paper, the IWL Foundation hopes to change the perspective on this persistent issue. As the pay gap tightens, more companies grow complacent. But the work isn’t done. Now is the time to pivot the conversation. Thebeau agrees, stating on behalf of IWL, “That’s what we’re trying to do: elevate the conversation again, to stop talking about 16 cents and talk about hundreds of thousands of dollars or millions of dollars.”
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median earnings for women in general went down by 2 percent between 2022 and 2023. At the same time, the median male earnings went up by 2.6 percent. It is not enough to be satisfied with the fact that America has come a long way over the past half-century. If the conversation isn’t elevated again and again, things may never improve. Even worse, some of our efforts could be undone.
For more conversations on the corporate gender gap, read Balancing the Boardroom: Leslie Greenwood and Nycole Walsh.
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