Equal Pay Day--NOT
Hi friends of women in science,
Today is designated as "Equal Pay Day". As you probably know, women make 77 cents for each dollar men make. Today is roughly the day when women start being paid, after working for free up to now in 2012. That's what I mean by the NOT. It isn't equal. In California, it is better than the national average; for women in science, it's better too, but neither one is near 90% yet. Lots of work still to do! AAUW and AWIS are good supporters of women on this issue.
Lilly Ledbetter Act, the first Act Obama signed after being elected, mandates equal pay for comparable work. However, it's still OK for employers to fire people for revealing their salaries to each other, and without that Ledbetter would never have been able to fight for the change named after her. And finding two jobs are comparable is still rather difficult at times, especially when faced with a long tradition of male dominance. However, we need to do the work to make this right. I hope some day on Equal Pay Day to say it's true!
best,
Laura
Sadly, this happens to women at all ranks in academia. We're still too easy to overlook, although data suggest it is a little better in STEM fields than in other fields. It's hard to believe that sometimes. Any service you do is held against you if you're a woman but gets rewards if you're a man.
FBP
Hi Laura,
I've always wondered why it's called "Equal Pay Day" when it's about unequal pay; thanks for the explanation. Ugh. All that work so far for free, huh? I don't like that. Especially when I stay later than all those overpaid guys!
Livi
