The Women's Center

West Chester University

Adale Sholock, Ph.D.
Lawrence Center 220
West Chester, PA 19383
Phone: 610-436-2122
Fax: 610-436-3160
asholock@wcupa.edu


Wage Negotiation

Equal Pay Day 2010
In honor of Equal Pay Day each year, the Women's Center and the Women's Center Club hold a bake sale, where women are charged 77 cents and men $1 for the same baked goods. Featured here are some Women's Center Club members with AAUW members, holding cookies that were generously donated by the AAUW for our 2010 bake sale.

What is the wage gap?

The wage gap is the difference between the paycheck earnings of men and women.


Why?

  • Traditional gendering of occupations. Women and people of color continue to be segregated into service and clerical jobs (retail workers and secretaries, for example), which tend to be undervalued and therefore underpaid (Source).
  • Glass ceiling: "an intangible barrier within the hierarchy of a company that prevents women or minorities from obtaining upper-level positions" (Merriam-Webster dictionary).
  • Negotiation Skills! Often times, women aren't equipped with the skills and knowledge they need to negotiate their salary with employers.

Did you know....?

  • On average, women earn 77 cents for every dollar that men earn (Source).
  • Women of color earn even less: African-American women earn 68 cents to every man's dollar, and Latina women earn just 57 cents to every man's dollar (Source).
  • As education levels increase, so does the wage gap (Source).
  • At the current rate, it will take until the year 2057 to close the wage gap (Source)!

Negotiation and Pay Equity Resources

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