How much do you make?

The gender pay gap and what you can do about it.

The men in my executive training program made 20% more than I did. I found this out during our internship, but I was too afraid to complain. Having moved from another State to take my first full time job straight out of graduate school, I didn’t know of other options if I protested and was fired.

Now many years later, the author is able to speak out for peace and injustice for everyone. And we still have a long way to go.

Now decades later, the women, including the Prime Minister, and non-binary people of the world’s most gender equitable country, Iceland, went on strike for gender equality. According to World Economic Forum, Iceland has a 9% gender pay gap, the smallest in the world, but 40% of the women there have experienced gender based sexual violence. The world has a way to go before everyone has equal opportunity to live, contribute and thrive without fear.

In the US, it will take 95 years to close the gender pay gap based on the current rate of progress. When a large percentage of the population is being held back, in subtle and blatant ways, from being able to fully contribute their potential, we all lose. Little progress has been made in the 17 years that World Economic Forum has been tracking the global gender pay gap.

As a leader and working professional, how can you create a more equitable, collaborative, and happier world for everyone? And especially including for yourself? Equal compensation will improve productivity, morale and enhance wellbeing. In today’s competitive market for workers, equitable renumeration is important and a recrutiment and retention factor for talent. Working throughout my business career in male dominated industries, I have some key tips on how to accelerate the current slow progress.

1. Increase pay transparency — my first job taught me to do research and ask questions about how the work is compensated. Investigate and fact-find about the expectations in the market before you apply for a position or in hiring and advancements. Negotiate based on what the work is worth, not on what you were making before. Establish pay transparency and adhere to them in hiring, and promotions. This will create clarity of expectations, eliminate individual bias, and ensure more equity in compensation; thereby enhancing morale and trust.