March 15

Equal Pay

the senior management level. Meanwhile, women comprised 50% of entry-level positions. The study found that the average gender pay gap was twice as large at companies that did not have a woman CEO. Even while more companies are adopting anti-sexual harassment policies, more inclusive cultures, and conducting pay equity audits, we are still far from gender equality being a national corporate standard. We know that there are many forces at work when we evaluate what causes the gender pay gap. Discrimination can occur in multiple ways, including bias embedded in hiring and promotion practices. Encouraging employers to adopt pay transparency policies, pay equity audits, and unconscious bias training to raise awareness are all ways that we can start changing workplaces to be more equitable environments. Researchers have estimated that simply adopting pay transparency could decrease the pay gap by 40%.

It is a sad realization that the Equal Pay Act of 1963, granting equal pay for women, became law 60 years ago, but a significant gender wage gap still exists in the U.S. today. Hopefully, as we all work together, the transparency of pay information required by more recent laws will reduce all wage gaps based on gender, race, gender, race, religion, national original, sexual orientation, age, or disability. a

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