Most young women graduating from Wright State University hope that their college degree will earn them a good salary.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, research shows that a woman makes 77 cents for every dollar a man with the same qualifications makes, doing exactly the same job.<\/p>\n
A group of passionate women at Wright State has been working to close that wage gap by teaching salary negotiation using the WAGE Project\u2019s $tart $mart curriculum.<\/p>\n
The WAGE Project, whose acronym stands for Women Are Getting Even, provides the research and the PowerPoint presentations, but Wright State\u2019s facilitators bring the enthusiasm.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of us would like to win the lottery,\u201d says Amber Vlasnik, director of the Women\u2019s Center and one of Wright State\u2019s $tart $mart facilitators. \u201cThis is a way you can win the lottery, and it\u2019s actually something you can control.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vlasnik worked with Cheryl Krueger, director of Career Services, during the April 11 workshop, to teach a group of young women about the wage gap and how to bargain for a better salary.<\/p>\n
Vlasnik started out with the startling statistic that women college graduates will earn $1.2 million less over their careers than men with the same degree.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know about each of you,\u201d she said to participants, \u201cbut if I sit there and think about it, I can certainly say I want my<\/em> million dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n Vlasnik pointed out that while a small difference between a man\u2019s starting salary and a woman\u2019s may not seem critical, it is the basis for all future bonuses and pay raises. The discrepancies add up, she said.<\/p>\n Krueger then took the floor to offer some solutions. She urged students to visit the Office of Career Services, where they could find staff to advise them on developing resumes, cover letters and salary negotiation tactics.<\/p>\n One of Krueger\u2019s main points was that applicants for a job should always do their homework. They need to make a budget of their expenses and research the average salary for the position they have been offered, so that come time for negotiation they will know how much money they need and how much they can reasonably expect to get.<\/p>\n Krueger also encouraged students to play up their strong points in interviews and negotiations.<\/p>\n \u201cTo be able to negotiate your salary, you have to be able to sell yourself,\u201d she said. \u201cSelling ourselves is difficult. It\u2019s putting a pat on your own back, but it\u2019s really important.\u201d<\/p>\n At the end of the workshop, students got a chance to practice self-marketing in a role-playing in which they had to convince their peers, posing as employers, to give them a higher salary.<\/p>\n Workshop participants fill out entry and exit surveys quizzing them on their confidence about salary negotiations. Stephanie Spencer, a career counselor and assistant director of Career Services, and the coordinator of\u00a0$tart $mart programs at Wright State, says that from the data collected from these surveys, $tart $mart does participants a world of good in just two hours.<\/p>\n Usually, Spencer says, \u201cat least one person in every workshop will say \u2018I didn\u2019t even know I was allowed<\/em> to negotiate.\u2019 A lot of women don\u2019t even know it\u2019s an option.\u201d<\/p>\n While the $tart $mart workshop is not intended to turn novices into negotiation experts, it does have a tangible effect. The data shows that while most participants initially said they would be \u201cuncomfortable\u201d negotiating their salary and benefits, after the workshop, they would be \u201ccomfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n Before the workshop, only 38 percent of participants said they would negotiate salary and benefits. After, 96 percent said they would.<\/p>\n Only 7 percent of participants said they knew how to benchmark a salary before attending $tart $mart. Afterwards, that statistic rocketed to 100 percent.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not about being an expert,\u201d says Spencer, \u201cit\u2019s about confidence.\u201d She adds that even if students are unsuccessful when they try to negotiate salaries, it\u2019s still a positive result because they attempted to negotiate.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s our goal,\u201d she says, \u201cto get people to even know that they can, and to try.\u201d<\/p>\n The next $tart $mart workshop will be held on May 10. The workshop is free, and preregistration is required. For more information, contact the Office of Career Services at (937) 775-2556.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Most young women graduating from Wright State University hope that their college degree will earn them a good salary. Continue reading