[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2022\/03\/08\/international-womens-day-pay-me-like-a-white-man\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2022\/03\/08\/international-womens-day-pay-me-like-a-white-man\/","headline":"Pay me like a white man: Wage transparency for International Women\u2019s Day\u00a0","name":"Pay me like a white man: Wage transparency for International Women\u2019s Day\u00a0","description":"To advance equality and equity beyond talk on International Women's Day, transparency in pay and bonus structures is needed. ","datePublished":"2022-03-08","dateModified":"2024-03-07","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/tracey-wallace\/#Person","name":"Tracey Wallace","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/tracey-wallace\/","identifier":367,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/21377d3250d3cee37a219265f855ca86717424033839661349c4b6845d2250cc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/21377d3250d3cee37a219265f855ca86717424033839661349c4b6845d2250cc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"The Future of Commerce","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/logo-foc-schema-app-1.png","width":172,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/FCEE_International_Womens_Day_1200x375.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/FCEE_International_Womens_Day_1200x375.jpg","height":375,"width":1200},"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2022\/03\/08\/international-womens-day-pay-me-like-a-white-man\/","about":[{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/purpose\/diversity\/","name":"Diversity and Inclusion","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Diversity,_equity,_and_inclusion"]},"Employee Experience & Engagement",{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/purpose\/gender-equality\/","name":"Gender Equality","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gender_equality","http:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/entity\/Q113453"]},"Inclusion & Diversity",{"@type":"Thing","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/purpose\/","name":"Purpose","sameAs":["https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Purpose"]}],"wordCount":1281,"keywords":["Gender Equality","Income Inequality","International Women's Day"],"articleBody":"There\u2019s a lot going on around the world to be worried about, making this a very different International Women’s Day (IWD) than many of us have experienced in our lifetimes. \u00a0International Women’s Day: Timeline of formation and evolutionAnd now we’re here,on International Women’s Day 2022 \u2013 a point in time where COVID-19 and other factors have set back gains toward equality for women, meaning it’ll be over 100 years before attainment.As The Center for American Progress notes in this must-read article on the wage gap for women of color: “Not only has the United States relied on women of color as essential workers to help keep the economy running, provide much-needed services, and sustain families throughout the pandemic, but it has also watched these women shoulder disproportionate job losses and caregiving challenges\u2014all while they are earning just a fraction of what their white and male counterparts earn.”      Women’s Equality Day: No glass ceiling in sight from the edge                It's Women's Equality Day, but it'll be 135.6 years before women and men reach parity on a range of factors, versus the 99.5 years cited in 2020.      2022 Gender pay gap: Same job, different pay (and bonus structures)In the United States, the gender pay gap still makes for shocking headlines \u2013 especially for younger generations.\u00a0And that\u2019s because by the most recent count, women make about $10,150 less than men a year for the same job.(Whereas overseas, countries have begun passing laws mandating equal pay, as well as publicly publishing wages \u2013 which helped to greatly advance equal pay for equal work.)That discrepancy varies based on state and industry.Wyoming, for instance, has the highest discrepancy, with women making $21,676 less than men on average. Vermont, on the other hand, has the lower discrepancy, with women making $4,600 less than men on average.      Reaching equal: Inclusion and diversity now, or innovation loss later                Diversity enhances team innovation by 20 percent, and ethnically and racially diverse organizations report 43 percent higher profits. So why hasn't equality arrived?      In some industries, like sports, the gender pay gap is more visibleThe United States women\u2019s national soccer team is the most successful in international women’s soccer. They’ve won:Four Women’s World Cup titlesFour Olympic gold medalsEight CONCACAF Gold CupsYet it took suing the United States Soccer Federation for them to earn equal pay to their male counterparts (a much less successful team, I might add).For some women, their childhood personality type seems to dictate just how much less they earn than their male colleagues. \u201cA young woman deemed to have been headstrong as a child will earn $2,431 a year less than a comparable man,\u201d according to the World Economic Forum research.\u00a0      Difficult women: Exhausted by bias, a revolution rises                Tired of being written out of their own narrative, difficult women get comfortable holding the reins of power.      Imposter syndrome is real: Women are more likely to question their value than less qualified menThat same World Economic Forum research also found that risk aversion in women and overconfidence in men can cause the gender pay gap to narrow or widen.In other words, when salaries are not made transparent, or when organizations don’t have clear, documented salary calculations for role based on experience and responsibilities, it’s far too easy to manipulate salaries up or down based on how a company perceives someone.\u00a0But perception is not reality \u2013 it\u2019s time for reality to dictate salaries for everyone \u2013 and thanks to social media platforms, it’s even easier to get the conversation rolling.There are several ways companies around the world are successfully making their salaries more equitable.\u00a0Pay me like a white man: Transparent salaries on the rise as younger generations enter the workforceThere aren\u2019t many companies like Buffer, which has gone so far as to publish the salaries of all of its employees, and that\u2019s ok. Not everyone thinks that the definition of \u201cpay transparency\u201d should be absolute transparency, but Buffer certainly does.\u00a0Not only do they publish the salaries of their employees, they also educate folks on their pay formula, and write blog posts about any changes to that formula, like their recent decision to implement location-independent pay.\u00a0\u201cI’ve had many healthy debates with other remote leaders, and there are arguments for eliminating a location component which I haven\u2019t agreed with,\u201d writes Joel Gascoigne, CEO and co-founder at Buffer. \u201cI don\u2019t believe pay differences across locations is unethical, and it has made a lot of sense for us in the past. However, the last few years have seen a lot of change for remote teams. A change like this isn’t to be made lightly, and at our scale comes with considerations.\u201d      More CEOs named Jeff than women CEOs and other fun stats                International Women's Day should be every day, but until then, there's no better time to reflect on the truth that the needle on equality isn't moving. It's time to mandate change.      Securing the (whole) bag: Transparent package calculations\u00a0Similar to Buffer\u2019s salary formula, many larger organizations around the world are transparent about how they arrive at the offered salary package. In case you’re wondering how a package compares to a salary, a package includes the base salary, bonuses, equity, and more.In many global technology companies, different levels of employees get different salary ranges depending on their experience, with a set level of equity and bonus percentages at those levels. As you get promoted to new levels, your salary package increases.\u00a0You can find a ton of information on these levels on sites like Quora, where employees break down how the system works. For example, one user writes:\u201c\u200b\u200bI\u2019m an L4 engineer at Google in the US right now. There is an internal salary spreadsheet that seems fairly accurate and consistent.Base salary ranges from about 130k to 150k.Annual bonus is 15\u201325% of your base salary, assuming you aren\u2019t performing poorly.Equity grants can be all over the place, but you can expect 60k to 120k worth per year, vesting over four years.This adds up to roughly 250k to 300k USD per year in total compensation.\u201dWhen employees understand how a system like this works so well, it’s clear that the organization is doing a lot of work to make the underlying calculations transparent.\u00a0      Closing the gender pay gap: How to become an equal pay employer                At the current rate, closing the gender pay gap would take 100 years. But there's a workbook to help employers close it, STAT. All the info is in this post.      Speak up, speak out: Transparent conversationsOutside of your organization taking steps toward more equitable pay for men and women, the next best thing is to talk about it. Talk about your salary with your trusted co-workers, and with your friends, with trusted colleagues in your industry. (You can even join in on the TikTok trend.)Now is the time to figure out your skills\u2019 market value, and then get that market value for yourself. Whether you work at a company that’s transparent about pay and pay scales, or whether you’re participating in a large global movement around pay transparency, it all matters \u2013 and it all makes a difference.Money isn\u2019t the only important thing in this world, but the security and peace of mind it can provide is critical to women attaining equality. You don\u2019t need it all, but we all should get what we deserve.\u00a0  Equality for ALL:Go from messaging about inclusion to making it a reality."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2022","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2022\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"03","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2022\/\/03\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"08","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2022\/\/03\/\/08\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Pay me like a white man: Wage transparency for International Women\u2019s Day\u00a0","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2022\/03\/08\/international-womens-day-pay-me-like-a-white-man\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]