Pa. trailing nation in gender wage gap

It’s a fact: Women earn less money than men for doing the same amount of work. The disparity… It’s a fact: Women earn less money than men for doing the same amount of work. The disparity appears even larger in Western Pennsylvania than the national average. Speakers from Pitt and other organizations gathered in the Barco Law Building Friday to discuss the gender wage gap and what people can do to close it. Jocelyne Frye, first lady Michelle Obama’s policy director, opened the day-long conference by encouraging people to research the subject. ‘If you don’t look at the data, you’re missing the story,’ she said. ‘Anyone who recognizes the importance of civil rights recognizes the importance of data.’ Women working full-time made 77.8 cents for every dollar men made as of 2007, according to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. Data from the 2007 U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey shows that, from 2005 to 2007, women in Allegheny County earned less, averaging 75 cents to every dollar a man made. This inequality, Frye said, affects more than just women. In many families, women serve as the primary, if not sole, breadwinner, so the gap affects entire families, she said. Nationally, the wage gap has narrowed considerably since the ’50s, when women made barely 63 cents to every dollar a man made. While the gap has continued to narrow on a national level, progress has nearly halted in Pennsylvania, where the gap has remained the same size since 2003, according to the Keystone Research Center. Various speakers at the event said they couldn’t pinpoint the causes of the wage gap. Carnegie Mellon economics professor Linda Babcock presented studies during the conference that showed women as less likely than men to negotiate their salaries. She also showed studies illustrating that society tends to view women more negatively than men when they do negotiate their salaries. ‘Think about what you hear when you hear people talk about an aggressive woman,’ she said. ‘We need to take some of that negative terminology and throw it out.’ Babcock did a word association exercise with the audience. When words like ‘Sarah,’ ‘occupation,’ ‘children’ and ‘promotion’ appeared on a screen, the audience members had to say whether they associated the words with ‘women and career’ or ‘men and family.’ Then, she asked audience members to associate the words with ‘women and family’ or ‘men and career.’ Audience members gave quicker responses for the second exercise. People find it hard to control gender stereotypes, Babcock said, partially because ‘the Supreme Court can’t say social norms are unconstitutional.’ She said different organizations have ongoing programs. Some places require sensitivity training videos. Girl Scouts can earn a Win-Win Badge if they participate in learning sessions on negotiation. ‘A change in social norms can take generations,’ said Babcock, ‘which is why economics is called ‘the dismal science.” When Heather Arnet, the executive director of the Women and Girls Foundation, spoke toward the end of Friday’s conference, she said she felt glad that people gathered to discuss the wage gap, but she insisted that society still needs to do more work. ‘I’m very happy that all of you are here,’ said Arnet. ‘But I’m very sad by who’s not here.’ Pitt law student Christopher Strayer noticed the missing audience members. ‘Decision-makers. Amazingly, they’re not here,’ said Strayer. ‘We need to remedy that.’ The conference made a lasting impression on him. ‘I would hope that we would pay some attention to helping women,’ said Strayer. ‘I believe women should not be treated as such and repressed as such.’