Why do women make less than men?

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Ask HW : One Thread

Why do women get paid less than men for the same work?

-- Winona LaNuke (winona@nader.org), January 03, 2001

Answers

Patrimony. :-)

Actually, countless articles (or really one article over and over) have been published on this topic, invariably written by women, and not one has ever had the right answer, even though it's really a simple question.

Look, salaries are negotiable, and for some reason, women are willing to work for less money. A recent article on TheStandard.com found that the median base salary for women working in the Internet Economy (whatever that is) is $60,500, 24 percent less than the $80,000 median base salary for men.

Would employers like to hire men for $60K? Of course! Managers like to hire people as cheaply as possible. It increases their profits. But Internet men won't work for $60K. They want $80K.

So what would happen if a qualified woman said, "I'm not going to work for $60K when men are making $80K for the same work. I want $80K too."? Look around. Do you see a glut of talented people with the desire and ability to produce quality work? Neither do I. So probably she gets the $80K.

Problem solved. Gender gap closed.

And here I offer my one and only piece of negotiating wisdom: Just keep smiling and saying no. (This really works.)

-- Hostile Witness (hw@hostilewitness.com), January 03, 2001.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ