Posts Tagged ‘ wage gap ’

Practical ways to earn more

If I had .23 cents for every time I wrote about why men should care about the wage gap, I could buy a venti nonfat latte. So imagine my delight when I heard about GetRaised, an online service that helps people determine whether or not they are underpaid, and gives them tools to do something about it.

GetRaised was developed by the team at Churnless, a company that develops strategy and products that drive behavioral change. “Entrepreneur Avi Karnani and Behavioral Psychologist Matt Wallaert, our co-heads, worked together at Thrive, a free personal finance management site, so we do a lot of work in that area: at the intersection of life and money,” says Dave Clarke, Communications Strategist at GetRaised.com. “While we were working on Thrive, there was a lot of discussion about the fact that even if people cut their spending way down, they still could only work with the money coming in the door and sometimes that just wasn’t enough.” (Which is exactly one of the reasons men should care about the wage gap.)

“There’s also the idea of narrowing the gender-wage gap,” continues Clarke. “When our scientist was looking at the Thrive data, he noticed that women were actually better savers than men in that they were saving a higher percentage of their income, but because their income was so much lower, they were actually saving less money in total. So we started saying ‘what can we do about that?’ GetRaised is what we came up with.”

The site is interesting. One of the oft-cited reasons for the wage gap is that women don’t negotiate as often as men for higher starting salaries and raises. On GetRaised, you can compare your salary against the salaries of people in your area with similar qualifications. By asking a series of questions about your short and long-term goals, GetRaised generates a customized raise request kit in the form of a letter to your boss. The site also takes you through how to schedule a meeting and use the letter to discuss compensation.

GetRaised isn’t free. It costs $20 to use. However, it comes with a money-back guarantee. If you don’t get a raise within six months of using the site, you get a full refund.

I tried GetRaised, and while it determined that my compensation is on track, it still helped me prepare for my next review. I have a personalized toolkit for my next salary negotiation that clearly outlines both my contributions to my employer and my short-term goals to help the business.

Pleased with the result, and curious to know more about the wage gap from a man’s perspective, I asked Wallaert, a Behavioral Psychologist, a few questions.

Q. In your opinion, what are the reasons for the wage gap?

“As a scientist, I’m not so good with opinion, so let me start by telling you what we know and then some of what I think.

“Starting salary is part of it. Women don’t tend to negotiate starting salaries to the same degree as men, and so because they start with less, they simply don’t receive as much for the rest of their working lives, because raises are based on your previous salary.

“Time out of workplace is part of it. Women, more so than men, tend to take time off for child rearing, etc. And this puts them behind in the workplace, because they lose years of work experience – a little bit like if you started working at 35 instead of 25 in your first entry-level job, you simply never catch up in terms of seniority of both position and pay.

“And finally, raises are a part of it. Women ask for raises less often, and then when they do ask, they make what we call ‘emotional appeals’ – statements like ‘I need”, ‘I want’, and ‘I deserve’. And we know that because of that, they ultimately get fewer raises.

“As to what I think? I think that all of those are true, and the extent to which they are true varies individually – when we talk about women as a whole, people need to understand that individual cases may vary. I also think that the starting salary and raise portions are ridiculous. We socialize women to be ‘polite’ and that for them, that means not asking for things or negotiating. And then we penalize them for doing that! That’s just stupid. And it is that anger that caused us to make GetRaised. We are specifically trying to fix this problem.”

Q. Much was written last year about the gender gap reversing – some childless and I believe single women were outearning their male counterparts. Are mothers getting hit harder than non-mothers?

“Yes, for the reasons I noted above. Some scholars question, however, whether that should be part of the discussion about the wage gap. Taking time off work for kids is voluntary, just as taking a hiatus from work for any other reason is also a choice. And we can have a long discussion about our personal feelings about whether mothering is voluntary and should be encouraged and such, but I don’t think it is quite in the same class as penalizing women because they aren’t comfortable negotiating.

Q. So much is written about the fact that women don’t negotiate. They accept starting salaries and they don’t ask for raises with the same frequency men do. Why do you think that is?

“That’s an epic and difficult question. You’re basically saying ‘what makes women different than men?’, which I’m pretty sure I can’t answer. But let me take a bit of a stab. We’re not sure if there is a biological brain component to this, or at least I’m unconvinced by evidence that that is much of an effect. But I do believe that we socialize women not to ask for things, and there is some strong evidence that they grow up with those beliefs. Intrinsic to our idea of femininity is still this idea of being polite, well-mannered, and absent of need. Look at sex! We had a woman run for president in this country and get darn close to making it, and yet many women still believe that they can’t or shouldn’t ask for sex.

“Fortunately, I also think these things are changing, in all sorts of different realms. We’re teaching women that asking is not only OK, but something that they need to do to advance. Hence GetRaised. Hence the Girl Scout badge for negotiation.

Q. What advice do you have for underpaid women?

“Use GetRaised.com, clearly. And if you don’t want to, then do all the things you would do there. First, get the facts and find out whether you really are underpaid, or whether you just feel underpaid (or overworked). To do that, check out the Bureau of Labor Statistic’s (try the OES data; warning, it can be a bit dense). Then, find out what the going rate in your area is for your position: SimplyHired.com and Indeed.com can both help you search local job listings to find out what open job postings are paying for your position. Then prepare to ask for your raise. Try to avoid emotion, and put yourself in your boss’ shoes: what information would they need to make this decision? Ask for a specific number that is based on what you find from the job listings and OES data. Be prepared to say what you have done since you last got a raise, and your short- and long-term goals with the company.”

Q. When, if ever, do you think the wage gap will close?

“If I had my way, tomorrow: the only gaps that would exist would be where there are true gaps based on performance, not based on gender or race or other factors. In reality? It is hard to predict. I think that every time a woman asks for a raise, she’s bringing wage equity one day closer. I hope that by building GetRaised, we’re bringing it closer. But really, it comes down to women taking action: we can build the tools, do the education, give the interviews, but we need women to really step up and really push on this in order for it to change.”