Working hard for this money

Ladies, if you’re anything like me, you have just spent a long

five years in school. You have been trying to get as much work and

internship experience in the field (or in my case, fields) that you

are going into.

And if you’re anything like me, there is one question that is

weighing on your mind. Will you, as a woman, be able to make a

comparable salary to the males in your field?

According to a new magazine study by Working Woman, the salary

gap is closing; however, men are still more likely to be coming out

better than women. Traditionally, that was because men went to

school more and were better educated, but why, when over half of

the people in college are women does the inequality still

exist?

“Women earn 76.5 cents on the dollar compared to men,” according

to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is only 14 cents more than

when the government started keeping track in 1979. However, in the

information technology field, when times got tough, it was the

women who suffered the most.

“According to the 2002 IT Salary Survey Report, women in almost

every major salary category lost ground virtually across the board

(compared to salaries in 2002),” in that field. And its not just

that I might not, after my huge amount of work in school, be able

to get paid as much as the males in my field, it is also that if I

choose to get pregnant, I could be on precarious footing.

Recently, the equal opportunities commission (EOC) investigated

cases of discrimination against pregnant women in the workplace. It

was launched as a result of a survey that found one in five people

knew a mother-to-be who had been affected by discrimination.

“Jenny Watson, the EOC’s deputy chairwoman, said, ‘Our helpline

receives more calls from women facing problems at work because of

their pregnancy than on any other subject. We hear quite appalling

cases of women who have been demoted, disciplined or even sacked

simply for having a baby,'” according to an article published in

The Guardian Review.

I have worked hard for a chance to get into my chosen career

fields. And all I and any woman like me can hope for is that we can

choose an employer that is fair enough to pay us based on our

talent and respect our right to reproduce. But all I want to know

is…is that all we deserve?

Liz is a senior majoring in graphic art and journalism. She

would take 75.6 cents on the dollar if she could work for ESPN The

Magazine.