Women’s Salaries: You Don’t Ask, You Don’t Get
There is no shortage of research studies and publications describing the “wage gap” between men and women. There is no question that the gap exists – the question is, what can we do to close the gap?
At JSC, there seems to be equality in the “top” jobs that women and men hold. Take a look at MCC – you are just as likely to find a female flight director as a male.
So why does the “wage gap” persist? Are women failing to be assertive at the negotiating table? Are we not instilling in our girls enough of a sense of their own worth? Take a look at this article and tell us what you think.
http://tiny.cc/9dRoR
Santiago on April 8th, 2008
Good topic! I think we can also look at our society and ask why certain behaviors are rewarded and why others are not– western vs. eastern work place environments, for example. NASA is very western!
Also, even acting the exact way, bias between gender exists: http://www.npr.org/templates/s.....d=12529237
JJM on April 17th, 2008
I think these two articles bring up very interesting points — first women don’t ask and then if they do, they get penalized. (so are we destined to be stuck in the “wage gap” forever?).
I am of the opinion that part of the issue is that there is no apparent equal number of women to men on the management side. This is where example must lead the way. While I’m glad to read at JSC there is equality at the flight director level, NASA as a whole is perhaps not as equal. Take a look at the org page (http://www.nasa.gov/about/org_index.html) — if you don’t count the repeats, that’s 8 of 39 who are women. And only 1 woman at the center director level. Some may say that this is quite good for a work place that is essentially engineering/technical. And while that may be true — it isn’t nearly good enough for me. We can do better!
Kim Curry on April 22nd, 2008
I’m surprised this topic hasn’t taken off like so many of the others. I did find it interesting how many of the “characteristics of generation y” mentioned in the presentation have also been concerns of the women’s movement. Concerns with work-life balance, closeness to family…
As for the original post… it’s hard to get a “Far Exceeds Expectations” performance rating in years that include maternity leave.
I’ve also heard senior management talk about the importance of putting in long hours. I guess I had figured that if I could get 50 hours of productivity done in a 40-hour week, people would be impressed. Well, that works when your management knows the work you’re doing. It doesn’t work so well when the organization changes.
And if you get leadership that believes “working hard” means “in the office long hours”, you’re going to find that something gives. Don’t work the hours, and you might not get the raises. Or work the hours, and watch your family suffer.
That’s a choice working women have faced for generations.
RHPowell on April 30th, 2008
I really think it is center by center.
My center is pretty good…. I guess. But then again, within my center… it’s office by office.
I’m sure that made little sense.