The Gender Pay Gap

The talk of equal pay has been gripping the nation for decades, but has increased in its fervor in the past few months. Women have become more prone to analyzing the differences between their salaries and that of their male compatriots.

Companies have made some advancements (and some regressions) in terms of rectifying the gap. Although it seems that this topic is well-covered in mainstream media lately, it remains crucial, as HR professionals, to stay vigilant and implement change wherever we can.

This week’s reading picks:

• Why hasn’t the gap been reduced significantly yet?: Slate brings us a podcast that explains the promising progress that the reduction of the gap once presented. Now, it seems that we’re on a long road ahead to make any meaningful changes.
• Massachusetts leading the way in closing the gap: Massachusetts has often been a pioneering state in social policies. Its next challenge: the pay gap. In its brand-new Equal Pay Act legislation, there is hope for dramatic change in the landscape of wages and hiring.
• What does powerful workplace culture have to do with the gender pay gap?: Video time! We already know that an inclusive office culture can solve a lot of internal turmoil. But did you know that the construction of a supportive, growth-focused, and mentor-assisted culture can lead to new breakthroughs in closing the gap? When a positive workplace culture is established, employees feel more comfortable to have conversations surrounding their pay, contributions, and worth.
• It’s not the money, it’s your attitude: In a thought-provoking piece of prose, Claire Cain Miller suggests that the issue surrounding the pay gap is not related to employers, laws, or corporate bias. It’s actually the slowly evolving perspectives of both men and women, particularly in marital relationships, towards a female spouse earning more.
• Uber uncovers new evidence on the factors affecting the gap: In an interesting study, Uber thought it had discovered the key linchpin to resolving the gap. However, it turns out that flexibility and transience in the work sector plays less of a role than previously expected.

Hopefully, these picks shed a little insight into how you can personally make a difference in providing a balanced and supportive environment for all employees, regardless of their gender.

If you have some wonderful summer interns in your office (and are looking to expose them to the greater tech space), we’ve got the event for you. Join Uncubed, Peloton, Bloomberg, and more on August 8th for an fun & engaging look at the career paths of former interns turned engineers! Amidst an interactive panel and networking, your technical interns will get the chance to meet other friendly NYC interns and learn valuable career advice before they return to campus.

What better learning and development gift could an employer give? Space is limited.

Have a lovely afternoon!
Katie

P.S.
We are organizing employer visits for a small group of front-end developers and software engineers. They’re a driven, versatile early tech professionals that are looking to gain information and exposure into a variety of successful companies in NYC. If you’re an employer that is interested in joining Uncubed on this educational journey, send a message to [email protected] We already have great employers on board!