African american women engineers

The pay gap for women is reported to be 80 cents for every dollar a  white men make. But this isn’t true for African American women. In actuality, the gap is wider with African American women who earn earning 63 cents for every dollar non-Hispanic, white men earn.

If you’re like me this can be upsetting. There are employment laws and pay laws to help combat the pay gap. Laws have been in place for decades if not more. Employment and pay laws that help combat the pay gap have been in place for decades. Unfortunately, these laws aren’t affecting changes fast enough for African American women or other women of color.  However, they aren’t making changes fast enough especially for African American women.

These laws ignored African American women. Jim Crow or segregation prevented African American women from equal pay. How can African American women obtain equal pay if there are no laws that insure it? So if the laws aren’t for African American women, how can they obtain equal pay? What can be done for African American women to receive equal pay? How can African American women secure equal pay?/ How can African American women advocate for  equal pay?

African american women engineers pay gap

Here are 3 steps they can take to help close the pay gap.

1. Research salary. There are numerous resources to research salaries today. Take time to research similar job titles with similar duties to find out the salary range for your position.

2. Ask: Now you have to ask for what you deserve to be paid. Schedule an appointment with your manager to discuss your pay increase. You don’t have to wait until annual review time to do it either. I would recommend NOT to do it then. Everyone is trying to get a piece of the pie then. Instead go when more of the pie is available.

3. Results: Unfortunately you will have to prove your worth. Women especial African American women have to have “receipts” or a list of results they have obtained. These results can vary but saving money, increasing revenue and closing deals are some of the best “receipts” to have in hand.

It would be most beneficial to commit the time and effort to carefully research these important steps to reap the rewards of securing equal pay. These steps will take time but are whether effort to obtain equal pay. Dedicate time to them. For more details watch the video where I give a bonus tip on obtaining equal pay.

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STEM means Science, Technology Engineering and Math. It focuses on the journey of guiding professionals especially black women professionals to gain successful careers and meaningful
employment.