Time and time again I have received the same advice from mentors, supervisors, and business-oriented friends…know your worth and ask for it. After listening to a Freakonomics podcast on the gender wage gap a few years ago, I have been thinking more about the reasons why. There are two major narratives: 1) We are a sexist society and thus pay women less because we believe they are worth less 2) Women don’t ask for higher salaries
I think it is a combination of both and this Ted Talk by Casey Brown is a wonderful reflection on this problem. I hope you enjoy!
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What do you think? Do you know how to communicate your value?
I struggle with this. When pricing for jobs I know I under price even though Im worth more! Great post!
Wow! I love this. So many business owners need to hear this. Especially woman entrepreneurs.This was a struggle in my own business for the first few years. I had an ah-ha- moment 2 years ago. I began honing in on my client’s pain points. I began not just posting pretty pictures of my clients but creating blog posts that develop trust within my brides. This has helped me book so much more. I directed all my energy to “loving on my clients.” Nothing is about me, it’s all about helping them and remaining focused on my ideal client.
This is such a great story–thank you for sharing! I love that by doing something good and self-less, the world comes back with a beautiful karma-like positivity.
Negotiating my worth is not something that comes easily to me. What also made me more cautious is that I lost a few projects for quoting a price “outside budget.” I am working on becoming a better negotiator though.
I am saving the Ted Talk video for viewing again. There are some lessons to be learned there.
I am the same–it is so hard to learn a balanced approach and place a $ on what your time/ability means to you. I have watched this at least three times and always get something new out of it 🙂
It is sometimes hard to know your worth when everything around us is telling us that as women we just need to multitask because it’s what we’re made to do. Thanks for a great post and for reminding me of such a great ted talk!
YES! I completely agree; now it has become a game of who can juggle the most.
Working in HR I watch the trends and I work with our COO to pick the salaries. Women are paid less, but it’s not a sexist thing. There are several factors:
1. The overall median range of pay for women is brought down by maternity leaves of absences. That’s years that women go without professional advancements or raises. That’s where it comes that they system says we can either choose to excel at our jobs or be a mother. Even with FMLA that is two months away from work unpaid. That’s two months that you have to probably take several months to gain back in a faster paced career.
2. Women normally ask for lower pay in exchange for the perks. More vacation, better benefits packages.
3. Women are pretty dang prompt though about demanding their pay raises…at least in my experience.
There’s allot that goes into factoring the pay difference. But I think the prime one is the maternity absence.
That’s so interesting! I have never thought about the points you brought up! Thank you 🙂
Love love love this article. It’s a wonderful message that many of us need to hear.