As a recent college graduate, I have to admit that in the months leading up to and following graduation, I wasn’t as concerned about whether I would receive fair pay as I was about whether I would find a job. Thankfully, I have strong, intelligent women in my life who offered me advice on selling my strengths, clarifying expectations, and negotiating pay so that when I was offered a job, I wasn’t completely in the dark. There are a lot of young women out there who have not had the benefit of such guidance and who are unaware of the wage gap and the need for pay equity.
Enter $tart $mart.
It wasn’t until I started working for AAUW that I even heard of $tart $mart salary negotiation workshops. $tart $mart workshops — a collaboration between AAUW and the WAGE Project — are designed for college students entering the job market. For three hours, students attend a workshop that educates them on the personal consequences of the wage gap, introduces them to salary and benefits calculators and budget management, and provides them with crucial lessons in pay negotiation.
One such training took place on the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, campus in October. Nine new facilitators were trained and three seasoned facilitators participated as a refresher. Annie Houle of WAGE and Jean D’Addario of the AAUW Wilmington (NC) Branch facilitated the workshop. Twenty-five UNCW students participated — only one of whom was aware of the wage gap prior to attending. The workshop evaluations were very positive. The branch will hold a reception for the attendees in February, where one student will receive a scholarship to attend AAUW’s National Conference for College Women Student Leaders.
“The workshop is an opportunity for women and girls to reach their full potential and provide a gateway to their economic security,” said D’Addario. AAUW is proud to provide young women with the tools necessary to close the wage gap and continues to fight for pay equity.
Help us reach our goal of bringing the $tart $mart salary negotiation workshop to 500 campuses by March 2012. Become a facilitator, host a workshop, attend a workshop, or recruit a campus to host $tart $mart. Contact Houle at ahoule@wageproject.org for more information.
AAUW Dialog 
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