Pay Equity: Looking Ahead to 2011

If you’re reading this, chances are you’re already familiar with the wage gap and with the grassroots efforts that take place across the nation every April to raise awareness about gender discrimination in the workplace. Maybe you’ve even participated in these efforts or in Equal Pay Day events. You probably already know that since the 1963 passing of the Equal Pay Act, the wage gap has closed a mere 20 cents; the year is 2010, and on average women are still earning less than 80 percent of what men earn. You probably weren’t all that surprised when the Paycheck Fairness Act was shot down in November, although you were probably deeply disappointed. We all were.

Last April, I collaborated with student organizations from my university and with local businesses to bring awareness to my community. We held our own Equal Pay Day. Comments on local news sites called our equal pay initiatives “leftist indoctrination” and stated that if my university had not just chosen a female president, students would have never been allowed to hold such an event. When I approached businesses with the opportunity to participate in Equal Pay Day, I was called a socialist and — my personal favorite — a liar.

As my college graduation date quickly approaches, the reality of pay inequality is setting in. The resistance I’ve encountered to something as seemingly simple as equal pay, well, it scares me. We live in a nation that allows for systematic discrimination against women in the workplace (not to mention how much the wage gap affects minorities), and I don’t know about you, but I’ve had enough.

Despite my pessimism, being part of a national movement seeking the end of pay discrimination gives me hope. Even after being told I’m a liar, that the fight for pay equity is pointless, and that women don’t actually deserve equal pay, I still have hope that someday soon, we won’t have to fight this battle anymore. In 2011, I’ll bring Equal Pay Day to my community again, and I’m determined to make it even bigger, better, and more influential than last year. I’ll continue with these efforts until the wage gap is a thing of the past. Social change is possible and despite setbacks, pay equity is not only a possibility, it’s something Americans will see.

Abby Lemay (right) with other members of the AAUW Student Advisory Council on the National Mall in Washington D.C. in October 2010.

Not convinced? Look at organizations like AAUW. Talk to your local branch and ask what they plan to do in your community for the pursuit of pay equity. And maybe, just maybe, ask how you can get involved.

Simple actions affect the big picture in ways we can hardly begin to imagine. Because of dedicated, passionate individuals, politicians, and organizations, someday future generations will read about the wage gap in their history books as a relic of the past instead of having to face the issue in their everyday lives — the harsh discrimination of being paid less simply because you’re a woman.

This blog post was written by 2010–11 AAUW National Student Advisory Council member Abby Lemay.