The Art of the Possible

I love a good success story. But there’s one type of success story I’m tired of hearing. It’s the story about the really successful person “giving it all up” to become…drum roll, please…a really successful person doing something else. Like the story I saw on Oprah once, where a young Harvard graduate left his highly prized job in New York City to start a business based on his passion for cupcakes. I’m sorry, but I’m neither amazed nor inspired to find out that a Harvard graduate could start a successful bakery.

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What Women Need to Know about Salaries

There may be some skeptics out there, but the data is clear: women, on average, still earn less than men.  Sex differences in education, experience, and career choices can explain some of the gap, but not all of it.  For example, take just college graduates who work full-time.  Men’s median weekly wages are $1,243, while women’s are $932 for women (see this chart for the data).  And this graphic (based on data from the 2007 Current Population Survey) shows that women earn less even when they work in the same occupation as men.  Here in Minnesota, women make about 80 cents for every dollar men earn.  (That’s an unadjusted figure that doesn’t take into account sex differences in education, experience, career choices, etc.)

The pay gap has shrunk significantly over the past 30 years.  Still, these days even a small pay gap has big implications for families.  For the first time ever, women are on the verge of outnumbering men in the labor force.  And while it’s not new for women to work, what is new is that many women are finding themselves in the role of breadwinner.  Men have been much more likely than women to lose their jobs during this recession (especially here in Minnesota).  

If you’re a female (or male) job seeker, here are some tips to help you get the highest salary you can.

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