I read the Sunday New York Times (
http://www.newyorktimes.com) and in yesterday's issue an article appeared questioning why a woman's paycheck is smaller than a man's in the same industry. The article was short-much more space was given to a (painful) graph further displaying the wage disparities between the genders. A few reasons for the gap were given including women seek jobs that are more flexible to fit in with child care or school schedules, but this doesn't explain apples-to-apples comparisons in like industries. I do continual reading and research on this subject and the reasons for the gap haven't become any clearer, in my opinion, since the 1960's!
The very fact that culturally, we cannot even quite put our finger on why men and women continue to experience pay differences is quite puzzling. I enjoy both sides of any story and this is probably why I am such a communication junkie because when you read things you do
not agree with this process help you affirm your beliefs. I like the idea of being a critical consumer of media instead of believing every story I hear and this includes stories I agree with-I am always searching for the bias.
Christopher Flett, in his book "What Men Don't Tell Women about Business" states a very simple reason for why men make more than women. Women don't ask for it. He asserts that women ask for what they are
worth, and men ask for more than what they deserve. Although this sounds simplistic, his argument has merit. Women have a tendency to downplay their role in a corporation because they listen the "critic" in their heads, whereas men have a tendency not to do this. I suppose you could look at this as men thinking highly of themselves, but what's really wrong with that?
There is another reason why I am thinking about and writing on this tonight. I am getting ready to work on the MGMA Physician Compensation Survey and the funny thing is there are disparaties everywhere between the genders on pay. Current economic times are not a time to downplay your roles in your practices and/or corporations regardless of your gender. This is the time to look at what you bring to the table and ask for what you
want.