Educators have a pay scale that is not gender biased. It is based on experience and level of education - There are educational unions 4 both administrators and teachers. That is in the public sector. However, when I taught for a private psych facility I faced this pay inequality. Fortunately I worked with enlightened people. I advocated for myself after I accepted a job for 20K in 1988 and turned one down for 28K, which was offered over the phone sight unseen. To be honest the one at the psych center was one I never thought Id be considered for. After working there a month, a male coworker with several years less experience, no special education certification and a Bachelors degree compared to my Masters, I went to my supervisor. I prayed for the right words before I went in to talk to him about this. He had had time to see the quality of my work and the quality of his. I remember hearing myself say, I know this facility is new and I hope as they evolve that you could advocate for me in making salaries commensurate with education and experience. I had never used such dialogue and didnt even know I knew the word commensurate. He asked me what prompted me to bring this to him and I said that I would rather not say but since I was one of two teachers, he had to know. According t5o what I was taught growing up it was not proper job etiquette to discuss your salary with co-workers. Horse hockey pucks! That surely has to be something IMO that was created to facilitate the hidden agendas of employers in private business. So I told my supervisor how I knew. He came back to me after presenting this at a board of directors meeting and told me that I had just gotten an $8,000 raise because he presented an educational pay scale. More businesses need to implement this. If they are a private company then add your merit pay increases, but review the salary schedule and update it as cost of living needs indicate. Until then, I support women who take it to the courts. I have been a single woman longer than I have been a married woman and even though I am skeptical of the justice system, sometimes the courts are the only place we can be on equal footing. This is a sad state of affairs, but reality based. If men were the only judges, I wouldnt advise this, but I have had the luck of the draw of the docket and gotten female judges who knew what i (we) were/are up against. If you dont stand for something, you will fall for anything and I dont remember who has the claim on this saying so sue me for not giving them credit. You wont get much in the way of a monetary settlement....lol
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 04:07:41 +0000