Tuesday October 18, 2011: Kate Bryant asks me for the documentary The Earning Curve (unfortunately yet to be released), “What policies would you create to fix the gender pay gap?”

Friday January 16, 2015: Equal Pay Bills are filed in Massachusetts House and Senate that include the three policies I proposed in my response.

It’s been an interesting and educational 3+ years since stating that

• The elimination of previous salary from the hiring process
• The inclusion of pay minimums in job advertisements and
• Allowing employees to discuss their own pay without fear of losing their job

would help move the stubborn gender pay gap needle. It has hovered around 77% for more than a decade and is estimated not to close until 2058. I focused on working with clients and not on policy back in 2011. I knew what I would do but was not well-versed on the matter. The elimination of previous salary and inclusion of minimum pay in job advertisements were not being discussed as solutions to the problem back then. The discussion broadens with the filing of these bills. The potential to see the impact of these provisions plus a provision to ensure all employees are paid based on skill, effort, responsibility, and working conditions now exists.

It has been a journey that has introduced and indebted me to some amazing people. Nacie Carson, sister Holy Cross alum, introduced me to Leah Moschella of Boston Glow who introduced me to Dave Rini of Mass NOW. Inga Schowengerdt and Liz Fragola of AAUW MA and Patricia Ho, AAUW National President, reached out to me at one of their amazing events and brought me into the organization. The Mass NOW Legislative Task Force (with a special nod to Patricia Hohl who takes my business speak and makes it legal language), The Women’s Bar Association, and The Mass Commission on the Status of Women joined forces to develop the Mass Equal Pay Bill and the ever-expanding members of the Equal Pay Coalition who actively support the bill. Of course, the bills would not exist without Senator Patricia Jehlen, Senator Karen Spilka, Representative Jay Livingstone, and Representative Ellen Story who are filing them today. To every one mentioned and the countless others who have helped along the way, thank you for your support, friendship, leadership, mentorship, collaboration, and the many shared laughs.

True as of today, January 16^th, the bill is at the starting line of a long marathon. These past 3+ years were just the training to get to this line. Here’s to seeing when we cross the finish line and this Equal Pay Bill becomes law.

A few weeks ago, I met some female friends for dinner.  It was a last minute thing and was a miracle those five friends who hadn’t seen each other in over a year were able to pull it off.  Conversation included the usual, the non-stop snow Boston had been receiving; jobs; vacations; kids; husbands, and dating.

On the job front one friend got the courage to share salary information.   A true taboo.  She did not mention her actual salary but she shared the disturbing yet common lament that a male colleague who had fewer responsibilities was earning more than she.  $30K more than she!  We all shared her disgust and anger but none of us were able to come up with a solution.

This dinner got me thinking of a Bentley University dinner I attended a few years back.  I was sitting with a VP of Human Resources who also was an alumna of Bentley.  It’s unfortunate that I cannot recall her name but I will forever remember her.  The dinner was an opportunity for female alums to connect with current female students.  The goal was to help the next generation network and learn about careers.  Well, this VP of HR shared that men always negotiate salary while women rarely do.

Thinking of the $30K salary difference and this comment regarding salary negotiations got a little fire lit inside me.  So, I started researching.  It’s true men do negotiate salaries while women don’t.  It’s not an all the time thing.  It’s just for every 1 woman who does negotiate her salary, 8 men will negotiate theirs.  And the men will negotiate 30% more than the lonely woman.  Now, I’m really on fire.

It’s a bit like the old joke of the man praying to his god asking to win the lottery.  This man continues to go back to his place a worship praying for divine intervention for the money he needs for his long-suffering family.  Finally, his god says,  “I can only help you so much.  You need to buy a lottery ticket before I can let you win.”   Negotiation may just be the lottery ticket in close the final 20+% gap in women’s equal pay.

No matter what gains occur for women’s equal pay,  women will never earn the same as men if we do not engage in the game of salary negotiating.  Very few hiring managers offer the full salary available when they offer a job. They assume there will be some negotiating.  If we women don’t acknowledge this than we have minimized our worth before we even have our first day of work.

I know I can’t fix the world.  But I can help women get comfortable and informed about negotiating.  After 20+ years in sales and marketing, I have become very comfortable and competent in negotiating.  So, I begin this blog with the goal of helping women acknowledge they can negotiate their own salaries; learn how to negotiate; and become comfortable negotiating.

@ Copyright 2011, Katie Donovan. All rights reserved. Reproduction without explicit permission is prohibited