Mission to bridge salary gap for women

Idaho State University’s branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) and the ISU Gender Resource Center offered a “Start Smart” salary negotiation workshop geared towards women Tuesday afternoon at ISU.

The purpose of the workshop is to train women to benchmark their first salaryand successfully negotiate pay that puts them on par with male counterparts.

Although, for many years, AAUW has claimed to provide research that shows the gender wage gap continues, in spite of fair labor laws in place. The event Tuesday planned to address the problem and develop training to better prepare women for a strong start in their careers through education and research.

“At the moment, women make, on the national average, is 79 cents for every dollar that a man earns. That’s the average. That varies quite a bit by location and by race. Here in Idaho, the national average is 74 cents on the dollar. So, we’re below the national average,” said Linda Leeuwrik, President of AAUW, Pocatello branch.

The event was aimed at senior students in particular, but anyone in the community was invited.

For future workshops and events, contact Linda Leeuwrik at Leeulind@isu.edu