By Blau Ramos and Sabrina Schnur
The Boston Women’s Workforce Council, created by Mayor Martin Walsh in order to close the gender wage gap in the city, will continue its work by hosting a membership briefing on Jan. 27, according to MaryRose Mazzola, executive director of the Council.
The briefing, which is the first of four quarterly briefings hosted by the Council, will focus on how companies can set internal goals to tackle the wage gap, according to Mazzola.
The Council found that employers want to learn more about setting internal goals, transparent pay practices, acquiring female talent and creating flexible work environments, Mazzola said.
The Boston Women’s Workforce Council hopes to address these goals in its membership briefings so member companies can better address the issue of gender equality in the workplace, Mazzola said.
“[We are] having a real dialogue between companies of what they can do and answering the questions they have that are very specific to their organization,” Mazzola said.
Mazzola said it is important for businesses to support women’s advancement in the workplace.
“Being fair in our hiring and our pay practices is the right thing to do, but it’s also the smart thing to do,” Mazzola said. “Equality and demonstrating that you can both attract, retain and promote women in your workforce is a competitive advantage.”
Companies that signed the Council’s agreement, titled “100% Talent: The Boston Women’s Compact,” will be invited to share what they are doing to address the wage gap at each of the council’s quarterly briefings, Mazzola said.
So far, 179 Boston companies have signed the compact, committing to report wages anonymously and fairly promote women’s place in the workforce, according to a press release issued by Mayor Walsh’s office on Jan. 5.
The lead sponsors of this compact include MassMutual Financial Group, State Street Corporation and Putnam Investments, according to the release.
Lynn O’Brien Hallstein, a professor of rhetoric at Boston University, said some of the barriers preventing women from equal pay are less obvious than others.
“Many women have a primary responsibility for childcare and family-life management, so providing workplace flexibility in order for women to meet both family and work responsibilities would address one of the largest invisible barriers that sustains the wage gap,” Hallstein said.
Hallstein said it is vital to examine the factors that play a role in widening the wage gap for some women more than others.
“It is so important for us to systematically continue to challenge the wage gap for all women, most especially for women of color and women in already low-paying jobs who experience more significant wage gaps,” Hallstein said.
Carrie Preston, the director of BU’s Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies program, said she believes the Council’s compact is a step in the right direction, but much more has to be done to close the wage gap.
“[The] Massachusetts legislature passed one of the strongest equal pay laws in the country, but that does not go into effect for almost two years, and the problem will not be solved by laws alone,” Preston said. “We need cultural transformation.”
Preston said she has witnessed gender-based discrimination in the workplace “right here at BU.”
“The gender gap in salaries at BU has been getting smaller after concerted efforts by the entire administration, but female faculty at BU, particularly in the humanities and social sciences, make less than men,” Preston said. “In 2012 … women professors [in BU’s College of Arts and Sciences] made less than their male counterparts at every rank.”
Several Boston residents said they are glad to learn about the work that the Council is doing to eliminate wage gap.
Ana Babinec, 21, of Allston, said that in addition to monitoring wages, the Boston Women’s Workforce Council should also encourage people to choose careers based on their interests, not gender stereotypes.
“They should encourage people to do what they want to do, not just what their gender usually does,” Babinec said.
Merita Brooks, 48, of Brighton, said she was surprised to learn about the wage gap in Boston.
“I thought men and women got paid equally for the same job,” Brooks said. “If you work the same job you should get the same pay.”
William Reney, 21, of Allston, said the wage gap should be eliminated as soon as possible.
“It seems like there shouldn’t be any wage gap just because of gender at all,” Reney said. “It shouldn’t exist in the first place so to eliminate it just makes sense.”
