Citing an inherent wage gap between men and women doing the same jobs, Former Minnesota Lt. Gov. Evelyn Murphy said women must pressure discriminatory employers to pay them equally to their male colleagues, speaking to the Women’s Transportation Seminar at the Marriot Courtyard on Tremont Street on Wednesday.
Murphy outlined a long-term plan of action for women to rise up in the workplace, noting that, intentional or not, discrimination still exists in the workplace and is the root problem of the wage gap, along with sexual harassment.
“It’s unfair and illegal, but true,” Murphy said, calling wage discrimination a bipartisan concern and “an issue for the red and the blue states.”
Recently, Boston University was found to have a wage gap crisis of its own when the Faculty Council revealed that women were paid considerably less than men of the same faculty rank. President Robert Brown pledged to investigate and adjust any unfair wage discrimination at the university.
In her new book, Getting Even: Why Women Don’t Get Paid Like Men — and What to Do About It, Murphy encourages women and “men who care about women” to equalize wages in the workplace by being aware of the gap and then having the “top people react.”
She said her plan was essential to ensure success and equality for future generations, enabling them “to lead more financially stable and independent lives.”
Eradicating the gender wage gap is a grassroots cause, Murphy added, although it is not necessarily “talk-show attention” material. She also says that she has found males on the radio as interested as women in the issue.
Murphy said that men and women are often equally qualified in the workplace but salary gaps are “little ways [men] give [women] second-class lives.”
Murphy called on the audience, members of the Women’s Transportation Seminar who are in traditionally male-dominated fields, to spread her ideas.
Men make 23 cents more to the dollar than women, Murphy said, adding that although the difference seems small, it adds up over time.
A woman who graduated high school last summer will earn $700,000 less than males of comparable education over her lifetime, Murphy said, while a woman who graduated college last summer will earn about $1 million less and a woman who graduated last summer from graduate school will earn $2 million less.
Murphy said she did not address minority wage differences but said that the discrimination against women is “generic,” regardless of race or ethnicity.
The audience included male and female members of the Women’s Transportation Seminar, who work in transportation sectors. WTS is an international organization that works to promote the advancement of women in transportation. Esther Johnson, senior projects manager of the MBTA and a member of WTS, said that WTS mentors women, offers them networking opportunities, organizes technical training and brings in speakers to promote women’s advancement in the transportation industry.