Tuesday, April 22, is National Equal Pay Day, and the Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College (SMWC) Career Development Center is encouraging everyone to wear red to show their support for equal work for equal pay.
     National Equal Pay Day is held on a Tuesday each year because that is the day of the week that women's pay catches up with men's pay. Essentially, because of the gender pay gap, women are working for free on Mondays.
     Last fall, the Career Development Center at SMWC applied for and received grant funds from the Career Development Professionals of Indiana (CDPI). The grant, titled "Gender and Economic Disparity," is designed to "educate Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College students, faculty, and staff, as well as Terre Haute community members, about the economic disparity that exists between men and women."
     Research conducted by the American Association of University Women examines the pay gap for college graduates. According to the research, one year out of college, women working full time earn only 80 percent as much as their male colleagues earn. The percentage decreases to 69 percent 10 years out of college. A variety of factors are attributed to the pay gap, including choice of college, college major, and occupation. Controlling for all identifiable factors, an unexplainable gap remains--this is evidence of discrimination and it remains a "serious problem for women in the work force."
     Jackie Fischer, associate director of career development/director of interns and the writer of the grant, is overseeing the implementation and coordination of the grant funds. Jennifer Nebesny, a second-year master's student in the Student Affairs and Higher Education program at Indiana State University, completed a practicum with Fischer last semester and has assisted with these efforts.
     During her practicum experience, Nebesny designed and disseminated an educational survey to the SMWC campus community, planned and attended meetings with local educators, and conducted background research to begin dialog on educational programming about the pay gap.
     When the Gender Pay Gap survey was distributed to the SMWC campus community last fall, the goal was to raise awareness about the gender pay gap, while also measuring the community's knowledge about the topic. Following each question, respondents received educational information related to the question. Some of the survey highlights include:

• A total of 525 respondents completed the survey; nearly 75% of the respondents were SMWC students and 94% were female
•  Nearly 7% of respondents believed that men and women earn equal pay one year out of college; 51% knew that a woman earns 80 percent of what a man earns
•  2% believed that men and women earn equal pay 10 years out of college; 35% knew that a woman earns 69% of what a man earns
•  25% of respondents said that they have experienced the pay gap first-hand
•  13% believed that more than 10% of fathers are voluntarily out of the workforce; 41% knew that the correct number is 1%.  When families decide that a parent will stay home voluntarily to care for the children, it is typically the man who works; without accounting for stereotypical gender roles, the men must work because they have a higher earning potential than women
•  67% knew that women are more likely to complete some graduate education than men; in reality, 25% of women complete a masters degree, while 19% of men continue on to a masters
•  At the end of the survey, respondents were asked to describe an emotion that they felt. Some of these emotions included annoyance, surprise, concern, sadness, shock, anger and outrage.

     Fischer and Nebesny also placed ads about the gender pay gap in the SMWC student newspaper and presented information on the gender pay gap to the Wabash Valley   Human Resource Association and three senior-level economics classes at West Vigo High School in West Terre Haute, Ind.   Future programming will also include strategies for students and graduates to help them avoid the pay gap. In addition, on Tuesday, April 22, National Equal Pay Day, members of the SMWC community will have the opportunity to t-shirts designed by senior Cassie Phegley. To reflect the gender pay gap, women will only have to pay $1.60 for the shirt while men will have to pay $2.
     For more information about the gender pay gap or National Equal Pay Day, contact Jackie Fischer , or call 812-535-5215.

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