Katrina vanden Heuvel: Equal Pay and Freda K. (The Nation)

BLOG | Posted 04/24/2007 @ 5:04pm
Equal Pay and Freda K.


Today is Equal Pay Day, and on Capitol Hill the American Association of University Women (AAUW) is testifying about its groundbreaking research on the pay gap between men and women.

In its report, Behind the Pay Gap, AAUW reveals that just one year after college graduation women earn only 80 percent of what their male counterparts earn – despite the fact that women outperform men with slightly higher GPA's in every college major, including science and mathematics.

"By looking at earnings just one year out of college, you have as level a playing field as possible," said AAUW Director of Research Catherine Hill. "These employees don't have a lot of experience and, for the most part, don't have care-giving obligations, so you'd expect there to be very little difference in the wages of men and women. But surprisingly, and unfortunately, we find that women already earn less – even when they have the same major and occupation as their male counterparts."

The study also found that women who attended highly selective colleges earn less than men from moderately selective colleges and about the same as their contemporaries from minimally selective colleges. Ten years after graduation, the pay gap widens with women earning 69 percent of what men earn and having far less authority in the workplace.

AAUW is supporting the Fair Pay Act and Paycheck Fairness Act in Congress to address wage discrimination.

...)snip)...

But Kirchwey was a fierce opponent of fascism. And the AAUW, too, renounced a strictly pacifist position, advocating aid to "those countries fighting for human rights, even at the risk of war," according to Susan Levine, author of Degrees of Equality. The organization felt that women should play an equal role in national defense and advocated for military service for women.

"Women cannot afford to let democracy go down," Kirchwey urged AAUW members, adding, "… a peculiarly heavy responsibility rests on the shoulders of American women."

The same holds true today. Good to see AAUW doing this important work on Pay Equity Day. And, here at The Nation – where I serve as one of too few women editors at a political magazine – we continue to champion the pioneering work Freda Kirchwey did well before her time. .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut?bid=7&pid=189595