March is Women's History Month! Celebrate women by investing in their success.

March is Women's History Month! I am all about commemorating women's achievements. Like Black History Month, the celebration of women should be yearlong. We are awesome and most days, I love being a woman. There are some days that being a woman is infuriating. Reading and hearing about pay disparities, lack of job promotions and inflexible work schedules makes being a woman harder than it should be. I enjoy a good campaign and am extremely fond of engaging content highlighting women's accomplishments but if companies want to celebrate and show their appreciation for women in a practical way then they should examine and implement policies that close the gender pay gap and foster a culture for women to move up in rank and salary.

According to the Institute for Women's Policy Research, women make up nearly half of the workforce. Women also have more degrees than men; however, women still earn less. When you break those statistics down by race, Black women earn 63 cents for every dollar a white man is paid. While White, Asian and Hispanic women have benefitted from an increase in earnings, Black women's earnings have declined. Of all races, Hispanic women are still earning the least. This seems to be a Pan-African Diaspora problem. *sigh*

As a Black woman, raised by a Black woman and working with Black women daily, I see the consequences of the discrepancy in pay play out in real life. Young activist Malala Yousafzai once said "we cannot all succeed when half us are held back". This is true. I would extend that in saying we cannot all succeed when any of us are held back. This week I attended a ColorComm program that brought in Human Resource professionals. When the floor was opened to audience questions I asked the panel for advice on salary inquiry and negotiation during the interview/hiring process. HR professionals are the gatekeepers for their companies and they have the company's interest first. Jobseekers in the market looking to make a jump in salary are always trying to figure out the maximum compensation allowed. Jobseekers fear reporting their current salary because they don't want to get lowballed or taken advantage of when going after a new opportunity. Panelists from Sirius XM and NPR stated that since New York forbids companies from asking about current salary then it is not asked in any of their other states. Another representative stated that she leaves room for negotiation and more often then not women, particularly women of color won't negotiate. Why is that? From previous conversations with peers and colleagues, I've been told they didn't negotiate because they didn't want to risk losing the job OR they were weary of being labeled "difficult" before they even started. That says a lot about the burdens that Black women carry. We accept less than our worth because we've been conditioned to be grateful and not rock the boat.

When women are underpaid it doesn't just affect them as individuals, often it affects entire families and future generations. Leaving an additional $25k on the table could be the difference in simply getting by or paying off student loan debt, saving, investing and buying property. It can be the difference in taking out a loan for your child's education or paying out-of-pocket. Businesses should feel it's their duty to compensate people equally regardless of race or gender.  If your budget is more than the desired salary requested, give the candidate a little more. Companies wanting to retain talented women have the same obligation. Create programs that cultivate mentorship, sponsorship and upward career paths. If an opportunity is available within the same company with an increase in salary, let women explore and grow in your company. Hard work and loyalty are qualities that should be rewarded. No company should want to be a revolving door. Ultimately, we all play a part in each other's success. If you want to truly celebrate women, invest in them!

-Bee.