The American Association of University Women (AAUW), in partnership with the Wage Project, will be sponsoring $tart $mart Salary Negotiation Workshop, which aims to empower women and minority participants to effectively negotiate for fair pay in their first job out of college.

The workshop is open to all Colorado university students, and will be held at Metropolitan State College on Nov. 12 from 1-4 p.m.

The first chapter of AAUW began at the DU Women’s College in February 2010, but after the economic downturn, a contract was made between all Colorado schools to hold events through Metropolitan State College.

In part, the workshop’s intent is to address the pay gap between men and women.

Amy Blackwell, director-at-large for the AAUW of Colorado, said she was inspired to be trained as a $tart $mart facilitator after she was told by an employer that he would have paid her $5,000 more per year if she were a male employee.

According to the AAUW, women who are  one year out of college and working full-time earn 80 percent as much as their male colleagues earn.

Ten years after graduation, women fall further behind, earning only 69 percent as much as men.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in March that there is still a gap of 20 percent in pay between women and their male counterparts.

The gap extends across all educational levels and industries, but is highest in female-dominated fields, such as teaching.   DU students are experiencing the gender gap every day. Julie, a Law and Society major at the DU Women’s College, cited two experiences.

“When I was younger, I worked in sales, selling medical equipment for physical therapists,” Julie said. “I thought that I was keeping up with the usual rate of someone in my position. But after years of working there, I found out that men who were in my same position and were less experienced were earning more than me.”

Even when she tried negotiating later in her career, Julie said she didn’t feel that she could stand up for herself.

“Four years ago, I had a long conversation with my female boss about my pay,” she said. We agreed that I could have higher pay, but that I would have to give up my full-time benefits. When I received my first paycheck, I had already signed away my benefits – and I still had the lower pay. Because our agreement wasn’t in writing, I felt like I couldn’t say anything. And I needed a job so desperately that I just took what she gave me and didn’t ruffle the waters.”

Mary Stanford, a Business Administration major at the Women’s College, said she believed she was taken advantage of as a young woman in her first job.

“I worked for a company for two-and-a-half years and I would always ask for a raise during reviews,” said Stanford. “But I never got the full amount, and sometimes didn’t get any at all. I just didn’t have enough experience to stand up for myself, and males were running the show. I believe there was a gender gap.”

Blackwell said the primary mistakes women make when negotiating for pay include seeing their pay offer as a statement of their self-worth, planning around what they need to make their budget instead of what their labor is actually worth and thinking they should take any job they can get in this bad economy. 

Michelle Sas, a Business Administration major at the Women’s College, said she agreed negotiation and confidence are the key in closing the gender gap.

“I’ve always experienced that gap,” Sas said. “But I have had friends who have the courage to turn down jobs where they don’t get the pay they request. They always get called back a couple of weeks later – and they always get the highest pay in the department.”

The workshop consists of a lesson on what the pay gap is, planning a feasible monthly budget, learning how to negotiate benefits and even a mock negotiation at the end of the day.

The approaches emphasize building self-esteem and teaching women to come into negotiations as calm and rational, rather than shy or antagonistic.

Blackwell’s advice to women or any student who is negotiating their first paycheck is to express to their employer that they understand their vision for the company and will help them achieve it.

Rather than directly asking for a raise, she suggested asking for more frequent reviews, so women have a scheduled time to talk to their boss alone and show that they are willing to meet the challenges consistently.

The workshop costs $5 to attend and is open to any Colorado college student. Student must fill out registration forms, which can be found at http://coaauw.org/.