The Ohio University Graduate College is holding training sessions to teach how women can advocate for higher salaries to combat a wage gap between genders.
The workshop, called ”$tart $mart,” was created by the American Association of University Women, is three and a half hours long and teaches women how to negotiate salaries and benefits.
Women earn about 80 percent of their male counterparts within a year of graduation, according to a 2012 AAUW report.
“Women tend to make decisions based on the good of the group, instead of thinking about what is good for them as an individual,” said Roxanne Malé-Brune, the director of grant development and projects at the Graduate College. “It is important for them to think of themselves as a commodity that they are selling.”
In addition to negotiation skills, the workshop teaches how the gender wage gap affects the attendees lives and how to develop a personal budget to determine benchmark salaries and benefits.
The program was acquired three years ago when the university purchased a $1,500, three-year contract to teach the workshop.
Originally, the program was only run for female graduate students.
The sessions will be running throughout the month of February. The first session will be Feb. 17 and 18 for female graduate students; Feb. 20 and 21 for female undergraduate students and Feb. 19 for male undergraduates and graduates.
“This is the first year that we will be offering five sessions overall,” Malé-Brune said. “In addition to expanding the program to include undergraduate females and men."
om896212@ohio.edu
IYGB:
When: February 17-19
Where: TBA
Cost: none
How to register: email male-bru@ohio.edu
