Wage Gap Disparities in Latina Community

Fifty-four cents to the dollar of a non-Hispanic white male in the United States. Latinas experience the largest gender wage gap out of any minority group of working women. The UF Chapter of Lucha Latina (LL) partnered with Wager, an organization that covers transparency and equity, in co-sponsorship with Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLLA), to bring an informational webinar, on Sept. 30 at 6 p.m., regarding potential action individuals can take towards this wage gap. 

Melannie Sandoval is the representative from LCLLA, and she reached out to Wager to conduct this webinar because they hold conversations on salary transparency and equity, an extremely important aspect of employment for those likely to face an unfair wage gap. 

Featured speakers include founder and CEO of Wager, Cynthia Medina Carson and Sandoval, a UF alumni and part of the 2019-2020 Trabajadoras Fellowship cohort. The event is through Eventbrite and is free to all who wish to attend. 

“I think this is an important conversation to have because Latinas are hit hardest with the pay gap, and people should be informed on what questions to ask their employer to ensure the workplace is transparent and fair,” Maria Alejandra Forero, a 21-year-old political science and public relations major and current president of Lucha Latina at UF, said. 

Wager leads group webinars and workshops on workplace transparency and consults with individuals on career coaching, resume reviews, and salary management. The partnership between LL and Wager seeks to inform students about aforementioned topics. Here in Florida, pay transparency is not under state protection; however, the state has the Florida Equal Pay Statue. For more information about Florida and other states in regards to pay transparency and equal pay statues click here.

Wager’s educational topics are vital to college students entering the job market. Potential employees should be aware of salary discrepancies, and how to ask an employer about them. This specific webinar intends to achieve this through educating the Latina community at UF. 

“When you do not have experience with a job, it is hard to know what should be asked, therefore, having access to these resources will be beneficial. I believe you are your biggest advocate, and sometimes you do not realize how far you can go when you advocate for yourself,” Forero said.  

Throughout the webinar, Carson presented advice regarding salary negotiation in the job search process. Fear is a major barrier in asking for more, but applicants need to keep in mind that finding the right person for a job requires large sums of time and money on the company’s behalf, so the job will not be revoked due to negotiation. 

On average, a corporate position receives 250 resumes, four to six applicants receive an interview, and only one person will secure the job. A salary negotiation is not going to undo the process the company navigated through. 

Carson then focused her attention towards the wage gap, and specifically Latinas. “Women in general, almost always make $7,000 less than the male counterpart, walking out with the same degree,” Carson said. “White men make at least 46% more in salary than Latinas; with the same job and same education level.” With the current pace of change, it would take 224 years before Latinx minorities were paid the same amount as white men. 60% of Latinas have never negotiated. For professional women over a lifetime of earnings, she leaves $1 million on the table due to inequity in pay. 

These facts presented within the slides further emphasized the necessity of negotiation, to know your worth and to self-advocate. Within the next slides of the presentation, Carson outlined four vital steps to interact in a salary negotiation. 

One: know your worth. This equates to knowing the value of the job, the details, skill level, experience level, whether or not you will play a critical role. Do your research through public salary information, share through salary sheets and talk to others in a similar field, ask if a salary sounds right for your personal skill level. 

Two: articulate your worth. Show the employer what you bring to the table; you must be able to explain why you are worth more than the offer. She presented a way to defend your negotiation through a value statement based upon skills, accomplishments and results. 

The following is a personal example from Carson: I worked with 250 individuals in 2019. I used my research coaching and leadership skills. I benefited clients by increasing their average salary by 25%. These value statements quantify success, showing the employer why a raise is deserved. Steps one and two are preparation for the negotiation; the following steps are where it becomes more difficult. 

Three: negotiate without fear. Know your worth, decide on a range, decide on non-negotiables and decide your walk away number. For many Latina clients, “that number just doesn’t exist,” Carson said. She advised to have a really firm and thoughtful conversation with yourself about this number. 

“The wage gap starts early; it starts in your early 20s,” Carson said. This fact stresses the necessity of negotiating from the start. When offered a job, “don’t accept right away. Take 24-48 hours to think, evaluate and consider and counteroffer 10-20% higher, if it is justified,” Carson said. 

Four: practice. “Fumble through that first negotiation,” Carson said. Practice is beneficial to assist in the future. Three to five years from that first negotiation, that practice will help reach long term goals. 

Wager’s webinar is one given to executives and professionals from all industries and backgrounds. Carson included information regarding Latinas and the wage gap to coincide with LL and its members. Regardless of race or ethnicity, these negotiating tips can help in securing a higher salary when starting, or working many years at, a job. 

Partnership between Wager and LL aims to highlight beneficial information for the Latina community, so they are informed prior to seeking employment. Resources like this offer an opportunity to self-advocate and bring awareness to disparities in pay.

“I think LL at UF is an organization that seeks to bring this mentorship and access to resources to students that may not have seen role models that could tell them to advocate for themselves, so they fight this imposter syndrome, and realize they deserve to be where they are,” Forero said. “It is also an opportunity to connect others with alumni and students that have had similar experiences.” 

Go out, get that job, follow these steps and happy negotiating! 

• latina
• wage gap