What's the secret to ending the wage gap? For Lauren Voswinkel, a software developer based in Pittsburgh, it came down to sharing her salary. On May 1 (International Workers' Day, a UK holiday), Voswinkel made a bold statement: She tweeted her job title, professional experience, and how much she makes—dollar for dollar.
The developer admitted it took her years, three job changes, and salary negotiations to realize how much she was really worth—and just how much she was being underpaid. "I just found myself thinking, how long have I been underpaid? How could I have prevented this? What was I missing?" Voswinkel told The Guardian. "And I realized it was mostly because of a lack of conversation around pay."
So the developer called for others to share their titles and salaries with the hashtag #talkpay in hopes to change how women think about their salaries *and* help increase awareness among all genders.
#talkpay working for USGov at 18F, my salary is $157,100 -- top of the GS payscale, but less than my industry equivalentMay 5, 2015
Here goes. White lady, science degree2008: 1st dev job, 60k.2011: hard-won raise, 87k.2012: 2nd job, 104k2013: Made lead, 117k #talkpayMay 4, 2015
@theladyprograms The search for the 2nd job was interesting. One company low-balled me (80K) b/c no CS degree. Second company didn't.May 4, 2015
Now the question is—are you bold enough to share your salary?
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