Asking For What We're Worth

Welcome to the Tuesday guest blog. Every Tuesday "On Balance" features the views of a guest writer. It could be your neighbor, your boss, your most loved or hated poster from the blog, or you! Send me your original, unpublished entry (300 words or fewer) for consideration. Obviously, the topic should be something related to balancing your life.

By Shellye Archambeau

You know what I find frustrating? That so many smart, hard-working women make less money than men. Only 77 cents on the dollar, according to the latest Labor Department report. However, I don't believe there is a conspiracy. Senior managers are not plotting and planning to underpay women.

Having spent over 22 years in the male-dominated technology industry, managing organizations of all sizes, it continues to disappoint me that in most cases women aren't asking for the money they deserve, and therefore aren't getting it.

In most large and small companies, everyone knows the performance review and pay-raise cycle. Over the years, during this time, I'd start hearing knocks on my door. It'd be Jim, who'd tell me about the key client he closed and his son's college tuition. Or Dave, who'd tell me what kind of raise he expected this year given his performance and increased personal expenses due to the birth of his twins.

The women would stay away from my office at raise time, silently hoping I would remember how hard they'd worked and how much they'd achieved. I only had so much in my budget for raises, and because the men all came and publicly declared how deserving they were and what they expected, they got a few percentage points more. Over the course over a 30-year career, those percentages add up.

I'm trying to encourage women, not blame them. As an African-American woman, I'm a double minority, and I've stared down plenty of prejudice based on color and gender. This is a cultural difference, not a performance issue.

My message to women is this: Knock on my door. Tell me why you've earned your raise this year and what you expect. I'm happy to give it to you. But you've got to ask for it first. Asking for what we're worth is how we're going to close the wage gap in this country.

Shellye Archambeau is currently CEO of MetricStream, a compliance software solution provider, and has worked for more than 20 years in the technology industry, holding sales and marketing positions at IBM, Blockbuster and LoudCloud. She lives in northern California with her husband and two children. This Guest Blog was adapted from her Striking the Balance panel remarks at the Wharton Economic Summit in Philadelphia on April 12, 2007.

By Leslie Morgan Steiner |  May 1, 2007; 8:00 AM ET  | Category:  Guest Blogs
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