Closing the gap
The Frederick News-Post - 03/18/2017
m Vol. 134 No. 155 4 sections
Page : A03
© 2017 Randall Family LLC
$1.00
Closing the gap Md.’s gender pay gap is less than national average but persists By NANCY LAVIN
[email protected]
Associated Press file photo
erence in Oxon Hill.
federal budget
Despite significant advancements in women’s salaries, pay disparities persist between men and women, evidenced by the oft-cited statistic that women workers earn 80 percent of their male peers’ earnings. This measure is based on 2015 median income estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau. But Maryland, and this region more broadly, boast slightly more favorable outlooks for women workers, according to the same measurement of earnings. In the D.C. metro region, which includes parts of Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia, women earned 82 percent of what men make, according to 2015 Census data. And in Maryland, a woman earned 83 cents to a man’s dollar, the data showed. A Frederick County lawmaker aims to close that gap further by prohibiting companies with 15 or (See PAY GAP A4)
mp proposes dismantling an-up amid deep cuts to EPA
A HOGAN
Foundation gave the bay its highest score in 18 years with improvements in pollution, Donald Trump’s habitat and fisheries. Without dget released on attention and maintenance, uld eliminate the gains the watershed has e Chesapeake made will be lost, said founwhich could dation Vice President Kim Coon less in grant ble. aryland. “To zero out the funding received approx- that’s holding this whole efllion from the fort together would be devasBay Program in tating,” Coble said. Congress approved the apit the third largCopyright © 2017 Randall Family, propriation of LLC $7303/18/2017 million to y in the waterpm (GMT +4:00) the4:12 Chesapeake Bay Program nnsylvaniaMarch and31, 2017 in the 2016 budget. Congress ved more. The has not passed a budget for partnership of
st.com
Associated Press
Republican Gov. Larry Hogan announces plans to support a ban on hydraulic fracturing for natural gas in Maryland on Friday at a news conference in Annapolis.
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The Frederick News-Post - 03/18/2017
Copy Reduced to 48% from original to fit letter page
A4 | FROM PAGE ONE Pay gap
THE FREDERICK NEWS-POST
Leveling the playing field
Staff photo by Sam Yu
Leslie A. Powell, managing partner of Powell Flynn LLP, has been practicing law for more than 30 years and says she has never experienced pay discrimination. ademic programs for the degree were also dominated by female students, she said. But like Powell, she named experience and education as the driving forces behind pay, not gender. Public libraries are usually government-run institutions — the Frederick County library system falls
under the umbrella of county government — which means income is set by a regulated scale based on education and experience. George also named years of experience as a variable not considered in the blanket statistics on the gender pay gap, as well as factors such as marital status and education levels. Even accounting for these variables, though, about half of the wage gap remains, George said.
The unseen barrier The glass ceiling is defined by the United States Federal Glass Ceiling Commission as “the unseen, yet unbreachable barrier that keeps minorities and women from rising to the upper rungs of the corporate ladder, regardless of their qualifications or achievements.” Among the chief causes for the glass ceiling is something George termed the “mommy penalty.” Women with children might see earnings decrease, while men with children experience pay increases because of inherent bias that
motherhood and professional responsibilities somehow conflict. This assumption features most prominently among occupations with demanding, hectic schedules such as legal and business professions, George said. Lawyers seldom have the option to work fewer hours, or on a part-time basis. Powell agreed that long hours were a requirement for her job. “You don’t hear about a lawyer who works 10 hours a week,” she said. But demanding hours didn’t dissuade Powell from giving up her career to be a mother. She did both. The mother of two had her first child the same year she made partner at her firm. Two weeks after giving birth, she was in D.C. for a meeting. Asked if she felt like she faced bias as a mother in a demanding career, she said, “Possibly. But I just did it.” Other careers better accommodate women who want to work part-time, or take time off. George named pharmacists as one example, particularly those who work for corporations such as CVS that offer rotating pharma-
Fried Oyster, Turkey & Country Ham Dinner Bush Creek Church of the Brethren 4821-A Green Valley Road, Rt. 75 south Monrovia, MD. 21770
Sat., March 25 • 12 – 5 pm Adults $19.00, 6-12 $8.00 Under 6 Free • Carry-outs add $1.00 301-663-3025 • www.bushcreekchurch.org
Copyright © 2017 Randall Family, LLC 03/18/2017 March 31, 2017 4:12 pm (GMT +4:00)
SATURDAY, MARCH 18, 2017
cists behind the counter. “When I go to get a prescription, I don’t care if it’s the same pharmacist I saw before or not,” she said. McDowell said she knew many women in library occupations who took time off to have children. Some, like her, came back immediately at the end of their allocated maternity leave. Those who waited longer before returning to their workforce weren’t penalized though, she said. “As long as you still have the skills you need to do the job, in my experience it doesn’t make much of an impact,” she said. Sexual harassment and hostility can also play a role in the glass ceiling effect. Wall Street, for example, is known as an unfriendly environment toward women, George said. The prospect of facing workplace harassment and hostility may dissuade women from entering those fields altogether, keeping them more male-dominated. The “lean in” factor highlighted in Sheryl Sandberg’s book by the same name might also affect women’s earnings compared to men. Sandberg in the book argues that women need to “lean in” to their own advancement by advocating for raises and negotiating salaries. Sandberg also challenges women to face the fear of being perceived as bossy.
(Continued from A1) more employees from seeking an applicant’s salary history before a job offer is extended. Specifically, the bill says salary history cannot be required as a condition of being interviewed; continuing to be considered for an offer of employment; an offer of employment; or an offer of compensation. The bill sponsored by Delegate Karen Lewis Young, D-District 3A, passed in the House of Delegates 94-7 this week. If women and minorities are historically paid less, one way to balance pay scales could be to take past salaries off the negotiating table, Lewof what their male peers did is Young said. in 2015, Census Bureau data shows. Explaining the stats Leslie Powell, a managThe Census Bureau’s mea- ing partner with Powell Flynn sure of median income is law firm in downtown Fredwidely cited when discuss- erick, said she has never coning gender pay disparity. It’s sidered herself a victim of pay a good benchmark, particu- discrimination because of her larly to compare current dis- sex. She knew how much her parities to historical ones, ac- male coworkers made, even cording to Erin George, an before she opened her own assistant economics profes- firm, and said salaries were sor at Hood College who stud- based upon experience and ies gender disparities in the la- performance. “You didn’t get special disbor market. But the measurement, like pensation as a man or a wommost data, doesn’t tell the an,” she said. She also didn’t think the whole story. It doesn’t differentiate the legal field in Frederick Counincome gap across different ty was dominated by men, nor races and ethnicities, for ex- that her male peers had any ample. This is an important kind of advantage over her bedistinction because minority cause of their gender. In contrast to that for legal women face an even larger inprofessions, data about library come gap, George said. The statistic also doesn’t science indicates a female take into account what George majority. In 2015, 80.7 percent termed “occupational segre- of librarians nationwide were gation” — namely, women women, Census Bureau data tend to work in industries and showed. A female-dominant field jobs that pay less than some may also affect the earnings other fields. Males dominate the legal in favor of women. Frederprofession, for example. Fe- ick County women in teachmale lawyers comprise just ing, training and library occu35.2 percent of lawyers na- pations earned 106 percent of tionwide, according to a Cen- their male peers in 2015, acsus Bureau report published cording to Census data. Sheila McDuff, associate Thursday. Females who enter legal director for public services for occupations, which include Frederick County Public Limore than just lawyers, also braries, has worked alongside face a larger wage gap. Freder- mostly women since earning ick County women in legal oc- her master’s degree in library cupations made 66.4 percent science 16 years ago. Her ac-
Page : A06 |
George heralded Lewis Young’s bill as an important step toward closing the pay gap. If passed into law, the bill would put Maryland among a small group of states and cities that have passed similar measures, including California, Massachusetts, New York and Philadelphia. Lewis Young said the measure is perceived by womens’ groups as the second-strongest measure in the country, behind Massachusetts. Lewis Young said the bill will help ensure that lower wage levels for women and minorities are not perpetuated when employees are required to reveal past compensation. “Your current compensation shouldn’t be based on a past or irrelevant position,” Lewis Young said. Employers who have job openings, Lewis Young said, know the amount they’re willing to pay for the position without knowing ahead of time the past wages of any applicants. That’s what should drive salaries, she said. “If you pay people what they’re worth, what the job requires, you get good employees, who are committed and loyal and treat your customers well,” Lewis Young said. But the bill has been scaled back from its original form. Lewis Young’s bill originally required employers to post salary information as part of job announcements, which would bring greater transparency to salary levels for all workers. But business groups opposed that provision in part because it would allow companies to get an inside glimpse at their competitors. Those requirements were amended out of the bill. A cross-filed version of Lewis Young’s bill in the Maryland Senate has not yet advanced out of committee. Her bill will get a Senate committee hearing later this month. Asked what other policies governments could help equalize earnings between men and women, George emphasized the importance of policies that allow paid family leave. Maryland ranked first among the states for the best paid family leave law, according to an analysis of women’s advancements published in 2013 by the Center for American Progress. Maryland also claimed the No. 1 spot overall in terms of economic benefits for women, based on criteria that included the wage gap, poverty levels and and the wage gap among minority women, the report stated. Powell maintained that closing the remaining income gap couldn’t be achieved through law or policy alone. She named shifting cultural and societal norms as the key factor for equal pay. “The law tends to follow the thinking of society,” she said. “It’s an organic process.” Staff writer Danielle E. Gaines contributed to this story. Follow Nancy Lavin on Twitter: @NancyKLavin.
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m Vol. 134 No. 155 4 sections
Page : A03
© 2017 Randall Family LLC
$1.00
Closing the gap Md.’s gender pay gap is less than national average but persists By NANCY LAVIN
[email protected]
Associated Press file photo
erence in Oxon Hill.
federal budget
Despite significant advancements in women’s salaries, pay disparities persist between men and women, evidenced by the oft-cited statistic that women workers earn 80 percent of their male peers’ earnings. This measure is based on 2015 median income estimates by the U.S. Census Bureau. But Maryland, and this region more broadly, boast slightly more favorable outlooks for women workers, according to the same measurement of earnings. In the D.C. metro region, which includes parts of Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia, women earned 82 percent of what men make, according to 2015 Census data. And in Maryland, a woman earned 83 cents to a man’s dollar, the data showed. A Frederick County lawmaker aims to close that gap further by prohibiting companies with 15 or (See PAY GAP A4)
mp proposes dismantling an-up amid deep cuts to EPA
A HOGAN
Foundation gave the bay its highest score in 18 years with improvements in pollution, Donald Trump’s habitat and fisheries. Without dget released on attention and maintenance, uld eliminate the gains the watershed has e Chesapeake made will be lost, said founwhich could dation Vice President Kim Coon less in grant ble. aryland. “To zero out the funding received approx- that’s holding this whole efllion from the fort together would be devasBay Program in tating,” Coble said. Congress approved the apit the third largCopyright © 2017 Randall Family, propriation of LLC $7303/18/2017 million to y in the waterpm (GMT +4:00) the4:12 Chesapeake Bay Program nnsylvaniaMarch and31, 2017 in the 2016 budget. Congress ved more. The has not passed a budget for partnership of
st.com
Associated Press
Republican Gov. Larry Hogan announces plans to support a ban on hydraulic fracturing for natural gas in Maryland on Friday at a news conference in Annapolis.
Powered by TECNAVIA
The Frederick News-Post - 03/18/2017
Copy Reduced to 48% from original to fit letter page
A4 | FROM PAGE ONE Pay gap
THE FREDERICK NEWS-POST
Leveling the playing field
Staff photo by Sam Yu
Leslie A. Powell, managing partner of Powell Flynn LLP, has been practicing law for more than 30 years and says she has never experienced pay discrimination. ademic programs for the degree were also dominated by female students, she said. But like Powell, she named experience and education as the driving forces behind pay, not gender. Public libraries are usually government-run institutions — the Frederick County library system falls
under the umbrella of county government — which means income is set by a regulated scale based on education and experience. George also named years of experience as a variable not considered in the blanket statistics on the gender pay gap, as well as factors such as marital status and education levels. Even accounting for these variables, though, about half of the wage gap remains, George said.
The unseen barrier The glass ceiling is defined by the United States Federal Glass Ceiling Commission as “the unseen, yet unbreachable barrier that keeps minorities and women from rising to the upper rungs of the corporate ladder, regardless of their qualifications or achievements.” Among the chief causes for the glass ceiling is something George termed the “mommy penalty.” Women with children might see earnings decrease, while men with children experience pay increases because of inherent bias that
motherhood and professional responsibilities somehow conflict. This assumption features most prominently among occupations with demanding, hectic schedules such as legal and business professions, George said. Lawyers seldom have the option to work fewer hours, or on a part-time basis. Powell agreed that long hours were a requirement for her job. “You don’t hear about a lawyer who works 10 hours a week,” she said. But demanding hours didn’t dissuade Powell from giving up her career to be a mother. She did both. The mother of two had her first child the same year she made partner at her firm. Two weeks after giving birth, she was in D.C. for a meeting. Asked if she felt like she faced bias as a mother in a demanding career, she said, “Possibly. But I just did it.” Other careers better accommodate women who want to work part-time, or take time off. George named pharmacists as one example, particularly those who work for corporations such as CVS that offer rotating pharma-
Fried Oyster, Turkey & Country Ham Dinner Bush Creek Church of the Brethren 4821-A Green Valley Road, Rt. 75 south Monrovia, MD. 21770
Sat., March 25 • 12 – 5 pm Adults $19.00, 6-12 $8.00 Under 6 Free • Carry-outs add $1.00 301-663-3025 • www.bushcreekchurch.org
Copyright © 2017 Randall Family, LLC 03/18/2017 March 31, 2017 4:12 pm (GMT +4:00)
SATURDAY, MARCH 18, 2017
cists behind the counter. “When I go to get a prescription, I don’t care if it’s the same pharmacist I saw before or not,” she said. McDowell said she knew many women in library occupations who took time off to have children. Some, like her, came back immediately at the end of their allocated maternity leave. Those who waited longer before returning to their workforce weren’t penalized though, she said. “As long as you still have the skills you need to do the job, in my experience it doesn’t make much of an impact,” she said. Sexual harassment and hostility can also play a role in the glass ceiling effect. Wall Street, for example, is known as an unfriendly environment toward women, George said. The prospect of facing workplace harassment and hostility may dissuade women from entering those fields altogether, keeping them more male-dominated. The “lean in” factor highlighted in Sheryl Sandberg’s book by the same name might also affect women’s earnings compared to men. Sandberg in the book argues that women need to “lean in” to their own advancement by advocating for raises and negotiating salaries. Sandberg also challenges women to face the fear of being perceived as bossy.
(Continued from A1) more employees from seeking an applicant’s salary history before a job offer is extended. Specifically, the bill says salary history cannot be required as a condition of being interviewed; continuing to be considered for an offer of employment; an offer of employment; or an offer of compensation. The bill sponsored by Delegate Karen Lewis Young, D-District 3A, passed in the House of Delegates 94-7 this week. If women and minorities are historically paid less, one way to balance pay scales could be to take past salaries off the negotiating table, Lewof what their male peers did is Young said. in 2015, Census Bureau data shows. Explaining the stats Leslie Powell, a managThe Census Bureau’s mea- ing partner with Powell Flynn sure of median income is law firm in downtown Fredwidely cited when discuss- erick, said she has never coning gender pay disparity. It’s sidered herself a victim of pay a good benchmark, particu- discrimination because of her larly to compare current dis- sex. She knew how much her parities to historical ones, ac- male coworkers made, even cording to Erin George, an before she opened her own assistant economics profes- firm, and said salaries were sor at Hood College who stud- based upon experience and ies gender disparities in the la- performance. “You didn’t get special disbor market. But the measurement, like pensation as a man or a wommost data, doesn’t tell the an,” she said. She also didn’t think the whole story. It doesn’t differentiate the legal field in Frederick Counincome gap across different ty was dominated by men, nor races and ethnicities, for ex- that her male peers had any ample. This is an important kind of advantage over her bedistinction because minority cause of their gender. In contrast to that for legal women face an even larger inprofessions, data about library come gap, George said. The statistic also doesn’t science indicates a female take into account what George majority. In 2015, 80.7 percent termed “occupational segre- of librarians nationwide were gation” — namely, women women, Census Bureau data tend to work in industries and showed. A female-dominant field jobs that pay less than some may also affect the earnings other fields. Males dominate the legal in favor of women. Frederprofession, for example. Fe- ick County women in teachmale lawyers comprise just ing, training and library occu35.2 percent of lawyers na- pations earned 106 percent of tionwide, according to a Cen- their male peers in 2015, acsus Bureau report published cording to Census data. Sheila McDuff, associate Thursday. Females who enter legal director for public services for occupations, which include Frederick County Public Limore than just lawyers, also braries, has worked alongside face a larger wage gap. Freder- mostly women since earning ick County women in legal oc- her master’s degree in library cupations made 66.4 percent science 16 years ago. Her ac-
Page : A06 |
George heralded Lewis Young’s bill as an important step toward closing the pay gap. If passed into law, the bill would put Maryland among a small group of states and cities that have passed similar measures, including California, Massachusetts, New York and Philadelphia. Lewis Young said the measure is perceived by womens’ groups as the second-strongest measure in the country, behind Massachusetts. Lewis Young said the bill will help ensure that lower wage levels for women and minorities are not perpetuated when employees are required to reveal past compensation. “Your current compensation shouldn’t be based on a past or irrelevant position,” Lewis Young said. Employers who have job openings, Lewis Young said, know the amount they’re willing to pay for the position without knowing ahead of time the past wages of any applicants. That’s what should drive salaries, she said. “If you pay people what they’re worth, what the job requires, you get good employees, who are committed and loyal and treat your customers well,” Lewis Young said. But the bill has been scaled back from its original form. Lewis Young’s bill originally required employers to post salary information as part of job announcements, which would bring greater transparency to salary levels for all workers. But business groups opposed that provision in part because it would allow companies to get an inside glimpse at their competitors. Those requirements were amended out of the bill. A cross-filed version of Lewis Young’s bill in the Maryland Senate has not yet advanced out of committee. Her bill will get a Senate committee hearing later this month. Asked what other policies governments could help equalize earnings between men and women, George emphasized the importance of policies that allow paid family leave. Maryland ranked first among the states for the best paid family leave law, according to an analysis of women’s advancements published in 2013 by the Center for American Progress. Maryland also claimed the No. 1 spot overall in terms of economic benefits for women, based on criteria that included the wage gap, poverty levels and and the wage gap among minority women, the report stated. Powell maintained that closing the remaining income gap couldn’t be achieved through law or policy alone. She named shifting cultural and societal norms as the key factor for equal pay. “The law tends to follow the thinking of society,” she said. “It’s an organic process.” Staff writer Danielle E. Gaines contributed to this story. Follow Nancy Lavin on Twitter: @NancyKLavin.
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