Equal pay has been a hot topic for quite some time. Even though it’s been years—54, to be exact—since the US passed the Equal Pay Act, women are still fighting to bring home the same salaries and hourly wages as men. And fashion #bossbabe Tory Burch is speaking out about it.
The designer and CEO has been campaigning for equal pay for years, and in a new piece for Time, she laid out some reasons why companies should be working even harder to close the gender pay gap. Here are some points that might just convince more industry leaders to rethink the way they treat their employees—women, in particular.
Keep scrolling for Tory Burch’s 3 reasons why companies should close the gender pay gap.
1. Equal pay is good business
Aside from equal pay being a basic human right, Burch also wants companies to know implementing the practice could do wonders for their business.
“Countless studies have shown that equal pay for women would add billions of dollars to the American economy.”
“Countless studies have shown that equal pay for women would add billions of dollars to the American economy,” Burch wrote. “Studies have also proven that companies that have women in leadership positions outperform those that do not.”
2. The cycle of inequality won’t stop itself
Sometimes a woman wants to get ahead, but she’s been culturally conditioned to sit back—it’s another important point Burch said businesses need to factor in when evaluating compensation levels.
“Be aware of how cultural differences also play into the disparity,” Burch wrote. “Women are less likely to ask for promotions or raises, which must be taken into account so that compensation levels do not become even more skewed in favor of men.”
3. Ambition is not celebrated identically for all genders
Burch says that before women can move forward, they need to challenge the behaviors that have been holding them back—and ambition is one of them.
“Women must be able to express their ambition and not be judged as aggressive or ‘not team players.'”
“To this day, ambition is often celebrated in a man and disdained in a woman,” Burch wrote. “As a result, many women go to great lengths to hide theirs. Women must be able to express their ambition and not be judged as aggressive or ‘not team players.'”
Here’s how to use emotional agility to crush any career goal. And, these unexpected life lessons one woman learned from quitting her job to pursue her dream will inspire you.
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