Howard businesswomen continue to climb the ladder, but economic inequalities still keep them on a lower rung than men, a report says.
“Regardless of education attainment or occupation, women in Howard County earn significantly less than men, and higher percentages of women work in lower-paying occupations,” states a recent study by the Howard County Commission for Women detailing the economic status of women.
Women also are at a higher risk for poverty and homelessness, the study found. High costs of housing and child care compound the burden on women.
“We can do better,” commission member Dawn Fisk Thomsen said. “Exactly what we do better remains to be developed.”
With the study?s data, officials have a better idea of how the wage gap affects women and what organizations can do to address it, she said.
Nonprofits can use this data to seek funding and create programs and partnerships to address the need, said Susan Rosenbaum, director of Howard?s Department of Citizen Services.
Among the solutions is encouraging women to consider more lucrative careers and ask for higher salaries or better benefits once hired, Thomsen said.
“We know that women by and large need to be better negotiators,” she said.
Bernie Bradley, who owns Insight Performance Group, a management consulting company, agreed that women have to be more proactive.
Women often fail to research how much they are worth to an employer and shy away from negotiating a contract, said Bradley, former vice president for human resources and former programs director for the county?s Business Women?s Network.
“I really think women have to learn how to be leaders and to know their value and ask for what they deserve,” Bradley said.
