The Wage gap syndrome

Unless you have been living under a rock lately, you know about the glaring differences in wage gaps between Men and Women. There are statistics and research done out there that say that women make less than men for doing the same job. Let me preface what I am about to say by saying this: I believe this, I know a lot of women who aren’t getting paid as much as their male counterparts. But in my short professional career, I have only experience the pay discrimination once. Back when I was still in college, I had a HR job with a small company to get some HR experience under my belt. I was what the call a specialist but did everything that an HR generalist would do, for not that much money. At some point during my time there, I found out that the other Staffing Specialist that was there was making more than I was, and he had been demoted a few times. It wasn’t by much, but it was enough to irk me. Now, this person had less duties than I and some of his previous duties were given to me. I remember going home that night and telling my boyfriend about this. I asked if there were any legal actions I could take against this blatant discrimination and unfortunately since I was an at-will employee, there was nothing I could do. After that position, I haven’t worked for a single company where I was making less than my male counterpart. So what’s the solution to the blatant and glaring wage gap that we as women and women of color face? Work for companies that believe in paying you what you are worth. Trust me there are companies that are out there, who pay you and value you for what you bring  to the table and not according to your race or gender