Contact:
Gwen O’Brien
Director of Media Relations
Saint Mary's College
gobrien@saintmarys.edu
574-284-4579
April 9, 2008 (Notre Dame, Ind.)—Women have made tremendous gains politically, socially, and in the workforce, but still lag behind their male counterparts when it comes to pay. Nationally women earn only 77 cents for every dollar a man earns—67 cents if you’re a woman of color (http://www.bpwusa.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=3586). And while Indiana has received wide recognition and accolades for its advancement of women ownership of privately-held businesses, with over 29% in 2007 (http://www.iwpr.org/index.cfm), the statistics for women’s earnings and advancement when working for others are not nearly as impressive.
A 2007 report card by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research on the economic status of Indiana women (http://www.iwpr.org/pdf/R336_Indiana.pdf) shows that the earnings ratio between Women and Men is only 72%. That nearly 30% differential adds up to a substantially less secure and stable existence for Indiana’s working women and their families. By some estimates, that could mean at retirement,working woman could be seven hundred thousand to two million dollars behind her male counterpart in lifetime earnings (http://www.womenwork.org/pdfresources/wagegap.pdf).
These are startling statistics to Saint Mary’s College senior Adriana Lopez, who will graduate from in May with a degree in Social Work and a Certificate in Intercultural Leadership through the College’s Center for Women’s InterCultural Leadership (CWIL). “I had the expectation that my experience and my work will be equally valued (to men’s work). Bringing a solution to this issue is a real concern to me personally, and to women as a whole.”
Lopez has helped plan a community conference called “Bridging the Gap: Reaching Pay Equity in Indiana,” to be held at Saint Mary’s College on April 22 from 1-5 p.m. Carroll Auditorium of Madeleva Hall. The event is free and open to the public and is co-sponsored by Saint Mary’s College, Ivy Tech Community College, the Indiana Commission for Women (ICW), the U.S. Department of Labor Women’s Bureau, and a consortium of 17 local organizations*.
The forum will take on subjects like:
• Best practices for businesses to achieve pay equity
• How to make non-traditional and higher paying jobs more accessible to women
• How pay inequity places women at greater risk for poverty
“This is not a woman’s issue. This is an economic development issue that drives to the very core of our community’s future,” said Melissa C. Martin, chairperson for ICW and an organizer of the forum. “Imagine if Indiana had those additional earnings from women available to fuel our local and statewide economy.”
Bonnie Bazata, associate director of CWIL and one of the event’s coordinators added, “As women’s roles shift from mothers to workers to leaders—and today we do all three at the same time—we can't neatly separate out issues of wages from health care or education. This conference embraces a wide variety of issues and points of view. These are the kinds of discussions that CWIL leadership wants to be supporting on our campus and for our community. We want to support local leaders and our students to be prepared to find effective solutions.”
Concluding panelists will include:
• Jeff Gibney, executive director of the City of South Bend’s Department of Community & Economic Development
• Phil Damico, director of business growth for St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce
• Kay Cochrane, president and chief executive officer of South Bend Workforce Development Group, Inc.,
• State Senator Sue Errington, D-Muncie
The public is invited to attend this free event. To register, go to http://www.saintmarys.edu/%7Ecwil/ or call 574-284-4061. We also invite and encourage the media to attend this informative conference.
Reporters and editors: Please contact forum organizer Bonnie Bazata, Associate Director Center for Women’s InterCultural Leadership, at Saint Mary’s College at bbazata@saintmarys.edu or 574-284-4058.
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* List of 17 local organizations assisting in the conference:
1. St. Joseph County Bridges Out of Poverty Initiative;
2. 21st Century Scholars;
3. Charles Martin Youth Center;
4. Community Forum for Economic Development;
5. Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc,
6. South Bend Alumnae Chapter;
7. IN Federation of Business & Professional Women;
8. La Casa de Amistad;
9. League of Women Voters of South Bend Area;
10. Minority Health Coalition;
11. Real Services;
12. South Bend Heritage Foundation;
13. St. Margaret's House;
14. United Way of St. Joseph County;
15. YWCA of St. Joseph County;
16. Congressman Joe Donnelly's office;
17. Senator Evan Bayh's office
