Why women should start talking about their salaries
Saadia Muzaffar
TechGirls Canada founder Saadia Muzaffar   stymied by a lack of mobility at a job early in  her  career  disclosed  her  salary out of frustration to a male colleague. âHe was just stunned â I will never forget his face â the Toronto resident  now 40  told Moneyish. âHe made me repeat the number â¦ and then he told me that there were two other people â one less experienced  one with the same experience â who were both getting paid 40 percent more than me.â  She  raised the discrepancy with  her  company  which  she  declined to name  but quit after it failed to address  her  concerns.
âIâm like  âHow do you know?ââ  Muzaffar  recalled asking  her  friend. â He âs like  âMen talk about this all the time.ââ This   she  speculates  is because men are âdiscouraged less  threatened less  with breaking rulesâ at work. âWomen are threatened so much on so many levels to not fâk up â  she  said. âThe penalty for a woman to be assertive and focused on something earns her the title of being a bâh instantaneously.â
 Muzaffar   about two and a half years ago  also challenged women in a Lean In Power Circle she led to share their salaries with one another. âIt was the most uncomfortable and the most rewarding thing that weâd done together â she said. âWe were able to help each other negotiate better ways of presenting our cases for promotions â flexibility  titles and other perks.
In the present climate  she added  women can take things a step further and push for organizational change â raising questions about pay transparency as âa systems thing rather than just a personal thing.â âItâs exciting for me to see people coming together and learning how to organize around issues rather than personalities â¦ or specific companies â  Muzaffar  said. âSo if you look at this Hollywood thing thatâs going on  this is not against anyone organization â theyâre actually saying itâs the industry  the sector  which is so powerful.â
[TGT] stymied by a lack of mobility at a job early in   [TGT]   career  disclosed   [TGT]   salary out of frustration to a male colleague. âHe was just stunned â I will never forget his face â the Toronto resident  now 40  told Moneyish. âHe made me repeat the number â¦ and then he told me that there were two other people â one less experienced  one with the same experience â who were both getting paid 40 percent more than me.â  She  raised the discrepancy with  her  company  which  she  declined to name  but quit after it failed to address  her  concerns.
âIâm like  âHow do you know?ââ   [TGT] recalled asking   [TGT]   friend. â  [TGT]  âs like  âMen talk about this all the time.ââ This   she  speculates  is because men are âdiscouraged less  threatened less  with breaking rulesâ at work. âWomen are threatened so much on so many levels to not fâk up â  she  said. âThe penalty for a woman to be assertive and focused on something earns her the title of being a bâh instantaneously.â
 Muzaffar   about two and a half years ago  also challenged women in a Lean In Power Circle she led to share their salaries with one another. âIt was the most uncomfortable and the most rewarding thing that weâd done together â she said. âWe were able to help each other negotiate better ways of presenting our cases for promotions â flexibility  titles and other perks.
In the present climate  she added  women can take things a step further and push for organizational change â raising questions about pay transparency as âa systems thing rather than just a personal thing.â âItâs exciting for me to see people coming together and learning how to organize around issues rather than personalities â¦ or specific companies â  Muzaffar  said. âSo if you look at this Hollywood thing thatâs going on  this is not against anyone organization â theyâre actually saying itâs the industry  the sector  which is so powerful.â