A high-ranking marketing executive says she’s struggled to make as much money as her counterparts amid the earning gap between men and women.
The disparity is even more significant for women of color who have the same education level as men. Chantel Adams, a Black woman who earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of North Carolina, said her achievements and solid work ethic were not considered enough to secure a promotion at her company.
“I was so articulate and sharp that it was intimidating to some people,” Adams, who also claimed took on an extra workload, told The Associated Press in the wire service’s feature story about gender pay disparities. “I have nearly $300,000 of post-high school education. It would be surprising if I weren’t articulate and sharp.”
The AP cited a study from the U.S. Census Bureau, which revealed that women who graduated from a prominent university or have obtained a postsecondary certificate are paid 71 cents on the dollar compared to men. Separately, although Black women are pursuing degrees at a high rate, they are still making less money than white men who didn’t even graduate.
“We’re getting the degrees and we have huge educational gains, but we still have to work twice as hard to get the same pay as someone who has less education than we do,” Gaylnn Burroughs of National Women’s Law Center said during an interview with Chief.com. “It’s like we’re making the same investments in ourselves that other people are making, but our return on our investment is burdened by structural racism and sexism.”
Speaking to the AP, Adams explained that one of her colleagues who didn’t even have an MBA received a promotion over her. Throughout her career, Adams has utilized mentorship, networking, and consistently job hopping to combat pay gaps.
“It’s unreasonable and unfair to hold someone’s strengths against them. I would consider that as something that is race-based,” Adams said, adding,”I knew that I needed to be intentional and move with urgency as I navigated my career in order to work against that headwind. When those opportunities were not afforded me within one company, I’ve gone elsewhere.”
