SALT LAKE CITY — In the middle of Women's History Month, equal pay remains an issue in Utah and around the country.
Laeona Fairpay is a Utah-based tech company focused on eliminating bias-based pay gaps within companies. Its co-found says she was inspired by the experiences of those in her life to find a way to promote equal pay.
"Seeing so many people here getting underpaid that looked like me or was a woman or someone from a different diverse background that really catapulted us," said Shannel Tuitele.
The company operates by conducting confidential salary audits for companies.
"We focus not just on gender, but our data scientist will check for any pay gaps related to gender, race, and age," Tuitele said.
Emily Darowski, a Utah State University Women's Leadership Study Researcher, believes internal studies are crucial for companies to identify their weak spots.
"We need companies to conduct internal studies, they can look at how are they deciding pay structures when they hire and are there any overt or subtle implicit things that are happening," Darowski said.
Factors like work experience, occupational choice and education can contribute to difference in pay, but Darowski says even when all those factors are controlled there are still gender pay gaps.
"We typically see gaps even when we are comparing men and women in the same field," she explained. "We do know that occupational segregation is a factor this is where women tend to choose occupations that get paid less overall, for example education fields tend to get paid less than stem fields.
Gender pay disparities also intersect with racial pay disparities.
The 2021 Utah State University Women's Leadership study shows white women earn 68% of what white men in Utah make, while Asian women earn 66%, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander are paid 55% of men. Native American women make 52%, Black women make 51%, and Hispanic/Latina women make 49%.
"Those gaps get much larger for women of color which suggest that we have a lot of work to do in this state to alleviate these gaps and make sure we have equity," Darowski said.
Both Darowski and Tuitele claim there are many things that can help close the gaps, but it begins with educating the youth and continues with self-advocacy.
"We need to talk to young women to explore the broad spectrum of educational and occupational choices that they can make, that they need to have a plan for financial security for themselves regardless of what other choices they make in life like marriage, children," said Darowski said.
"A lot of time we might be afraid because it's hard to step out of your comfort zone and ask, but it's worth asking so you don't leave half-a-million dollars over a 30-year time period on the table," added Tuitele.
