Pay Inequality

Not my regular YE review experience :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

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So, does that mean that you feel that the only change that needs to be made is the pay negotiation upfront and how that last conversation at each YE goes?

Only change that needs to be made to what? To acting more stereotypically manly in the workplace? Iā€™d probably describe it as being more upfront and assertive in asking for promotions/raises/career progression in and outside of performance reviews, but loosely yeah.

What about when Iā€™m in a meeting and bring up a comment, it goes ignored, and then a man brings up the same comment and it gets recognition and praise by those very same people who ignored me? These are the things I deal with as a woman in corporate America.

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No worries. Just be manly at YE and youā€™ll be fine.

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Yeah that obviously needs fixing and I donā€™t have much experience with it so I definitely donā€™t presume to have all the answers. The reviews stuff is mostly my views from talking to coworkers (men and women) who are often really reluctant to ask for career stuff, in my view to their detriment, so I think that could go a long way helping with pay/progression.

When I get consistent feedback that my voice is not heard, no confidence is built that I even have the option to ask for a raise or promotion at YE. Thatā€™s a society problem, but also a workplace problem.

Completely agree, I donā€™t suggest as a society the solution is to convert women into manlier versions as the solution to the systemic problem. The issue is women have to deal with the world as it is today day in day out so I think there are things we should do as a society to deal with the systemic issues (getting more women into STEM is one example), the concept of being more assertive in asking for pay is more of my speculation with how to deal with what weā€™ve got on the ground at the moment.

I stopped short in my reply. I should have gone on to say that developing good negotiation skills is important for everyone and maybe more so for women since they tend to be less confrontational and less aggressive than men (generally speaking). I didnā€™t mean to suggest that women need to become more manly to get higher wages. I think that good negotiation skills transcend male/female and those skills are not dependent on being brutishly masculine.

Did you negotiate your offer?

Just for the record, Iā€™m not that other guy.

I think economic incentives are still contributing to the pay gap. For example, my wife gets way more maternity leave than I get paternity leave, so it makes more sense for me to stay at work and take on more projects and for her to take advantage of the leave.

For the actuarial profession, I believe things are pretty close between the genders until right after fellowship. Thatā€™s when people decide how to structure their lifestyles regarding family vs. career ambition. Also thatā€™s where people start transitioning into management which I believe is still biased against women.

based on my experience in the industry

C-level - mostly old white male, but can be old white female, or old ā€œinsert ethnicityā€ male

Management - skewed towards inclusivity, many females, many LGBTQ, many non-white. The 3 groups combined might actually be > than white males. Age is but a number in this group, lots of young leaders.

Analysts - diversity galore. asians/south asians galore.

IME the biggest diversity hole is in the number of black actuaries

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I have a handful of black male actuaries who are friends. I have only met one credentialed black female actuary ever and thatā€™s including all the industry wide conferences Iā€™ve been to.

I agree, but Iā€™m wondering what the solution is.
Lots of shit happens in college in the first place, too late for actuarial societies to fix.

In this link:
5.6 per 1000 black graduates have degree in Mathematics.
8.4 per 1000 Hispanics.
Versus 12.0 per 1000 Whites.
Not the only major that eventual actuaries have, but indicative of the low numbers of Blacks and Hispanics that employers have to choose from, relative to whites.

no asians, :smh:

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I know a fair amount of black female actuaries including myself. Naturally thatā€™s as a result of my background and my personal & professional circles. I would caveat that I no longer work as an actuary so basically no chance of meeting me at conferences!

Yeah I think by the time you get to actuarial societies itā€™s largely too late, but I think some of the outreach at universities with actuarial programs is a nice effort. The bigger push is just general support for non-white/asian men in STEM I think, from the earliest ages.

Yup.
Need to start real early.