One hundred and three. That’s how many extra days women have to work to make the same salary as a man makes in a year for doing the same work, according to at the American Association of University Women.
The American Association of University Women, or AAUW, is new to the UW-Madison campus. The nationwide organization is a resource for the advocacy, education and empowerment of women. On Tuesday, April 12, members of the student org spent the day on Library Mall, spreading awareness of Equal Pay Day.
Jiyu Zhou, cofounder and president of the Madison branch, has been a member of AAUW’s national student advisory council since October. A senior in the UW School of Business, Zhou originally heard about the position through her mentor in the Wisconsin Women’s Network. During her time there, she realized the amount of resources the national organization has available to students.
Zhou helped start the organization at Madison to empower women and help out college students.
“I wanted to make it easier for students,” Zhou said. “It was not very present in Madison and also on campus.”
The AAUW became an official UW Registered Student Organization on April 5. Equal Pay Day, which they cohosted with Lean In at UW Madison, was the organization’s first event. Zhou estimates the event saw over 120 visitors, with more than 60 students posing for a picture with a sign reading “I am the face of equal pay.”
The National Committee on Equal Pay established National Pay Day in 1996 to raise public awareness of the wage gap between men and women. More than a half century after President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act in 1963, women still earn on average only 79 cents to each dollar earned by their male counterparts. The disparities grow larger when looking at the compensation for black and Latina women, but sometimes these differences are minimized or ignored altogether.
“To solve a problem you need to believe it exists” said Sadia Majid, who founded the AAUW Madison with Zhou. Before starting AAUW Madison, Majid new Zhou knew from classes in the Business School as well as other organizations on campus.
“We’ve both been pretty big on women empowerment,” said Majid, a junior studying Finance, Entrepreneurships and Economics. “We’re not afraid to be frank with each other.”
Equal pay is just one of the issues Majid and Zhou hope to face. As the leaders of AAUW, they plan to collaborate with and provide resources for a variety of campus organizations. Zhou said they will help organizations address issues such as advocacy, communication and mental health across campus. They hope to provide viable, real-life solutions.
Zhou and Majid say members are “personally invested” in the organization, and those who seek equality must be intrinsically motivated.
”We can help you realize your dream but it’s not our dream that you have to pursue,” Majid said.
For Zhou, the first student from Wisconsin to be elected to the AAUW national council, the desire to help her colleagues succeed was seeded in high school. As a senior in China applying for colleges abroad, Zhou found there was not much of a support system. Zhou acted as a mentor for a high school student one year younger than her, and since then has been active in organizations such as the Wisconsin Women’s Network and AAUW. With hopes to work for a public accounting firm on the West Coast, Zhou believes it is important for women to prepare in college for what they are currently facing and what they will face when they enter the workforce.
“I want to be a boss but I don’t want to be perceived as bossy,” she said, illustrating one of the external and internal issues women may face. “I’m a leader. I’m not just a ‘woman leader.’”
Zhou and Majid both want to provide opportunities to level the playing field for women to succeed, or fail, on their own terms.
“They say you fail a hundred times and you win once, and that one time is the one thing that makes all the difference,” Majid said. “That’s my life’s motto.”
The American Association of University Women, or AAUW, is new to the UW-Madison campus. The nationwide organization is a resource for the advocacy, education and empowerment of women. On Tuesday, April 12, members of the student org spent the day on Library Mall, spreading awareness of Equal Pay Day.
Jiyu Zhou, cofounder and president of the Madison branch, has been a member of AAUW’s national student advisory council since October. A senior in the UW School of Business, Zhou originally heard about the position through her mentor in the Wisconsin Women’s Network. During her time there, she realized the amount of resources the national organization has available to students.
Zhou helped start the organization at Madison to empower women and help out college students.
“I wanted to make it easier for students,” Zhou said. “It was not very present in Madison and also on campus.”
The AAUW became an official UW Registered Student Organization on April 5. Equal Pay Day, which they cohosted with Lean In at UW Madison, was the organization’s first event. Zhou estimates the event saw over 120 visitors, with more than 60 students posing for a picture with a sign reading “I am the face of equal pay.”
The National Committee on Equal Pay established National Pay Day in 1996 to raise public awareness of the wage gap between men and women. More than a half century after President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act in 1963, women still earn on average only 79 cents to each dollar earned by their male counterparts. The disparities grow larger when looking at the compensation for black and Latina women, but sometimes these differences are minimized or ignored altogether.
“To solve a problem you need to believe it exists” said Sadia Majid, who founded the AAUW Madison with Zhou. Before starting AAUW Madison, Majid new Zhou knew from classes in the Business School as well as other organizations on campus.
“We’ve both been pretty big on women empowerment,” said Majid, a junior studying Finance, Entrepreneurships and Economics. “We’re not afraid to be frank with each other.”
Equal pay is just one of the issues Majid and Zhou hope to face. As the leaders of AAUW, they plan to collaborate with and provide resources for a variety of campus organizations. Zhou said they will help organizations address issues such as advocacy, communication and mental health across campus. They hope to provide viable, real-life solutions.
Zhou and Majid say members are “personally invested” in the organization, and those who seek equality must be intrinsically motivated.
”We can help you realize your dream but it’s not our dream that you have to pursue,” Majid said.
For Zhou, the first student from Wisconsin to be elected to the AAUW national council, the desire to help her colleagues succeed was seeded in high school. As a senior in China applying for colleges abroad, Zhou found there was not much of a support system. Zhou acted as a mentor for a high school student one year younger than her, and since then has been active in organizations such as the Wisconsin Women’s Network and AAUW. With hopes to work for a public accounting firm on the West Coast, Zhou believes it is important for women to prepare in college for what they are currently facing and what they will face when they enter the workforce.
“I want to be a boss but I don’t want to be perceived as bossy,” she said, illustrating one of the external and internal issues women may face. “I’m a leader. I’m not just a ‘woman leader.’”
Zhou and Majid both want to provide opportunities to level the playing field for women to succeed, or fail, on their own terms.
“They say you fail a hundred times and you win once, and that one time is the one thing that makes all the difference,” Majid said. “That’s my life’s motto.”