How women can close the wage gap | UTSanDiego.com

In one of the final episodes of the TV series “Mad Men,” it’s the early 1970s and office manager-turned-advertising executive Joan Holloway’s new bosses are making passes at her while passing her over for career advancement.

To extricate herself from their chauvinistic claws, Joan settles the remainder of her $500,000 contract by grudgingly accepting 50 cents on the dollar.

Which, in real life, wasn’t that far from what women were making compared with men.

In 1973, the gender wage gap was at its widest since the U.S. Census Bureau started recording it in 1960, with women getting paid only 56.6 cents for every dollar earned by men.

Fast forward to 2015 and — despite the advances women have made in the workplace — the pay gap has endured, with women now making on average 78 cents on the dollar.

Source: How women can close the wage gap | UTSanDiego.com