How much do you make?
How much do you make?
How much do you make?
“Hey, how much do you make? Are you cringing yet? Because that’s the reaction that most people – student affairs professionals included – would respond with when asking that question.
But why is asking how much other people make such a taboo subject? Can’t we all gain more by learning how much a job is paying? Don’t we have as much to gain by being more open, honest, and transparent about our own salary?
Yes we do. But, there is also much at stake when we ask this question.
This article will provide an overview of how to learn and share your salary responsibly with other professionals. It includes an outline of why you should ask this important question as well as where to start. This article also addresses why asking is a social taboo as well as why answering the question can be equally as difficult. As employees we also have the right to share our salary information with each other. So, this article will go into depth about both the values and the downsides of sharing. Lastly, the article closes on applicable strategies towards having and hosting this conversation.
Why you should ask and where to start
Professionals often think it’s about them if asked how much they make. But, that is not always the case. For most entry level student affairs job seekers, they are really asking the question for themselves. Namely, they want to ensure that they are being paid a competitive salary. At very least, these student affairs professionals want to make sure they’re not being paid at the very bottom of the pay scale.
That means that they are asking it to assess their own compensation. And this is often a smart step to take – even though it can be very awkward to talk about these matters. However, in order to get a leg up on how you should be compensated, you shouldn’t always start with your co-workers and colleagues. A quick search on any number of the salary research tools below will help student affairs job seekers begin to answer the question for themselves:
-The Chronicle of Higher Education https://data.chronicle.com/
-Higher Ed Jobs https://www.higheredjobs.com/salary/
-Glassdoor https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/index.htm
-Indeed https://www.indeed.com/salaries
-LinkedIn Salary https://www.linkedin.com/salary/
-PayScale https://www.payscale.com/
-Robert Half https://www.roberthalf.com/salary-guide
-Salary Expert https://www.salaryexpert.com/
-Salary.com https://www.salary.com/
-SalaryList https://www.salarylist.com/
-US Bureau of Labor Statistics https://www.bls.gov/bls/blswage.htm
Asking is a social taboo…
We are still in a world (and an economy) where asking how much someone else is making is a total social taboo. This is very much like talking about the balance of your checking account or how much you have in savings.
However, this taboo hurts other job seekers. Without having some transparent information about how other people in the functional area, geography, and the industry are being paid then they are often left in the dark. And being left in the dark can have dire consequences – especially for new job seekers.
This means that student affairs professionals often accept salaries that they believe is “fair” without determining what their background, knowledge, skills, experience, education, and abilities is actually worth. That worth is determined by not only the institution, but the position, and the geography as well.
Why this is hard…
Let’s be frank: talking about salary is hard. Talking about how much we make is hard. But WHY is asking this question so hard? Why do we have such trouble even thinking about this at all?
That’s’ because talking about salary and compensation is NOT just about talking about numbers on a page, a list of benefits, or addressing your cost of living. There are some real existential issues that come up with discussing compensation. Because, this question is about how much your time is worth. This question is about how much your experience is worth. This question is how much your skills, background, knowledge, and experience is worth.
For many of us this, question is about asking how much WE are worth. That is a pretty critical question. It’s why we can be so guarded when talking about salaries, compensation, and benefits. Even if we approach the subject as someone who wants to be equitable, just, and fair. Sometimes people think that we ask about others’ salaries because we just want to feel okay about our own salaries.
But no matter the reasons are behind why this is hard, we need to identify the reasons why sharing is actionable. We need to take back the reasons why sharing your compensation helps all rather than hurts just ourselves. In short, we have to celebrate our right to share.
The right to share
Most professionals don’t know that it’s illegal for US employers to discourage their workers from openly discussing their salaries. The 1935 the National Labor Relations Act was passed because legislators saw value in allowing employees to share their compensation in order to give them more information to bargain with.
Of course, sharing salaries and compensation with one another is imperative in order to determine if workers are being paid fairly. After all, why should two people who are doing the same work be paid differently? If they are paid differently, then what are the reasons? Are those reasons justified?
That’s why all employees should be armed with as much information as they need in order to determine if their compensation and salary is meaningful and competitive. This often comes down to the employee’s salary range and if it meets the market demand for their geographical and functional area.
This information is important for making progress towards addressing inequities such as the gender wage gap. This is something that cannot be addressed without transparency, and sometimes, uncomfortable conversations.
If anything, this should spur employees and current job seekers to be more open, honest, and transparent about their compensation. A culture of pay secrecy can only support pay inequality if information cannot be shared openly.
The value in sharing
There certainly is value in sharing your salary information. However, you should know that there is no obligation that requires an employee to share their compensation information. That is entirely left up to you and your colleagues.
However, sharing is a two way street. If you can provide information then you can also get information. This incentive, and how you share, can go a long ways towards understanding job seekers’ value in the market.
This is valuable information. It’s not supposed to be information that you take and use in order to feel good about yourself. Rather, student affairs job seekers should use this knowledge as a basis for learning and self improvement. This is a necessary step to grow and develop in the field.
Of course there is much to gain and learn from sharing and receiving salary information from other professionals and colleagues. But there are some issues and steps that you should be wary about as well.
The downsides to sharing salary information
One of the biggest downsides to sharing your salary is the results and comparisons. If you discover that you are being paid market rate then you feel good. If you discover that you’re being paid above market rate then you feel great. But if you find out that you’re being underpaid then you’d most likely feel pretty upset. This is because learning more about (and revealing) your income begins to peg your identity with how you’re compensated. And in the end you are more than just your paycheck.
In addition, asking colleagues and coworkers about their salaries can create tensions and resentment. This is particularly evident if you already work in a tense office or working environment. Bringing up salary questions could further jeopardize your working relationships with your coworkers.
Lastly, asking your colleagues how much they make can put you in a position of power. That change in power dynamic could negatively affect other aspects of your professional relationship as well. While, this change in power could serve you well during salary negotiations; you must also be wary about how this affects your relationships with your friends, colleagues, and coworkers.
Despite these downsides; there is still value in asking and sharing your compensation information with your colleagues. If you choose to pursue this path of learning and development, then you should prepare some strategies for hosting these challenging conversations.
Strategies towards having the conversation
There are some things that you need to take into consideration before discussing this topic. The first step revolves around being able to build rapport and a relationship with the person you are going to ask. You don’t want to approach this question with someone who haven’t built a relationship and trust with. In addition, you also want to consider the nature of the question. Will asking help or hinder your relationship with them? Is it worth it to ask this question?
You should also take time to discuss this topic in a separate conversation. This should be something asked when you have some privacy and are away from others. Remember: this is often a very critical and sensitive conversation to have with a colleague. So it’s important to determine the best time to pose the question. Also, be prepared to share your own compensation during the conversation.
In addition, you will want to approach this dialgoue with a lighter touch. Instead of asking right away how much they are making; phrase the question differently. An approach that I’ve used in the past is to ask about a colleague that might have the same title or responsibilities as my coworker.
In that case I would phrase the question as:
“My graduate school classmate is now the director of diversity initiatives at large, urban, private, four year institution in Chicago. She shared that the institution offered her $65k for her starting salary. Do you think that was fair amount to earn given the title and location?”
This frames the question as one justifying someone else’s salary rather than asking your coworker directly. In addition, it puts your coworker in a position of determining if the compensation was “fair” given the functional area and their responsibilities. This way of phrasing the question gives your coworker the agency and the ability to make a decision to reveal information about compensation that would give you additional insight on their range of compensation.
Conversely, you should be prepared to share some salary and compensation information about yourself if asked directly or indirectly. If you feel comfortable then you can disclose the full dollar amount that you’re earning. Otherwise, you can approach this from a more conservative angle by first asking your coworker what they think is “fair” compensation for your position.
This approach gives them the opportunity to guess. In return, you get to respond with “yes that is fair” or “no that is not fair.” In this way, you’ve taken over the agency of disclosing what your compensation is. Remember: at the end of the day it is up to you to determine how much information you choose to share versus not share.
Finally, it’s always a good rule to ask a coworker if there are documented standards for cost of living increases; pay raises; or promotions. Knowing ahead of time if the institution supports these incremental increases in salary and compensation is a good indicator of the overall health and direction of employee compensation.
Takeaways
This article provided an overview of how to learn and share your salary responsibly with other student affairs professionals. It included an outline of why you should ask as well as the important questions to ask at the start. The article also addressed why asking is a social taboo as well as why answering the question can be equally as difficult. Remember: employees have the right to share salary information with one another. That’s why this article went into depth about the values and weaknesses of sharing as well as steps towards brokering the conversation.
I hope that you found this article useful! If you need some additional help on your student affairs job search, then check out the eBook The Student Affairs Job Search: A Comprehensive Guide available here.
Happy searching,
References
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Cite this Article
Eng, D. (2020, June 02). How much do you make? Retrieved MONTH DATE, YEAR, from https://www.jobhakr.com/blog-1/2020/6/2/how-much-do-you-make
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