IUP will host a workshop Wednesday, November 18, 2009, from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. geared toward students who are entering the job market.

The “$tart $mart Campus Workshop” will be held in Room 116 of the Northern Suites, located behind Weyandt Hall.

It will include information on how to negotiate better starting salaries and benefits, and participants will practice through role-playing exercises.

The event is free to students, but pre-registration is required. Students may register in the Women's Studies office, located in Stabley Library, Room 103, or contact Andrea Harms via e-mail at zhgq@iup.edu. Participants should check in the day of the program by 3:45 p.m.

The event is part of a program offered nationally through the Wage Project in partnership with the American Association of University Women. It will be facilitated by the national director of the Wage Project.

Sponsors for the program include IUP Women's Studies, the President's Commission on the Status of Women, the Career Development Center, and the Indiana AAUW.

The program was developed to address the issues of gender wage inequality. Nationally, statistics show that women entering the job market often get starting salaries lower than men and that women earn, on average, 80 percent of the salaries of men in equivalent positions.

Other workshop topics include the following:

  • Personal consequences of the gender wage gap—what a $1-million loss means over one's working lifetime
  • Resources for benchmarking reasonable salaries and benefits—job titles, their functions and salary ranges, and the impact of market realities on salaries
  • How to compare skills and accomplishments to job requirements and the job market to target a realistic salary range
  • Knowing your bottom line—how to develop a budget to pay rent, buy groceries, repay student loans, and cover other basic expenses