Search Influence works to shrink the gender wage gap

February 28th, 2018 by Paula Keller French

“According to the National Partnership for Women and Families, Louisiana has one of the widest gender pay gaps in America. Women in Louisiana are paid 68 cents for every dollar paid to men, amounting to an annual wage gap of $15,898.”

Alison Zeringue - Search Influence - WDSU - Shrinking the Gender Pay Gap - February 2018

A Princeton study that was focused on Denmark finds that the gender pay gap is really more of a “childbearing” pay gap, cited as a “penalty for bearing children.”

“Because of their traditional role as family caregivers and a lack of flexibility and support from full-time employers, women often feel forced to choose lesser paying positions or to work in lower-paying industries to get the flexibility they need to support their families,” says Alison Zeringue, our Director of Account Management. Alison is part of our 75% female leadership team, and, the mother of a one year old.

At Search Influence, our compensation strategy, including both our pay and benefits package, is intended to create an equally rewarding and flexible work environment to allow all employees – from entry level positions through senior leadership – to not have to make the choice between being present for their families and maintaining a full-time position. This helps lessen the pay gap as it allows for women to feel more confident in their choice to return to their full-time responsibilities here after maternity leave, knowing that they’ll be supported. We believe this shows in our 74% female company, and, even more so in our leadership team.

Our local NBC affiliate, WDSU, visited with us last week as well as Anna Mahoney, Ph.D., from Tulane University to dive into this story and learn how it is affecting the workforce, and what our company is doing about it.

Watch the video here on WDSU’s website: Local company works to shrink the gender wage gap in Louisiana