On March 5, the Women’s Commission of Grand Valley State University’s Inclusion and Equity Institute held a pay equity seminar to discuss Equal Pay Day and associated employment policies. The seminar provided attendees with a better understanding of the historical obstacles for marginalized professionals, and how the gender wage gap impacts pay in 2025.
The pay equity seminar was hosted by Meagan Treadway, Katie Perschbacher and Trista Shumway, all active members on the University’s Women’s Commission Leadership Team. The event featured a discussion-based presentation given by women professionals from a variety of fields. In turn, students in attendance were able to ask questions regarding the wage gap’s history, and provide insight into their own employment experiences.
This year, Equal Pay Day will take place on March 25. The date was first observed by the National Committee on Pay Equity (NCPE) in 1996, and is still recognized to spread awareness and teach about injustice regarding fair and equal wages.
Shannon Dale, the senior director of Annual Giving and Digital Strategies at GVSU, was at the seminar. Dale stated that she’s very passionate about pay equity and attended the event in order to further educate herself.
“I’ve done a lot of personal work to do better at negotiating (pay), and I want to learn how to better do that for myself and my team (faculty and staff at the University),” Dale said.
The seminar emphasized the importance of collaboration between workers of varying demographics. Intersectionality, a sociological, analytical framework, was brought up by Jessie Fousset, the student services coordinator for the University’s Traverse City Regional Center.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, intersectionality is defined as the “interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.”
Fousset noted that society’s understanding of pay equity has grown over time to comprise various ethnic and gender identities.
“It quickly became clear to me that it (the pay gap) wasn’t just ‘women (being) being paid less, it was a layer of women from certain backgrounds (compared to) Black and Asian women,” Fousset said. “All of these pay gaps are also split even between men. The concept of intersectionality, including different genders and gender identities, (is important) as well.”
According to the presentation, Latina and Indigenous women are paid 58 cents for every dollar paid to white men. For Black women, this statistic is 66 cents for every dollar, and for Asian women, it is 94 cents. In addition, mothers are paid 71 cents for every dollar that fathers are compensated.
“It’s (the conversation regarding pay equity) changed over time because we’re more aware of how the pay gap is hurting basically everyone who is not a white, able-bodied male,” Treadway said. “This gap is persistent across age and education levels as well. In some cases, it (the gap) worsens as age increases. If you’re not earning in your earlier years, it (pay) snowballs.”
Treadway declared the state of Michigan is rated moderately in terms of equal pay laws. According to Treadway, this rating is in connection with the state’s legal protections, defense rights and procedures relating to occupational segregation. The presentation noted that Michigan is ranked 29th nationally in terms of pay equity, and that the state has a gender pay ratio of 81.68%. Locally, in Grand Rapids, that number is 77%.
Shannon Owen, the director of the University’s Northern Michigan Programs, recommended participants find ways to become more involved in pay equity advocacy. She cited her previous experience in Zonta International, a service organization that aims to “build a better world for women and girls.”
“There’s always more to learn on this topic,” said Owen. “I was involved with our local Zonta group, and we did a lot of raising awareness with this issue (the pay gap) and hosted events. I am excited to be a part of the conversation here.”
