On average, women are paid 80 cents for every dollar that a white man makes for the same job. While this may not sound like much at a glance, over the course of a woman’s 40-year career with a company, it could add up to around $418,800.

In order to help improve this statistic, the American Association of University Women is hosting a Start Smart Salary Negotiation Workshop on Monday, Nov.12 from 1 to 3 p.m. in Room 287 at the Rod Library. Registration is required in order to attend the event and spots are limited. Students from UNI, Hawkeye Community College and Wartburg College are invited.

The workshop isn’t exclusively targeted towards women.

“They’re workshops that are open and free to all of our students,” said UNI STEM coordinator Marcy Seavey. “The purpose is to get our students ready to go out into the workforce and negotiate a fair salary. It’s designed to help students to understand the wage gap.”

While around one quarter of the presentation will address the wage gap, it will also focus on other aspects of job application, including understanding the worth of one’s skills on a resume. The presentation will also help job-seekers figure out what salaries people are getting for similar positions. During the final stretch of the event, participants will act as interviewers and interviewees in the process of salary negotiation. This exercise is meant to make the real process of talking about a salary less stressful.

There are several tips available for people who are trying to negotiate their salary.

“Knowing your value ahead of time is one important thing,” Seavey said. “Another important thing is understanding the order in which things happen in the hiring process. You don’t negotiate a salary before you’ve been offered the job. Get the job offer, then understand that once you’ve been given that job offer, they want you. That is the time in which you don’t immediately sign something and you go back and negotiate the salary.”

Along with these recommendations, Seavey emphasized the importance of knowing whether or not a particular industry allows pay negotiation. Even if that isn’t an option, she suggested looking into things such as travel stipends if you are required to move for a job. Daycare packages may also be available and benefits should be researched while job searching.

As her last tip, Seavey said that the initial salary negotiation is crucial. While a $2-3.00 difference doesn’t seem significant, future raises are based on percentages from the starting sum.  In a few years, the initial amount of money that was negotiated could make a difference.

“They look at real wages from across the country to determine these statistics, and they’re different depending on your race,” said Seavey. “There are many causes to this. One is that women tend to negotiate less. Women also tend to take different jobs than men. These are all based on averages.”

By the time the event finishes, Seavey hopes that students obtain skills which will help them to negotiate their first position and feel confident. While business students are taught about salary negotiation in their classes, she’s excited to have the opportunity to share these tips with students across several departments.