Back to topics

Why might asking for a raise fail to close a pay gap?

Asking and receiving are different events. An analysis of Australian workplace data from 2013–14 challenges a simple explanation that women are paid less because they do not ask. It also raises questions about hours worked, employer responses, and what observational data can tell us about the sources of a pay gap.

3–7 min

Questions you could explore

  • What would you need to measure beyond whether an employee asked?

Start reading

Ready to try your ideas aloud?

Your topic carries over. Record up to 2½ minutes, depending on your plan.

Work and leadership

Why record the reason behind a decision?

A team inherits a design and asks why it was built that way. The answer may depend on constraints that have since disappeared. A decision record preserves the context, choice, and consequences, helping later readers distinguish a poor decision from one made under different conditions.

5–7 min

Why record the reason behind a decision?

Work and leadership5–7 minA team inherits a design and asks why it was built that way. The answer may depend on constraints that have since disappeared. A decision record preserves the context, choice, and consequences, helping later readers distinguish a poor decision from one made under different conditions.

Work and leadership

A handoff the next person can use

You have sent an update, but does the next person know they are taking over? An unfinished task raises questions about responsibility, missing information, and what happens next.

5–7 min

A handoff the next person can use

Work and leadership5–7 minYou have sent an update, but does the next person know they are taking over? An unfinished task raises questions about responsibility, missing information, and what happens next.

Work and leadership

Which unfinished task actually controls the deadline?

A project may contain tasks that can happen in parallel and others that must wait. The longest dependent route through the schedule sets a simple model’s earliest finish. Shortening a task off that route may change nothing, while a shared staff constraint can change the schedule itself.

15–20 min

Which unfinished task actually controls the deadline?

Work and leadership15–20 minA project may contain tasks that can happen in parallel and others that must wait. The longest dependent route through the schedule sets a simple model’s earliest finish. Shortening a task off that route may change nothing, while a shared staff constraint can change the schedule itself.

Why might asking for a raise fail to close a pay gap? | Speech Topic | speaking.app