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The Infinite Mile Awards Program for the Offices of the Provost and Vice President for Research is designed to recognize those individuals or teams who have made extraordinary contributions within their own organizations to help the Institute carry out its mission: Through their initiative, the Pay Equity Working Group have influenced systematic changes at the local level through research, advocacy, and programming while simultaneously sharing their efforts across the Institute, broader MIT community, and nationally to make even larger change. AMITA created the Pay Equity Task Force (PETF) in 2020. This effort is aimed at raising awareness, informing dialogue, and identifying impactful steps toward the ultimate goal of normalizing the culture of confirmed pay equity. The PETF is co-chaired by Kristin Smith '04 and by AMITA Past President , Mary Jane Daly MCP ’83. Recognizing the need to broaden engagement in this area, Daly along with Deborah Liverman, Executive Director of MIT’s Career Advising and Professional Development, established the MIT Pay Equity Working Group with representation from across the Institute. Daly serves as Co-Lead of the Working Group and Smith serves as the Chair of its Educational Resources Sub-Committee.
PETF’s first step was a ‘listening tour’ to engage national thought leaders in conversation about the topic of pay equity broadly, the nature and extent of the problem, and how these issues might be addressed by both industry and individuals. These interviews are posted on the AMITA website as a resource for MIT women students and graduates.
Frequently Asked Questions Contributors
Equal Pay Day - March 24, 2021 Originated by the National Committee on Pay Equity (NCPE) in 1996 and symbolizes how far into the year women must work to earn what men earned in the previous year.
A Conversation About Equal Pay - Webinar Please join a panel of national thought leaders for a conversation about gender pay equity. This recorded event (09/22/2020), was cosponsored by AMITA, (the Association of MIT Alumnae) and a newly formed MIT Equal Pay Working Group, grows out of the work of the AMITA Pay Equity Task Force, co-chaired by Kristin Smith ’04 and AMITA President, Mary Jane Daly MCP ’83. Moderated by Kristin Smith, panelists included Chaya Mandelbaum, Elaine Lin Hering, Pamela Coukos and Siri Chilazi.
The Gender Pay Gap – What It Is and How to Fix It: A Conversation with Siri Chilazi AMITA Pay Equity Task Force Co-Chairs, Kristin Smith ’04 and AMITA President, Mary Jane Daly MCP ’83, joined Nisha Berlia ’04 to interview Siri Chilazi of the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard Kennedy School. Siri is a Research Fellow at the Women and Public Policy Program. She is a recognized expert in advancing women and promoting gender equality within organizations. Siri’s life’s work is to advance gender equality in the workplace through research and research translation, and she is a recognized expert on promoting diversity and inclusion in organizations.
Pay People The Same Because It’s Cheap, Easy, Compliant, and A Good Thing To Do: A Conversation with Pam Coukos AMITA Pay Equity Task Force Co-Chairs, Kristin Smith ’04 and AMITA President, Mary Jane Daly MCP ’83, joined Elaine Harris ’78, a member of the MIT Alumni Association Board of Directors, and Clinton Blackburn ‘08, a member of the MIT Federal Credit Union Board of Directors, to interview Pam Coukos, CEO and co-founder of Working Ideal. Pamela Coukos, JD, PhD, is a nationally recognized expert on pay equity and gender equity, and the factors that drive successful and unsuccessful responses to workplace discrimination. She has assessed data and policies at scores of companies and led the development of Department of Labor guidance on pay equity reviews. Pam is an experienced teacher and trainer, with two decades of experience in the public, private, nonprofit and academic sectors.
Achieving Pay Equity and Eliminating Bias: A Conversation with Marianne Cooper AMITA Pay Equity Task Force Co-Chairs, Kristin Smith ’04 and AMITA President, Mary Jane Daly MCP ’83, interviewed Marianne Cooper, a sociologist at Stanford University. Dr. Cooper conducts research on gender, women’s leadership, diversity and inclusion, financial insecurity, and economic inequality. Her mission is to help create a more equal world by translating research into action. Marianne was the lead researcher Sheryl Sandberg’s NYT best-seller Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead and an author on all five of the Lean In & McKinsey Women in the Workplace reports.
Elaine Lin Hering We are excited to share our first interview, Discussion of Safe Spaces and How to Speak Up Effectively About Pay Equity, with Elaine Lin Hering. Elaine is Managing Partner of Triad Consulting Group. Founded by members of the Harvard Negotiation Project, Triad helps individuals and organizations build capacity to have difficult conversations and work better together. Triad Consulting Group offers workshops, coaching, facilitation, and team interventions.
Please send your suggestions for questions – what would you like to ask experts in this area? - or other relevant ideas to amita_payequity@alum.mit.edu. We look forward to following up in coming months as AMITA ‘s pay equity efforts progress!