Women’s economic security is under constant threat and, no matter how you measure it, the gender pay gap remains persistent and unacceptable. In a calculation of the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau comparing full-time, year-round workers, women took home 83.7% of the pay that men did—a figure that is not statistically different from the pay gap in 2020. In addition, a more comprehensive calculation that compared everyone with earnings in 2021 (including part-time and seasonal workers) found that women were paid a shocking 77% of men’s wages last year.
AAUW : Empowering Women Since 1881
2021-22 AAUW Career Development Grantee Hilda Jacobo
2021-22 AAUW Career Development Grantee Hilda Jacobo
AAUW Reacts to The Latest Pay Gap Data
An Issue of Equity
One Step Towards Less Student Debt
AAUW applauds President Biden’s announcement to forgive $20,000 of student loan debt for Pell Grant recipients, $10,000 for many other borrowers, and to extend the federal student loan payment pause for all borrowers. We are pleased that the Administration heeded many of the recommendations in a recent AAUW report—but women and their families need more.
2019-20 AAUW Selected Professions Fellow Kimberly Jung
Educational Funding
Apply for a Fellowship or Grant
Follow in the footsteps of award-winning authors, scientists, scholars and trailblazers. Application deadlines run from November to December 2022.
Two-Minute Activist
Pass the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act
The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act would require employers to make reasonable accommodations to protect the health of pregnant workers, such as letting them carry bottles of water or take restroom breaks. This critical legislation passed the House of Representatives more than a year ago, but it continues to stall in the Senate. Tell our leaders that pregnant workers cannot wait another day.
Photo by Gayatri Malhotra for Unsplash
Rallying for Reproductive Rights
AAUW strongly condemns the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. AAUW believes everyone has the right to make decisions about their own reproductive lives without government interference. Abortion access is vital to women’s ability to control their lives, bodies and futures. Without reproductive freedom, there can be no equity.
AAUW Alumna Publication
Until I Am Free: Fannie Lou Hamer’s Enduring Message to America
Keisha N. Blain, Ph.D.
2016-17 AAUW American Fellow
Award-winning historian and New York Times best-selling author Keisha N. Blain situates Fannie Lou Hamer as a key political thinker alongside leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X and Rosa Parks. She demonstrates how Hamer’s ideas remain salient for a new generation of activists committed to dismantling systems of oppression in the United States and across the globe.
A blend of social commentary, biography and intellectual history, Until I Am Free is a manifesto for anyone committed to social justice. The book challenges us to listen to a working-poor and disabled Black woman activist and intellectual of the civil rights movement as we grapple with contemporary concerns around race, inequality and social justice.
Watch AAUW CEO Gloria L. Blackwell discuss the book with Dr. Blain in the video below.
Recent Webinar
Gloria L. Blackwell in Conversation with Alumna Dr. Keisha Blain
Until I Am Free has been described as a must-read for anyone committed to social justice. Learn more.
Our Priority Issues
Helpful How-tos
Start Talking about Pay!
Career Tips
8 Great Job Boards for Diverse Professionals
Career Tips
Tips for Getting Educational Funding
Programs
Take Action
Members of AAUW’s Action Network receive urgent email notices and text messages when their advocacy is needed most. With our online Two-Minute Activist tool, it takes just minutes and an internet connection to make your voice heard on issues impacting women and girls!
