By Guest Author Iva Wilson, Ph.D.
I was the first woman at the University of Stuttgart enrolled in the Ph.D. program in Electrical Engineering. I will never forget my first day.
I entered the lab and needed an oscilloscope to do some work. Unfortunately, I could not find one that worked. One of the professors entered the lab and when I asked him to help me find a working oscilloscope he said to me, “How do you know that these do not work?” I answered, “I plugged them in.” This was a beginning of a difficult relationship for me and I am sure for him as well.
When I arrived in the USA and was the only Ph.D. engineer in the Zenith Display Laboratory, I discovered very quickly that I was paid as a technician. When I complained to my boss, he sent me to the personnel office.
The head of the personnel office told me that I am the highest paid woman in the laboratory and should be happy with my compensation. He also told me that I would eventually get married and my husband would make money and we would have enough. To this I replied, “I did not know you are looking for a husband for me!”
In my entire professional career, I always struggled because I was the only women in the position I was in. Also, my compensation was always based on previous compensation as I would get increases from that base salary.
When I was the only qualified candidate to become president of the division where I was the chief engineer, I was told that Philips would never agree to put a woman into such a position. Fortunately, my new boss, the EVP, was of a different opinion and I got the job. In the end, when I retired I was the lowest paid president of a Philips division which was then reflected in my pension.
When I left Philips, my successor got a 50% higher salary than I had and also an employment contract. When it was clear that he could not do the job, he walked away with a nice sum of money.
For more information, please visit Dr. Wilson's website at: http://www.thecoachingcollaborative.com
"The Power of Collaborative Leadership" by Iva Wilson, Bert Frydman and JoAnne Wyer
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