My favorite professor and teacher of all things “deep”, Dr. Michelle S. Hite, once told me that when you are fully engaged in research, you will start to see inspiration everywhere. I was researching women and business, but more specifically the salaries gaps of women in business, when I found inspiration in an old “habit”. My name is Danielle and I am an admitted magazine junkie and Sunday evening… Cosmo was my latest hit. While reading the February LOVE issue, I came across a very informative article from Rachel White entitled The Debt Crisis No One Is Talking About! In it, White discusses the vicious financial cycle of women, higher education, and student loan debt. You see, it is easy to say that women have more debt. That’s a statement I hear all the time from men and women. It’s a blanketed generalization because the mind tends to lead one to the stereotype of women and financial incompetence not the FACT that more women now have more financial responsibilities. For example, women now outnumber men in college, which means women are more likely to start their careers in debt. In her article, White used a real life example of a woman by the name of Brenda Errichiello, who “found herself with a $947 monthly [student loan] bill and only a $27,000 annual salary”. In all, Errichiello ;graduated with a fabulous 3.9 GPA and $92,000 in debt. OMG, I thought to myself while reading this because Rachel White could have very well been telling my own story. I, like Errichiello, graduated with honors from Spelman College and thousands of dollars in debt before I even earned my first adult check.
What is Errichello to do?
You might be surprised by the answer. She had actually considered going back to school with the hope that more education means a better paying job, job security, and a bump up the corporate ladder. This is something I very well considered myself, getting back on the law school grind, but I had to remind myself that money doesn’t equal love and that hard work doesn’t always pay off in the currency of one’s choosing. Is this the epitome of spend more make more? This, SMC readers is that start of the Debt Crisis no one is talking about.
Things to Consider!
Women come out of the gate making less than our male counterparts for the same positions (18% less according to the article), are less likely to ask for raises at review time, have more student loans, and generally take maternity leave to start a family. How are we going to catch up? Why isn’t anyone talking about debt? According to White, it affects out relationships or lack thereof, career choices, and forces drastic decisions that hurt us even more in the end and if you follow SMC, you have read of other real life examples that support White’s point.
Do You Consider This A “Debt Crisis”?
shemakescents{at}gmail {dot}com | Instagram @shemakescents
shemakescents 