Women discuss guilt, pay issues on the job

One emotion many women feel when returning to the workplace after a pregnancy or leave of absence to care for children is guilt, according to Dr. Neeta Shah, vice president of women's services at North Shore-LIJ Health Systems in Manhasset.

"Guilt is something that is in women's genes," said Shah, one of six panelists at an executive breakfast Wednesday sponsored by the Hauppauge Industrial Association at the YMCA Boulton Center in Bay Shore. "God made us soft, compassionate and with feelings. Men have been in the workforce longer. They have been to war. Some have lost their emotions."

The panel examined the issue of "What's in Women's Economic Future," and looked at both the opportunities and roadblocks for women in the workforce and entering it.

So are feelings of guilt necessarily bad? No, said Shah. Those feelings must be "balanced" along with feelings of responsibility to work and other issues.

"One day you need to devote 80 percent of your time to your family and 20 percent to work," Shah said. Other days, she said, the opposite is true.

Panelist Leslie Tayne, an attorney, said women returning to the workforce "can offer so much more to a potential employer," including experience and maturity.

Another key issue discussed during the hourlong session was salary inequity. Nationally, women earn 78 cents for every dollar a man earns, panelists said. Panelist Linda Agnew, president of the Long Island chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners, advised that women should not necessarily accept a first salary offer. "We have to be our own advocate," said Agnew, a lawyer. "The salary will follow that."

Moderator Anne Shybunko-Moore, president of the Hauppauge-based defense contractor GSE Dynamics Inc., said she has participated in numerous panels over the years that have focused on manufacturing or education.

"This one is unique," Shybunko-Moore said. "It's personal."