Why Black Women’s PhDs Are Less Valuable Than a White Man’s

I have talked to hundreds of Black women with PhDs. Besides physicians, many women I spoke to make less than $100k annually. One woman I talked to had two master's degrees and a PhD in Chemistry and made $65k a year. She blamed the system for working against her. 

Out of curiosity, I ask questions to determine why these women continued to get multiple degrees and never sought a higher valuation in their careers equal to their educational achievements. 

The most common responses I got were:

1. I want the letters behind my name.

2. I like learning new things.

3. It's expected from my family.

4. Because "they" didn't think I could.

I talk to many women who work in education, have a multitude of degrees, and make $85k a year, yet complain about how the system is working against them. Wait. You got these degrees KNOWING there was a salary cap. If you love what you do, that's one thing, but don't act like a victim of circumstances you have complete control over. 

One of my recent +50 year old clients, who is worn out and exacerbated by the responsibilities of work, being a mom and wife, is completing her PhD. I asked, "WHHHHYYYY???" She said just in case she loses her job, she has a fall back plan. So, the intention of countless hours of exhaustive work isn't to make more money; it's a security blanket?

Black women are getting degrees to prove they are smart or to have letters behind their name but do not perceive the increased value in themselves. They saw the PhD as valuable and then hoped that someone else would see that they were more valuable with the PhD, but one link they didn't connect. They didn't claim the increased internal value for themselves.

Value has to be owned and demonstrated from within, and how you see yourself first shapes how others see you. 

We seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them. - Numbers 13:33 

Last year, at the urging of my business coach, I read several books by Dr. Benjamin Hardy, including "Your Future Self Now" and "10X is Easier than 2X."

When Dr. Hardy described the reasons he got his PhD and subsequently, the wealth he has accumulated as a result, it was a stark contrast to the reasons I heard from Black women. 

Dr. Hardy set an intention for what he would do with his PhD while he obtained it and after he got it. He had a plan. While working on his PhD, he wrote blogs about his research and expertise and grew an email list to over a million followers. 

With that email list, which is now a valuable asset with tremendous relationship capital, he went to notable entrepreneurs who had achieved high levels of success (such as Dan Sullivan) and traded his valuable asset. 

With his email list and their intellectual property, notoriety, and relationships with other influential people, he offered to co-author books with them by interviewing them and extracting key lessons that would be valuable to the market. 

He offered his gift as a service to notable and established people, which increased everyone's value and resulted in book deals valued at millions of dollars. He built his name and credibility with other people, not for other people. 

In contrast with the Black women I've talked to, there is no long-term plan for monetizing the PhD while they have it. They hope that someone else will take note of their accomplishment and pay them more while not connecting the dots on their increased earning potential. 

Two years ago, one of my clients was seeking a PhD and worked at a small practice as a counselor. She thought she needed the degree to be taken seriously and make more money. She didn't see the value, i.e., money, that her incredible reputation created for the company she worked for. 

However, the owners of the practice knew her value all along and paid her in relation to how she saw herself (at wholesale) while they were paid a higher value for retailing her services and reputation as an iconic Black woman in the industry. 

After doing The Work, within four months, she easily renegotiated her contract from working five days a week for $100k to working 1.5 days a week for $100k. She used the other 3.5 days to build her credibility in the market by writing for professional journals (for a fee) and sitting on panels with other notable experts. 

She couldn't believe how quickly the doors opened for her once she claimed her intrinsic value and recognized that she was already a REPUTABLE expert. She already had value and didn't need the PhD to assign a higher value. 

The insight I'm offering is in no way intended to dishonor or disrespect the efforts of Black women. I aim to illuminate the awareness that many Black women don't need to get PhDs to be paid more. It's time for Black women to look WITHIN to discover their value and then place a high value on themselves first, as the amazingly talented and experienced woman with the degree that has value and not solely assign the value to the degree. 

In my experience with these conversations, this is where Black women are falling short. The degree has value, and the woman has the imposter syndrome. This dynamic results in Black women continually being severely underpaid, overworked, underappreciated, and undervalued. 

Takeaways:

1. OWN YOUR VALUE; others will pay you for the value you have claimed for yourself FIRST.

2. You don't have to work harder or earn multiple degrees to be considered more valuable. Look in the mirror, Queen, and put your crown back on.

3. Set an intention of how you will monetize a degree before getting it. It may reveal that you don't need the degree to be healthy, whole, happy, and valuable.

Do you know women who have multiple degrees but haven't monetized their full value?

**Get the Pay Raise Playbook and learn how to attach your value to your experience. Get it HERE