Governor Joshua Shapiro

508 Main Capital Building

Harrisburg, PA 17120

Dear Governor Shapiro,

Why have you lifted the requirement of college credits/education for state jobs?
I am a 52-year-old female that has returned to college to get a better job. I felt I needed the extra
education (bachelor’s degree) to succeed in this journey. I’ve taken off time as a mother and plan on
working to obtain medical insurance, retirement, and savings now for the next 15 years. I do have life
experience at my age and work experience. Do high school graduates have this? They do not. They have
not experienced life or been in an educational environment outside of high school at 18 years of age,
Whereas a person that has experienced school at a collegiate level has a rounded background. The job
experience will not be at its highest quality. Can you push for education and plan for more sustained
progress and closing the pay gap?

A state job holds high value. An education can only help with these standards. My daughter is a PA
State Trooper. She received a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and has a little over 1 year on the job.
A new cadet coming into law enforcement can apply with no college credits. A cadet coming into law
enforcement without this, would be more challenged at their job due to immaturity of not experiencing
the four years at a collegiate level.

“Inequality with job is the pay,” stated by Rakish Kochhar. This is comparing an eighteen-year-old with
a more experienced 22-year-old or older person. Again, will they perform the job to its highest
standards, or would a better choice be the college student? A high school male graduate can apply for a
construction job, or a labor job and a female isn’t able to do that. There are many labor jobs that a
female can not perform.

Women are already a minority in the workforce and are receiving typically earning 82 cents for every
dollar earned by men. Does the college degree help now being a woman?
According to the book, “The Gender Pay Gap, the female-to-male earnings ratio doesn’t increase with
higher educational attainment, the level of earnings does”. (Abdel-Raouf, F. Buhler, P. (p. 20 2021)
In 2018, a woman with a high school degree but no college earned average $616.00 weekly and a
woman with a bachelor’s degree earned $1,145.00 weekly. It looks like education is still paying off.
Progress in closing the gender pay gap has slowed despite gains in women’s education. To some extent,
the gender wage gap varies by race and ethnicity because of differences in education experience,
occupation, and other factors that drive the gender wage gap for women overall. Men and women work
in different types of jobs and industries, their earnings may respond differently to external pressure.
Higher education, a shift to higher paying occupations and more labor market experience have helped
women narrow the gender pay gap. Can you make a female equal in offering same pay rates in jobs they
are qualified in? Can you make jobs more readily available for females with college degrees?

You were elected to office, and on your first day, one of your assignments was passing this bill. I
understand that you are desperate for good working people and your goal is to better our society but is
this the people you want in these positions?
 Can you reinstate the requirement of college credit and provide job security for female applicants?

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this letter. I appreciate you in your position and I wish you
the best.

Sincerely, Kelly Wilson

References:
The Gender Pay Gap Understanding the Numbers Abdel-Raouf, F. and Buhler, P.M. (2021)
Pay Transparency Tools to Close the Gender Wage Gap 12/06/2021 Author OECD
http://www.PEWResearch.org March 1, 2023 Rakesh Kochhar