Breaking through the glass ceiling means earning equal pay.

• Author: Cote, Mike
• Position: COTE'S colorado

Women rising up the corporate ranks might be reluctant to demand top dollar--so happy to be snagging that CEO seat that they don't ensure the salary they're accepting matches what their male counterparts make.

Big mistake, Colleen Abdoulah would tell you.

The president and chief executive officer of Englewood-based WOW! Internet-Cable-Phone has had to battle more than once in her telecom career to secure a fair and equitable salary. She's done so on the front end--when she knew the offer on the table was $10,000 short--and after she already was in the job, when she successfully negotiated a sizeable salary adjustment.

That latter negotiation took a lot of guts to pull off. Sure, Abdoulah had done her homework: She found examples of men helming similar-size companies making as much as $200,000 more. But as soon as she sent an e-mail with her demands, she immediately wished she hadn't and had to wrestle with a big dose of fear.

Her courage paid off: The WOW! board not only approved the increase, they named her chairwoman.

"They were open-minded enough and rational enough to see the data and recognize that it was true, and that I wasn't asking for special treatment," says Abdoulah, who directs 1,200 workers in five states. "I was simply asking to be treated equitably to my male counterparts."

That sounds like a simple request, but women continue to struggle with it after more than 40 years of equal opportunity laws.

Women in Colorado make an average of 79 cents on the dollar compared to men, according to 9to5, National Association of Working Women. That reflects a similar 20 percent to 25 percent disparity across the U.S.

As part of events nationwide to draw attention to the wage gap, the group organized a rally on the steps of the state Capitol, scheduled for April 22 (after our May issue went to press). The date represented how far into the year women on average must work to earn as much as men did the previous year.

Abdoulah was happy to learn about the event when we talked to her by phone in early April. She frequently speaks about gender issues, including the salary gap. But as she told a few hundred people in March gathered for the fourth annual Women in Corporate Growth Breakfast in Englewood, there's a strong incentive for companies...