On February 24, the University of Rhode Island presented “Negotiating Starting Salaries For Women: Get Paid What You’re Worth,” a lecture that focused on helping women to improve their negotiation skills. Recent studies have shown that one reason for the lack of gender equity in salaries is that women taking their first job often don’t know how to negotiate.

The lecture was presented by Aimée Phelps Lee, an instructor in the entrepreneurial management program at URI’s College of Business Administration. Phelps Lee has been teaching human resources, organizational behavior and strategy at the university level since 1999. She is also an independent consultant based in Newport, R.I., where she specializes in human resource management, training and development.

The lecture was co-sponsored by the Women’s Studies Program, URI Career Services, the President’s Commission on the Status of Women, the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Business, the Women’s Development Council and. the Women’s Center.