Bravo in general to the advice to "Women's Rights." But for a paid internship at a private company, I'm not sure it's enough to "report everything to the professor or academic officer who deals most closely with these internships." A company of most any size will have someone responsible for HR with which this should also be pursued.

I think the advice to report everything to the school is to make the school aware that there is possible discrimination happening at a place of business they endorse. I doubt it will get the little filly a back an hour raise, but the school can put the organization on notice that if the allegations are true the relationship with the school can be ended.

The university can report the company to the state EEOC, or guide the student into a different internship. The internship director can also force them to give the young woman the back raise. My university has relationships with several companies. All salaries are negotiated through the Career Services office here. I wonder why that wasns't the case at her university. It was at my undergrad and grad universities.

The academic advisor can probably help her sort it all out and figure out if this really is a case of gender bias or if there's something she's not seeing. Personally, I think she's jumping the gun on this and should seek some advice from someone who knows the situation and the hiring history and circumstances a little better before she goes and makes gender bias accusations.

A classmate of the opposite sex and I applied for entry level positions at the same firm senior year. I was offered $5000/year more than him even though we had the same experience level, same educational background, and would be doing the exact same work. The difference? When asked about salary expectations in the interview, I gave a number $5000 higher than him. I also had a slightly higher GPA.

Gender bias is a very serious accusation. This student better really consider the whole situation carefully before she says anything to the company she's interning with.

I agree, gender bias is a serious accusation. The student SHOULD go to the school first - and discuss it. Does she want this company to give her a reference when it comes time to get a real job? A good reference? A letter of recommendation? OR - does she just want the paycheck. For that matter - she should be happy she has a PAID internship - those are not easy to come by.

I agree with Tilla. I think the young woman was jumping the gun. It is suspicious but that simply means that she should get to know the situation better. It could be like Tilla and the co-worker had asked for a pay that was $1/hr higher. It could be that he has a couple of classes she does not that pertain more to the work. She should simply ask her co-worker what he thinks and some question about his education background and how his interview went. I don't mean that she should interrogate him but broach the topic during a break or some such.