DENVER (KDVR) — The toll the pandemic has taken on Colorado’s female workforce has been tough.

Across the nation, women found themselves with 5.4 million fewer jobs at the end of 2020 compared to Feb. of that year. In contrast, men lost 4.4 million jobs during that same time period.

“You can see from the latest rounds of job reports how impacted women are,” said Claire Barnes, the Chief Human Capital Officer at Monster.

On average, women make about 81 cents for every dollar a man makes, but new data from Monster shows when it comes to gender inequality, men and women have dramatically contrasting views.

According to Monster‘s new research, about three quarters (74%) of women do not think they are paid the same as men who hold identical roles. On the flip-side, Monster’s data shows that nearly the same percentage of men (73%) believe they are paid equally.

“The fact that men aren’t seeing that as perhaps as strongly when you look at the statistics as women — I think that’s a real concern,” Barnes said.

Career experts say it is vital for employers to start having a conversation about gender equality if they haven’t already.

The same data from Monster also shows nearly half of all respondents (46%) believe male and female co-workers are treated differently by other colleagues and/or management.

“For an organization, just being really transparent about who’s in their leadership team, the influence they have, what are their policies they have around gender equality, they’re all very important,” Barnes said.

When it comes to asking for a raise, experts say you shouldn’t be afraid. Rather, it’s important to understand your value.

“For that person I would look at their position in the market, what they believe they should be paid from a market standpoint, and then be prepared for that. You can find that data from lots of different sites that are available freely,” Barnes said.

You can access free salary calculators here and here.