Graduation season has come once again this year, which means hundreds of thousands of graduates are in the process of landing their first full-time jobs.

According to Zip Recruiter, a gender pay gap begins right out of the gate for women: Among recent graduates, women earned $67,500 and men $72,700 per year, on average. In other words, as those for men.

Alejandra Jiminez is an Metropolitan State University of Denver grad who's been job hunting since September. 

"It's been a lot of networking, a lot of time spent behind a computer submitting resumes. I've lost track of how many resumes I've submitted," she said with a laugh. 

Jiminez is excited to lock down a good-paying job, but in the meantime, she's found that it can be a struggle. That's especially true for women and, more specifically, women of color like herself.

"Gender bias is still at play in pay decisions," said Louise Myrland, Vice President of Programs with . It's a statewide, community-funded foundation protecting the progress and advancing gender, racial, and economic equity for all Colorado women. 

"Latinas in Colorado are only paid about 54 cents on the dollar compared to white men."

Myrland says, however, the gender wage gap here in our state continues to shrink. In fact, Colorado has some of the strongest equal pay legislation in the country: the .  

"It passed in 2019. Since the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act went into effect in 2021, women's earnings have increased by nearly $3,000 a year."

Myrland says one of the most powerful ways for grads to improve pay equity is to know they're entitled to transparency. "You should expect to see a pay range and a description of the position. When workers are able to talk with one another about how much they're paying, it's easier to discover and then pursue a remedy for unfair, unequal payments."

Jiminez says she feels empowered knowing she can use this tool in the future. "I feel comfortable that the jobs that I am applying for, and I am getting interviewed for, are in a pay range that values the work that I'm going to be doing."

More women's employment resources are available .