Women in the workforce lose $418,800 over the course of a 40-year career due to the gender-wage pay gap, according to a fact sheet put together by the National Women’s Law Center. One workshop strove to make the NWLC’s statistic a piece of history last weekend at the Boston Public Library.

Despite the promises of equality and respect by employers nationwide, women continue to only make 80 cents for every dollar that men make. That amount drops for African-American women, Latina women and...