A recent study done by the Catalyst has found that women MBAs still earn less than their male counterparts even when their career background, experience and education are the same. In addition, the research has found that men are more likely to attain senior-level executive and C-level position twice as fast as women.

Now these findings really bothered me because on one hand, there are plenty of professional and executive MBA women making significant contributions to the corporate world, so why are we coming up short? While we can certainly agree that bias and gender discrimination still exists in companies, I am a big proponent of executing deliberate, proactive strategies to minimize career obstacles and consistently chip away at the proverbial glass ceiling.

I challenge you with these questions:

Did you negotiate your salary, benefits and total compensation package before you accepted your current position?

Studies have repeatedly shown that professional men are eight times more likely than a woman to negotiate their salary before finally accepting an offer.  If you are actively job seeking, take the extra steps to conduct research, talk to other professional women AND men in the industry and have a solid salary range in mind before accepting a job offer.

– Support your case for a higher salary based on your experience, proven qualifications and the value that you bring to employers.

– Develop a Critical Leadership Initiatives document to use as a leave behind document in interviews and as vital tool in your negotiation process. Do more than say you are qualified, provide solid, quantifiable achievements written in a Challenge-Action-Results format.

Have you had a direct conversation with your boss to express interest in new projects or upward mobility?

As much as we have made progress as professional women, there are still companies hesitant to promote women, give them out-of-town projects or recommend them for new roles that require long days and weekend hours. We can certainly spend a lot of time arguing against that thought process, but unless you speak up and let your interests be known, you will continue to get overlooked for career growth opportunities that you are more than qualified to handle.

– As part of your annual review process, do more than develop current “job-specific” goals; take the discussion to the next level and talk about the skills and qualifications that you need to take you to the next level.

– Focus on direct questions like “What additional experience, qualifications and skills do I need to advance to the next level?” or “What is the next step in my career path?”

– Establish clear, realistic career goals and objectives so that you don’t wake up one day and realize that you have been left behind.

More importantly, don’t expect your boss to read your mind, if you want a promotion, new challenges or more responsibilities, then speak up.

Do you regularly solicit feedback and recommendations from your boss and other colleagues?

Okay, so this is the part that no one likes – we don’t mind hearing the praises, but when it comes to criticism, we want to run for the hills. Constructive criticism and feedback on our performance, speaking abilities, interpersonal skills and team interactions are what women MBAs need to be competitive.

If your idea of climbing the corporate ladder means that you show up on time every day, work really hard and be nice to everyone, you will be disappointed time and time again. Your personal brand and professional reputation depends heavily on how others perceive you – your easy-going, “don’t-rock-the-boat” approach may seem fair to you, but may get you overlooked as a leader where the company expects you to make tough decisions.

– Conduct a 360 assessment every year and send out the survey to colleagues, family members, friends and current/former bosses.

– Pay attention to the most common adjectives used to describe you and your personal attributes and determine your areas of improvement and opportunities for personal growth.