Agreed (author here). It's a really taboo subject to talk about to begin with; and there are really two extremes that you'll hear: 1. It's a meritocracy and a

Agreed (author here). It's a really taboo subject to talk about to begin with; and there are really two extremes that you'll hear: 1. It's a meritocracy and anyone can do this! (It isn't, and they can't) 2. Yea, this will work for you but not in general. (You're probably right on this one, as my salary and my progression are very personal things). To thread the needle, I'm trying to point out that I acknowledge #2, and explicitly reject #1 as empirically false; and I hope that by sharing my salary, I bring light to the fact that #1 is false, and that if more people who are similarly advantaged as I am talk about it, we can make #2 no longer be the case.