Delighted to post this important study and discussion from FOB Rishi Batra
When discussing gender differences in the way that women and men negotiate, much of the well-known literature suggests, “women don’t ask” – i.e. that women are less likely to negotiate for salaries, raises, or promotions, at least when negotiating for themselves. This is often explained by women’s greater concern with maintaining good relationships in the workplace. This supposed propensity is used to explain at least part of the persistent wage gap between men and women.
To further the thesis that everything we know has an expiration date, it turns out that this piece of conventional wisdom about the gender differences in negotiation may no longer be true. A new study released last month (pdf) by Benjamin Artz (UW Oshkosh), Amanda H. Goodall (Cass London) and Andrew J. Oswald (U Warwick) examines direct survey data from Australia in 2013-2014, and they find evidence that women do ask, although they are less likely to “get”.
The Australian Workplace Relations Study (AWRS) seems unique in that it asks workers about whether their pay is set through negotiation with the company, whether they have obtained a wage increase since joining the employer, whether they preferred not to attempt a pay raise because they were concerned about relationships, why they decided that, and about their levels of satisfaction. In the data collected, it turns out that women are no more likely to have avoided negotiating a wage increase due to concern with relationship, and, importantly, there was no statistical difference between men and women in the probability of having asked once hours of work are taken in to account.
Overall, women were still less likely to ask, since women are more likely to be in part time jobs than men are, and more likely to be in jobs where pay is not negotiated. Interestingly, it turns out that when age is taken in to account, younger women (defined as under 40 in the study) are statistically indistinguishable from younger men, in both asking for and and receiving raises, suggesting that negotiating behavior and negotiating results may be changing for women over time.
Of course, some caveats. This is just one study, and it may be that Australian workers or work culture are somehow systematically different from that in the UK or the US. Self-reported survey data can be self-serving in different ways (although the researchers used employee-employer matching and other controls that may control for some of this). However, the 2016 US Women in the Workplace study also finds that women are negotiating as often as men, but do find that women receive pushback when they do (receiving feedback that they are “bossy” or “too aggressive”).
Time and further research will show, as the current generation ages and attitudes towards gender change, whether these negotiating behaviors and attendant results are really changing over time for women. Right now, the idea that “women don’t ask” is another fact with an expiration date on it
As a young woman setting-up a career in a male dominated field, throughout this post I found myself saying “the numbers are going to change.” I am certain that there are many viewpoints, studies, arguments, etc. claiming that this generation’s women are more independent and driven. That we are breaking norms and shattering stigmas that generations before us endured. Aside to agreeing with these views, I also believe there is part of to this analysis that is missing. We spend time reviewing what it is about women that are negotiating their wages- the potential employee vs the potential employer. What would help garner a better analysis would be a study on the people who conduct the negotiation in the first place- the person on the other side of this table. What type of person is it that gets to make the final say? What is THEIR gender, age, position, years of experience, etc.? What is it that makes them want to categorize a woman who negotiates her wages as “bossy” and “aggressive?” Does all this change if the decision maker, who awards or denies the negotiated terms, is a woman?
Reading this post provoked a brief moment of happiness followed by some disappointment. It is empowering to know that in at least one study, women are “asking” and negotiating as much as men, at least under specific circumstances. I am hopeful that the idea that women don’t ask will disappear quickly. However, this feeling is almost erased when the study shows that women are just less likely to “get” especially when age is considered. Causes of this will need to be investigated further, but hopefully a stronger presence of ADR and negotiation classes will eliminate this phenomenon as well, and encourage women to continue to “ask” until we “get” equally.
The discussion of “Do Women Ask” reminded me of an often-quoted statistic that men tend to apply for positions if they meet 60% of the qualifications listed on the application; in contrast, women tend to not apply unless they meet 100% of the qualifications. So, it is women “not asking” for the position in the first place.
Setting aside the merits of the actual statistic, many commentators attribute this perceived gap to a lack of confidence on the part of women (here is one – http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/05/the-confidence-gap/359815/). At least one writer, though, has postulated that the gap might actually be due to misconceptions about the hiring process and fear of failure rather than anything having to do with self-confidence (https://hbr.org/2014/08/why-women-dont-apply-for-jobs-unless-theyre-100-qualified). That is, women perceive qualifications listed on an application as literal qualifications that the applicant must meet – why waste the employer’s or my time, and risk possible failure, if I do not meet all of them?
The study at issue here does not seem to consider amounts at all – how much of a raise the employees asked for, and how much of a raise employees actually received. Studies have shown that even when women do ask for a raise, they tend to ask for less of a raise than men do. Also, the article above talks about women tending to be more afraid of failing than men – so maybe women and men evaluate the results of the raise negotiation differently altogether.
For example, are women more likely than men to attach more weight to a disparity between asked-for and actually-received raise when assessing their success in a raise negotiation? That is, if the employee receives less of a raise than what they asked for (i.e., they receive a 5% raise instead of the 10% that they asked for) – would women tend to perceive this as a failure (“I didn’t receive the raise I asked for”) and men as a success (“I received a raise!”)?
In addition to fear and assessment of failure, level of attention to detail seems to be relevant here as well. From reading numerous studies, and from my own personal experience, it seems that women tend to have a higher attention to detail than do men. So, it would make sense for women to want to “check the box” on each job qualification before applying for the position. Or, to objectively analyze one’s job performance and ask for a realistic raise in accordance with her assessment. Men, on the other hand, may have a more laid-back approach to these matters, ask for the moon, and still be pleased with himself if he does not get quite everything he asked for.
Finally, it would also be interesting to consider what impact, if any, the gender of the supervisor/raise-giver has on likelihood of the employee to get a raise. Would a woman employee’s best chance to get a raise come from a male or female boss? Generational differences would play a role here as well. For example, older male supervisors may be more likely to disapprove of assertive female employees, as they have been conditioned to view the women’s place in the home.