Women negotiate their first post-university salaries less frequently than their male counterparts, leading to a long-term career wage disparity, reported Carnegie-Mellon University’s Linda Babcock.

In addition to this disadvantage of avoiding salary negotiation, women who did negotiate “salary” in a lab study encountered a different problem:  They were disliked by men and women participants due to their perceived “demandingness.” 

In this study Harvard’s Hannah Riley Bowles and Lei Lai found another challenge for women attempting to achieve both salary parity and colleagial work relationships.
Less assertive women negotiators were equally disliked and they failed to achieve equitable “salaries.“

These findings findings suggest the challenge women face in achieving salary parity and being accepted in work groups.
When male and female volunteers in another lab study asked for salary increases using identical scripts, participants liked men’s style, but disliked the same words from women.

Women negotiators were considered “aggressive,” but they could counteract this perception when they:

• Smiled
• Displayed a friendly manner.

These tactics improved others’ perceptions of women negotiators, but did not improve women’s negotiation outcomes.

In contrast, women negotiators improved both social and negotiation outcomes when they:

• Justified the salary request based on a supporting “business case,”
• Communicated commitment to positive organizational relationships.

Women who smile and focus on the interpersonal relationship fulfill gender role expectations, leading to greater approval by male and female observers.
This suggests that both men and women have implicit biases about “appropriate” behaviours and communications from women in the workplace

Bowles, with Harvard colleague Kathleen McGinn and Babcock, suggested that “situational ambiguity” and “gender triggers” modify women’s willingness to negotiate.

When women have information about the potential salary range and whether the salary is negotiable, they are more likely to negotiate.

Women can improve their negotiation outcomes by asking:

• the salary range,
• which elements of the compensation package are negotiable.

Effective negotiation is a survival skill, according to Dan Pink:

“The ability to move others to exchange what they have for what we have is crucial to our survival and our happiness.”

He noted that effective persuaders and “sellers” collaborate in “inspecting” a negotiation and “responding” to the negotiation through “interpersonal attunement.”

Pink suggested ABC negotiation skills:

– Attunement: Aligning actions and attitudes with others,

– Buoyancy:  “Positivity,” optimism, asking questions,

– Clarity:  Helping others identify unrecognized needs that can be fulfilled by the negotiation proposal.

UC Hastings College of the Law’s Joan Williams offered wide-ranging structural strategies to address documented wage discrepancies.

What is the best negotiation pitch you’ve heard for a job-related salary increase or role promotion?

How did the negotiator overcome objections?

How did the negotiator manage the relationship with the negotiating partner?

Related Posts

• Women Don’t Ask for Raises or Promotions as Often as Men
• “Everything is Negotiable”: Prepare, Ask, Revise, Ask Again
• Power Tactics for Better Negotiation

©Kathryn Welds