Washington Post included a list from Carnegie Mellon Professor Linda Babcock contrasting salary negotiation differences between men and women. She has found:
- Women, on average, ask for 30 percent less money than men
- Men are eight times more likely than women to negotiate their starting salary and benefits
- Women ask for raises or promotions 85 percent less often than men
While I have previously addressed these challenges in my column, Women Experience Greater Gender Bias in Negotiations, my recommendations bear repeating not only for women, but for everyone involved in salary negotiations.
1. Ask.
First view the salary situation as involving a negotiation. Expand your perception of negotiable situations. If you’re offered a job at a particular salary, consider it a first offer. You will never get what you don’t ask for.
2. Set aggressive goals and raise your expectations.
Don’t sell yourself short before you have even begun.
Instead, extensively research the applicable standards underlying your negotiation, like what your employer pays others with similar experience and expertise. And pay particular attention to our current market for these positions.
Also expect to succeed. Don’t just try. Your passionate, positive attitude will make a bottom line difference.
3. Increase your confidence and reduce your anxiety with some training.
If you’re uncomfortable and anxious about negotiating in certain situations, study the process and get some training.
Increased knowledge and practice in a risk-free environment will reduce your anxiety and increase your effectiveness.
4. Consider hiring an agent to negotiate for you.
It sometimes just makes more sense to hire an agent to negotiate for you. The agency dynamic tends to reduce gender-oriented disadvantages.
If your anxiety level is sky high, ask a friend or hire a professional to negotiate for you.
In an ideal world, a person’s gender would have little impact on his or her negotiation effectiveness.
Unfortunately, because we do not live in an ideal world, we need to understand and consider the impact of gender-based tendencies.