Women are less likely than men to ask for a raise: report
On MSN, we have scratched and clawed to get to the bottom of the gender wage gap, which is very real, no matter where you look.
And according to some reports, the pay disparity between men and women isn’t just at the top of the corporate ladder. Yes, men are much more likely to become CEOs than women, but even right out of school, when all working hours and fields of employment are equal, men earn more than women at their career’s outset.
The big issue, of course, is why. We won’t try to answer a question as big as that in this limited space, but perhaps here’s something of note.
By a new report, women are less likely than men to negotiate a higher salary.
Researchers at Monash University and the University of Chicago recently studied 2,500 job seekers, both men and women.
*Bing: How to ask for a raise without burning bridges
What they did was, offer the 2,500 job seekers a randomized list of employment opportunities, with two key criteria.
For some of the job postings, it was explicitly laid out that salaries were negotiable. For the others, no mention of salary negotiations was made; it was left up to applicants to decide whether they should ask for more money or not.
What the researchers found next was that women, when the notion is present that salary negotiations are available, were actually more likely to fight for an increased wage than men.
But when that consideration is removed – when salary negotiations are left ambiguous and unmentioned – it is men in an overwhelming way that choose to demand more lucrative compensation.
Because most jobs do not advertise that salary is negotiable, the real-world implications of the study are clear.
Women, apparently content to settle on a wage when haggling over compensation isn’t expressly permitted, are left earning at a lower rate than men, who bullheadedly demand more money, no matter management’s desire.
By Jason Buckland, MSN Money
Posted by: Kent | Nov 7, 2012 12:25:21 AM
Some of the "gender gap" is because women are more likely to value the quality of a workplace than money. For instance when my wife and I both got our accounting designations we went out and got jobs. She chose a job with good hours, lots of vacation and an easy boss in a pretty office in a nice part of town. I on the other hand took a job in a cold crappy neighbourhood with long hours, a cramped office and lots of weekend work--and an as*hole of a boss. It's a big reason I earned and still earn more money than she does even though we have equal skills and very similar job descriptions. There's very little actual discrimination at work anymore. I find most people get what they deserve.
Posted by: Kaighlie | Nov 7, 2012 4:37:10 PM
Kent - Because that is how it worked for you and your wife, you have decide to paint all women the same brush? I have worked very hard to get where I am today, long hours, awful working conditions, no vacation time, sexual harassment...you name it I've lived through it and kept going to work with a smile on my face. Now with my qualifications, work ethic and a degree I have yet to make what my male counterparts are making. Whether you want to see it or not, the gender gap is there and we women are still struggling to be seen as equals. I suggest asking some other females for their perspective and see what is really going on in today's workforce.
Posted by: lui pascal | Nov 8, 2012 12:22:23 PM
Re previous comments ...
Gender gap .....its reverse discrimination in the job market place females are quota motivated to supervision positions regardless of their experience or qualification ....the federal government is so female heavy it would be considered sexist with the a similar male component as is the situation with the post office the health care industry etc etc ....
I work with females in heavy construction who in most cases do an excellent job but the physical strength to do the heavy lifting the hammering and the use of large devices is still a challenge and coupled with the mindless dirty sometimes disgusting working conditions few seem interested in the high pay ....
Gets a tad boring hearing women crying the blues about pay inequality when probably rightly so they dont want do the disgusting tasks required of us male worker drones whos injury rates are amongst the worst and our life spans are often cut short by work related disease .