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November 05, 2021

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

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Gordon PowersGordon Powers

A long-time fund company executive, Gordon Powers now heads up the Affinity Group, a financial services consulting firm. Gordon was a personal finance columnist for the Globe & Mail for many years, has taught retirement planning...

Jason BucklandJason Buckland

The modern-day MC Hammer of money, Jason can often be seen spending cash that isn’t his with the efficiency of a Wilt Chamberlain first date. After cutting his teeth as a reporter for the Toronto Sun, he joined the MSN Money team with...