Are women to blame that they still make about 20 cents less on the dollar than men?
I attended the Wharton Economic Summit yesterday in Philadelphia and I sat in on a session titled “Striking the Right Balance: Women and Work in the New Millennium”, and one speaker dared to point the finger at women for the disparity between the pay of men and women.
At first I thought Shellye Archambeau, CEO of technology firm MetricStream Inc., was crazy when she suggested that it might be the ineptness of women in the salary-negotation department that is partly to blame, but the more she spoke the more she seemed to make sense.
As an executive for a host of big corporations, including IBM and Blockbuster, Shellye paid out raises to her subordinates. But it was the squeaky wheels that usually got most of the money. By the squeaky wheel, I mean the workers that knocked on her door and said “I need more money.” And the ones that did that most tended to be…MEN.
By the time she divvied up money for the rest of her crew, there wasn’t much left for the polite ladies. She estimated that over time, giving men 1 to 3 percent more in raises because they were pushy and asked for it, could end up creating double digit gaps between the pay of men and women.
So are we women pushovers when it comes to feathering our own nests?
Another member of the panel made a good point about how women are just not conditioned to negotiate.
Leslie Morgan Steiner, who writes an online column for working mothers called On Balance, says when she asks girl babysitters how much money they want they usually say “pay me what you think is reasonable.”
That’s insane girls. You need to ask for what you think is reasonble, we all do!
April 15th, 2007 at 10:06 am
This ties in nicely with the recent discussions on keeping salaries and raises hush-hush. We are all taught that pay is a confidential matter and that we shouldn’t be discussing some private things…I bet if this was a more public issue in the workplace, and employees were able to view the discreptancies in a real life fashion –those being “gypped” would ask and receive more!
April 15th, 2007 at 10:16 am
As a woman who has negotiated pay raises successfully on two separate occasions I do fully understand that if you don’t ask for it, you ain’t gonna get it. Confidence in yourself and your abilities is key. You need to have fully believe that you deserve more and that comes from a recognition of the value you add.
April 15th, 2007 at 10:34 am
amen goldengirl…we need to have confidence in ourselves, both men and women!!!
April 15th, 2007 at 2:38 pm
Salary negotiation is definitely an important skill for women to have–and many need to work on it. I’m sure I’m guilty of not wanting to ask for too much, seem too pushy, go too far … how many other women fear the same? Any suggestions on where to get good salary negotiation tips?
Susan at Working Moms Against Guilt
http://www.workingmomsagainstguilt.com
April 15th, 2007 at 3:56 pm
hey susan,
i plan on doing a whole story on salary negotiations for the timid among us…stay tuned. the column will appear in may in my Your Career column at MSNBC.com, and have lots of great tips.
April 16th, 2007 at 7:50 am
Great topic. I think I’ll blog it as well. We had a discussion with our 16 year old daughter who does a lot of babysitting and helps at some local ranches. One item on the agenda was the question, “What do you charge for babysitting?”
She is a confident, engaged, and very capable young lady - I convinced her to make her rate a little bit higher than what she knew some others girls were chargning - becuause she brought more to the table. And the golden rule, after you give your rate (desired salary) - shut up!! If they don’t like the rate, they will negotiate.
For our daughter, not a single complaint - I guess these parents care about the quality of care their children get and my daughter does not feel as though she is underappreciated.
Set an income goal. Express it. Then, don’t start negotiating yourself down.
April 16th, 2007 at 8:04 am
Matt,
I love how you guys addressed the issue with your daughter. We really need to start this discussion at a young age…nothing wrong with asking for what you’re worth
On a side note, being the parent of two little kids who still need a babysitter, I’m torn about encouraging babysitters to be too savvy