Negotiation research studies have generally discovered that men are more likely than women to achieve favorable economic outcomes. These gender differences are typically negligible, but research from the corporate world indicates that they can accumulate over time. At the highest levels of the major corporations, there is still a gender gap. The fact that women have historically been paid less than men and that gap hasn’t been closed calls for increased awareness of gender diversity and equality. A survey by the Prime Database of 163 NSE-listed businesses found that the average compensation of female executive directors in India is 20% lower than that of their male colleagues.
If you want to close the gender gap in negotiations, you can use certain tactics. The gender pay gap can eventually amount to millions of dollars if males, for instance, ask for and receive slightly higher starting salaries than women and continue to negotiate more aggressively for themselves throughout their careers.
Introduction
Researchers have determined that the gender discrepancy in negotiated results is caused by deeply ingrained cultural gender roles. Girls are encouraged to be accommodative, concerned for the well-being of others, and relationship-focused from an early age in many cultures. These objectives, which are more in line with cultural expectations that boys and men be competitive, forceful, and profit-oriented, conflict with the more assertive behaviors thought to be necessary for negotiation success. Because of this, it’s possible that women avoid bargaining hard on their own behalf because they fear negative social consequences on the job. This tendency is backed by research.
What can be done to reduce the gender gap in negotiating outcomes for women and the companies that employ them? In a study published in the Psychological Bulletin, Jens Mazei of the University of Munster and his colleagues examined 51 prior studies that contrasted the outcomes of negotiations between men and women in order to ascertain whether women can take advantage of specific negotiation traits to enhance their results. The team’s investigation not only showed that there is a small gender disparity in how well men and women negotiate, but it also pointed out certain negotiating styles that help close the gap or benefit women more than men.
Women Find It Hard Negotiating Salary
Women need to learn how to properly negotiate wage packages if they want to succeed in their jobs and advance from entry-level positions to higher corporate levels. Women are typically more accommodating and less forceful than men. Starting with the pay from their first job, that may leave a sizable sum unclaimed.
We shouldn’t ignore the pay gap between men and women, even for a year, when they perform the same work and have the same amount of experience. It builds up over time. She gets off to a weaker base. The impact of compound interest creates a significant discrepancy in her equivalent net worth even if she and her male counterpart receive the same raises and promotions over the same number of years of employment.
Several Concrete Suggestions for Women
1. Consider yourself an agent for your company
According to a study, women negotiate more forcefully for others, such as their employees, than they do for themselves. Women may feel more at ease pressing harder for others than they do for themselves because negotiating for others is a social behavior that is compatible with the traditional female gender role, experts contend. As a result, women successfully close the gender difference in negotiated results while negotiating on behalf of other people. However, when women are negotiating on behalf of an organization, they typically provide inferior economic results than men. By seeing themselves as champions for their organizations and bringing up the requirements of their organizations during negotiations, women may be able to avoid a societal reaction and close this gap.
2. Use your training and experience to your advantage to close the gender gap in negotiating
The disparity between men’s and women’s outcomes decreased as they accumulated negotiation expertise across all of the research they looked at.
According to the findings, women, in particular, have a propensity to obtain better economic results the more time they spend negotiating. This might be the case because as individuals gain experience, they tend to let go of traditional gender stereotypes and/or because they get a deeper awareness of the protocol of acceptable behavior unique to the circumstance. In any event, the findings imply that women, in particular, should get knowledge and expertise in bargaining.
3. Prepare, Prepare and Prepare
Many studies have revealed that when negotiators are given knowledge about the bargaining range in a negotiation simulation, gender differences in economic outcomes tend to be less pronounced. According to a study, it suggests that women may “rely less on assumed gender norms as guidance for their behavior in negotiations” when they have access to information about upper and lower bounds. Although comprehensive preparation is usually crucial in negotiations, women, in particular, may be able to benefit from this outcome by learning the typical salary range in a profession, for instance, and then bringing up these norms in their discussions to prevent a societal reaction.
Women Bear a Higher Social Price
According to research, women are more effective spokespersons for others than for themselves. When negotiating for themselves, women fear retaliation but do better when doing it for others. Studies have shown that asking for a pay raise on their own has a “social cost of negotiating” that is detrimental to them. It demonstrates that women took the blow harder than males did. Hard-charging and aggressive women break unspoken social norms around proper behavior. Men are frequently praised for their ambition, strength, and achievement, but women who exhibit the same qualities frequently suffer a social cost for doing so. The achievements of women are not free.
To achieve what you want and need, use information like greater salary or compensation packages. Plan a meeting with your manager and be open with him or her. Give examples of your successes and express your ongoing passion for working with the company in general and her/his team in particular. Request the amount of money you feel you are due. Consider your package and any enhancements you might like if you can’t get to the exact financial amount. It is not uncommon to have an attorney with experience in employment law assist you in discussions as you advance to more senior positions within your company, and there are specified occasions to discuss your annual package. It’s time for you to become financially independent.