The Man/Woman Paycheque Myth: Is It A Myth?

Gender Alert: How to Negotiate Your Raise

Equal experience. Equal qualifications. The reality? Jack negotiates a higher salary and benefit package than Jill. The compensation gap between men and women is not a myth.

Gender stereotyping is still alive and well, according to a working paper published by Harvard Business School in May 2008.

The authors contend that “men are generally perceived to have an advantage in negotiations over women because they are expected to be more effective at asserting their self-interest and claiming value for themselves, whereas women are expected to act in a more yielding and agreeable and less effective manner in terms of individual performance.”

Stereotypes make attempting to negotiate for higher compensation “a more socially risky endeavor for women than for men, because people not only expect that women will be more agreeable”.

They go on to say, that “male evaluators were significantly less inclined to work with a woman who initiated compensation negotiations as compared to one who did not, because they found her overly demanding and lacking in niceness.”

In other studies, research on expectations for salaries, the entitlement effect, shows that women tend to report lower career entry and career peak financial compensation than men. In general, “pre-negotiation expectations are highly predictive of negotiation outcomes”.

3 Tips for Effective $ Negotiations

1. Do your homework. (Don't just sit there looking like a lame duck - wait, it's a swan!)

• Research the range in your field, and determine your own set point of expectations for annual salary and benefits.



• Do not negotiate an hourly rate.



• Think in terms of “value” to the employer, and



• What you need to balance with others in your household.

2. Learn

• key negotiation skills and



• communication techniques, so that you are not caught off guard.



• Practice!

3. With the assistance of a Master Coach, for example,

• get feedback about your thinking style, including



• a personal inventory of your facial movements,



• body language, and



• voice inflections.

The Bottom Line?

If you want it, you have to ask for it. Negotiate well. Leverage brilliantly. Amen.

Now, how can I help you? Do this now:

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3. Sign up for a workshop or coaching to increase your skills and your comfort levels in negotiating. Yes, you can, no matter how shy you might be at the moment. http://www.theideasculptor.com/ or 1 800 587 1767 in North America

Photo Credit: Richard Chicoine at Egli's Sheep Farm, Dryden Ontario Canada. All Rights Reserved.

(Source: Webgrrls: “Gender in Job Negotiations: A Two Level Game, H Riley Bowles and K.L. McGinn 2008)