The double bind, yet again

[astra_nomer]

I can't recall if I ever got around to posting a review of the book "Women Don't Ask" by Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever. It's very good reading, looking into how women are conditioned to avoid negotiation, and end up losing out because of it. It's a strong driving force behind the gender pay gap.

One would think that the solution would be to encourage women to stand up for themselves, be more assertive, and go out of their way to get what they want. But you'd be wrong.

This article from today's Post refers to a new study that shows that when women do ask for more, they get penalized for it. This conclusion shouldn't be terribly shocking - it's the same old saw about assertive women being perceived as bitches, even though the exact same behavior in men is not only accepted, but rewarded. However, it certainly helps explain why women are reluctant to ask for more in the first place.

It's evidence like this that shows that it's not women's fault that we aren't getting ahead - there are serious cultural hurdles that we need to overcome in order to be successful.

Comments

[capsicumanuum.livejournal.com]

Things like that depress me so much.

I know I lost out on one job offer because they asked me how much I expected to be offered. I told them "Graduates from my year with my degree are currently earning $N. Students graduating this year are being offered between $Y-$Z, according to the careers office at my university. I would be happy with an offer anywhere between $Y-$N." I wasn't made an offer, and I was unofficially told by a friend who works there that I had bid out too high. But I know for a fact that other (male) freshouts had been offered salaries well within the range I had asked for.

::sigh::

[astra-nomer.livejournal.com]

That's so uncool. You'd think that having statistics on salaries like that on hand would work in your favor, but apparently not. My condolences.

[capsicumanuum.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Heaven forbid a woman actually apply statistics and logic to a problem. I wonder if they expect female engineers to build circuits based on feelings instead of empirical data.

I shouldn't have been surprised. In this company of 50 employees, the only woman was their secretary, who, I kid you not, brought coffee in to the technical leads. She even knew how much sugar and milk each person liked. Honestly, given the number of "Heh heh, we saw Bill naked in the gym locker room. Heh heh" jokes I heard when I interviewed, I probably didn't want to work for them anyway.