The myth of gender discrimination in workplace salaries is alive and well:
Bank of America Corp was accused in a Manhattan federal lawsuit of discriminating against female brokers at the former Merrill Lynch & Co by offering them lower retention bonuses than male counterparts.
Thursday’s lawsuit seeks class-action status, and contends that female brokers were typically eligible for lower bonuses because of gender bias at Merrill, including the brokerage’s practice of steering wealthier clients to male brokers.
I was going to write a lengthy essay on the absurdity of women earning lower wages for the same work simply because of their gender, but then Hannah Seligson (pictured above) did it for me:
Young women also need to learn how to speak salary, a language that many men already seem to know. Coming into the work force, I thought that, just as my professor had given me the grade I deserved on my political science midterm, my company would pay me what I “deserved.”
[Excuse me while I laugh uncontrollably.]
RECENTLY I had a conversation with a male friend, a reporter in his mid-20s, about how hard it is to ask for money and negotiate for raises. He looked puzzled that I’d have an aversion to something that he does with ease, telling me: “When I want a raise, I just ask for it. And even if they say no, I’ll keep asking for it.”
The American Association of University Women found that men who are a year out of college make 20 percent more in weekly pay than their female co-workers do. Why? Because my friend and scores of other young men understand the central tenet of a bigger paycheck: ask and you shall receive.
I do not doubt that women generally earn less than men, given that the two hold the same middle-management or executive positions at the same company. But it is not simply — and only — because women have a second X chromosome.
In the business world, no one owes anything to anyone. This was one of the quickest lessons I learned after college (and especially after moving to Israel). The business world is not academia. You get what you negotiate. You get what you demand (if you are successful). Unless you have one of those mythical, saintly bosses who give raises out of the blue, you do not get anything simply by showing up and working hard. Your manager’s goal is to increase revenue and cut costs as much as possible. That means he will pay you as little as possible as long as he still gets quality work and meets the company’s goals.
Now, remember what I just wrote while you read this excerpt from another New York Times article written by Linda Babcock (a woman):
While hiring two people with similar credentials, a woman and a man, I made each the same salary offer. The woman accepted the offer without negotiating. The man bargained hard, and I had to raise his offer by about 10 percent before he would agree to it.
In between these two events, I watched similar situations play out among my students and friends. Time and again, I saw women accept the status quo, take what they were offered and wait for someone else to decide what they deserved. Men asked for what they wanted and usually got what they asked for.
Women do not earn less in general simply because they are female; women usually have lower salaries because women tend to exhibit behaviors that lead to less pay. The difference is subtle but important.
For the most part, women hate conflict (unless it is personal gossip involving a person whom they do not like) and always try to get along with everyone. Subconsciously, they view the act of demanding and negotiating for a higher salary as an aggressive action. So they accept what is offered to (in their minds) avoid conflict.
Moreover, women tend to be more conservative in regards to risk. (How many young women die each year from teenage hijinks like playing chicken in cars?) They would rather accept the proposed salary and definitely obtain the position than risk (in their minds) losing the job offer by asking for a higher salary.
There are many studies that purport to prove that a wage-gap exists. But it is impossible for any study to control for the variable of personality.
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