Negotiation and the Gender Divide
By Linda Babcock

Do women and men negotiate differently? Do women negotiate in ways that disadvantage them? Linda Babcock of Carnegie Mellon University says women may do worse in negotiations because of the way they negotiate.

Women Do Worse At Negotiations

Babcock discovered male graduates with a master's degree earned 7.6% more than female students. Why? The vast majority of women (93%) accepted their initial pay offer without negotiating, while 57% of the men negotiated - asking for more. On average, those who negotiated raised their initial offer by $4,053.

Women Don't Like to Negotiate

Further research confirmed this pattern. In Babcock's studies, a remarkable nine times as many men as women ask for more.

Women Don't Ask contains some remarkable facts about women and negotiation.

• 2.5 times more women than men said they feel "a great deal of apprehension" about negotiating.
  
  
• Men initiate negotiations about four times more often than women.
  
  
• When asked to pick metaphors for negotiations, men picked "winning a ball game match", while women picked "going to the dentist".
  
  
• Women are more pessimistic about the rewards available, so come away with on average, 30 percent less than men.

Babcock shows women how to recognize the unspoken assumptions that hold them back and how to change the way they negotiate.

Above all, she shows readers the best deal is one that works best for all parties.

Women Don't Ask is a brilliant, insightful, groundbreaking book. Highly recommended.

Available for purchase from Amazon.com