Gender Affects Salaries, But Maybe Not How You Think

martha_stewart_women_business.jpg“Women working full time earn about 77 percent of the salaries of men working full time”. That number is a little misleading, as it doesn’t take into account education and employee status, but the difference is still 11% when equal employees are studied across genders.

We all know the gender differences in salary still exists in business and so does the glass ceiling to some extent. The common explanation is sexism and deliberate underpayment of women. Linda Babcock, professor of economics at Carnegie Mellon University, has been studying the issue at length and has produced some interesting findings. Time and again her research shows that women are much less aggressive, and their finances take a hit because of it. An 11% hit in starting salary could end up costing a women over half a million dollars or more during a 30 year career.

Do the readers agree with this assessment?

Is the solution to teach women to be more aggressive?

This is one of those situations were the surface facts may not tell the whole truth. This type of topic calls us to look past our stereotypes and prejudices and look at the reality of the matter. Are there reasons that women are less aggressive then men? Do the men in business positions react differently to an aggressive man vs. an aggressive woman? Are there other factors at work?

Hannah Riley Bowles, who studies psychology at Harvard, offered research supporting the notion that aggressive men are treated differently than women. “While both men and women were penalized for negotiating, Bowles found that the negative effect for women was more than twice as large as that for men.

Do women feel that this is an accurate view of the business world for them? It makes sense to me. Even the language we use to describe aggressive, pushy men is much better then the language used for a aggressive, pushy women. Men are called pushy and go-getters, while women are nagging and b****y. Women are expected to be nice, but the same rule doesn’t apply to men. How does Martha Stewart get described vs. how does Jack Welch famous GE CEO or Donald Trump?

Personally, I will admit to judging women by different standards in the business world. Research like this really helps illuminate the subtle ways in which I may carry a sexist world view around with me. It’s time to take notice, and start changing.

What are the reader’s experience with this issues

Source : Washington Post Article

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