Comments on: Gender Affects Salaries, But Maybe Not How You Think

By: The Happy Rock

The Happy Rock — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 21:23:11 +0000

@Meg – I agree that male counterparts probably wouldn’t receive the same response, I am sorry that you have to deal with that. Hopefully, by continuing to have these types of discussions the attitudes can continue to change.

By: Meg

Meg — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 19:42:48 +0000

I agree that women are penalized more harshly than men for negotiating and for being assertive/aggressive in general. In fact just recently I experienced this firsthand. I received a raise and a promotion, but the increase in salary was less than I expected. When I aired my concerns to my (female!) boss, she told me that when I’m given a raise I should just say thank you and that it was unbecoming to appear ungrateful. What?! The worst part is I know my male counterpart was unhappy too, but I doubt he was looked at as “ungrateful” or “unbecoming” when he complained! I am still sort of in shock by the situation.

By: Powerfull Living » The Personal Development Carnival

Powerfull Living » The Personal Development Carnival — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 12:48:38 +0000

[...] The Happy Rock presents Gender Affects Salaries, But Maybe Not How You Think posted at The Happy Rock. Developing gender equality in [...]

By: The Personal Development Carnival, September 2, 2007 Edition | Personal Development for the Book Smart

Sun, 02 Sep 2007 17:45:28 +0000

[...] Happy Rock presents Gender Affects Salaries, But Maybe Not How You Think posted at The Happy Rock, saying, “Changing our attitudes about women, and trying to level [...]

By: The Happy Rock

The Happy Rock — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 14:12:50 +0000

plonkee and cpa, you are both right, as a society we need to continue the discussion and change one person at time, starting with ourselves.

@Mike – I agree that less assertive men probably make less than assertive men, but the problem is that when a less assertive male tries to assert himself it is not viewed as negatively as when a women tries to assert herself.

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 02:52:23 +0000

It sounds like the study is showing that less assertive people make less money and that women are typically less assertive than men. There is a subtle difference between this and women make less money. An individual can work with the first one, while the latter is much harder to get around.

By: Thecpa

Thecpa — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 22:47:11 +0000

Happy Rock,
Excellent post and dead on the mark! You have nailed every aspect down to the nagging b___h analogy. This uneven pay anomaly has improved over the decades but has not disappeared as we enter a new millennium. It’s not only the men that still carry sexist attitudes but many of the women themselves. I believe that sexist attitude among women is another reason that the pay disparity still exists.

Recognizing a problem is the first step in getting to a solution.

By: plonkee

plonkee — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 15:48:55 +0000

I definitely think that women have an image problem in business – most women I know use all the tools at their disposal to be successful but these are not always seen in a favourable light.

I think the long-term solution is to teach society that its as ok for women to be assertive as it is for men. Things will change when we make them change.