[Womoz] [womensenews] IT Jobs Offer Growth, But Women Are Bailing Out

[Leigh Honeywell]

On 10-06-28 03:38 PM, Tiffney Mortensen wrote:
>>> I might be totally wrong, but I don't see how men, unlike women,
>>> would ask more money just because they are men.

The short answer to this is that women are pretty consistently, 
repeatedly punished in our culture for asking for stuff and negotiating 
about stuff.  So it's not "because they are men", it's "because that's 
what men are trained by culture to do and women are trained not to do". 
  See below.

> I think culturally women are conditioned to refrain from asking for
> anything, being seen as natural "givers" and "nurturers." Even in
> societies where gender equality seems more or less obvious, women can
> be less likely to make demands that may be perceived as
> confrontational. I'd need to dig up the studies I'm thinking of to
> back it up, but men in general are more likely to object to being
> mistreated and more likely to ask for more than what they are
> offered.
>
> Tiffney

There's a great book about the issues around gender and negotiation:

http://womendontask.com

I can't recommend it enough.

Some short summaries of the work are here: 
http://www.salon.com/life/broadsheet/2007/07/30/negotiation_gap/index.html 
and here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/29/AR2007072900827.html

-Leigh