Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Raises for women!

It’s no secret that the median pay for women working in the United States is less than the median pay for men.

The wage gap has been shrinking over the past 50 years, but the Washington, D.C.-based National Committee on Pay Equity says the median salary for women in 2011 was still only 77 percent of men’s.

That’s up from 59 percent five decades ago.

There have been a lot of changes in the workplace since then. Women have forged their way into the executive suites, and although they don’t constitute half of the executives in our workplaces, they more often own and operate companies today than they did in the past.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Still more than half of the women in the U.S. workforce hold jobs in low-paying occupations such as sales, clerical, and service jobs.

But a new study finds that there might be another contributing factor.

In the publication Psychology of Women Quarterly, authors Hannah Riley Bowles and Linda Babcock found a simple truth: Women are reluctant to directly ask for a raise.

The anticipation of social backlash or pay discrimination sometimes undermines the efforts of women to be justly compensated for their work, Bowles and Babcock say.

In part of their study, participants were asked to watch a video in which newly promoted females sought a pay raise. The women in the videos began their salary negotiations by saying things such as “I hope it’s OK to ask you about this,” and, “My relationships with people here are very important to me.”

Those watching the video were less likely to agree to salary increases when women started conversations like this.

When the newly promoted women took a more direct approach and revealed that they had been offered another job with a higher salary, they were more likely to win a pay raise.

Men are more likely to take the direct route when asking for a raise, and were more likely to get it.

“While gender constraints are real, they are not inescapable,” the two researchers say. “We expect men to be in charge because they are, and we expect men to earn more because typically they do.… Every woman who reduces the gender gap in pay and authority reforms the social structures that keep women in their place.”

According to U.S. Census information, the median annual wage for men in 2011 was $48,202. Women earned $37,118, a difference of $11,084.

That calculates out to women earning $443,360 less than men over the course of a 40-year work life. The lower earnings also play into lower Social Security and retirement funds for women.

How you ask for a raise may only be one of the contributors to women earning less, but it’s obviously something that commands attention. Being more direct seems like a good move in this case.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Woodpeckers are stocking away acorns, Amorous tarantulas

Stunning sycamores, Mars rising
Next Article

Ramona musicians seek solution for outdoor playing at wineries

Ambient artists aren’t trying to put AC/DC in anyone’s backyard

It’s no secret that the median pay for women working in the United States is less than the median pay for men.

The wage gap has been shrinking over the past 50 years, but the Washington, D.C.-based National Committee on Pay Equity says the median salary for women in 2011 was still only 77 percent of men’s.

That’s up from 59 percent five decades ago.

There have been a lot of changes in the workplace since then. Women have forged their way into the executive suites, and although they don’t constitute half of the executives in our workplaces, they more often own and operate companies today than they did in the past.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Still more than half of the women in the U.S. workforce hold jobs in low-paying occupations such as sales, clerical, and service jobs.

But a new study finds that there might be another contributing factor.

In the publication Psychology of Women Quarterly, authors Hannah Riley Bowles and Linda Babcock found a simple truth: Women are reluctant to directly ask for a raise.

The anticipation of social backlash or pay discrimination sometimes undermines the efforts of women to be justly compensated for their work, Bowles and Babcock say.

In part of their study, participants were asked to watch a video in which newly promoted females sought a pay raise. The women in the videos began their salary negotiations by saying things such as “I hope it’s OK to ask you about this,” and, “My relationships with people here are very important to me.”

Those watching the video were less likely to agree to salary increases when women started conversations like this.

When the newly promoted women took a more direct approach and revealed that they had been offered another job with a higher salary, they were more likely to win a pay raise.

Men are more likely to take the direct route when asking for a raise, and were more likely to get it.

“While gender constraints are real, they are not inescapable,” the two researchers say. “We expect men to be in charge because they are, and we expect men to earn more because typically they do.… Every woman who reduces the gender gap in pay and authority reforms the social structures that keep women in their place.”

According to U.S. Census information, the median annual wage for men in 2011 was $48,202. Women earned $37,118, a difference of $11,084.

That calculates out to women earning $443,360 less than men over the course of a 40-year work life. The lower earnings also play into lower Social Security and retirement funds for women.

How you ask for a raise may only be one of the contributors to women earning less, but it’s obviously something that commands attention. Being more direct seems like a good move in this case.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Ramona musicians seek solution for outdoor playing at wineries

Ambient artists aren’t trying to put AC/DC in anyone’s backyard
Next Article

Poway’s schools, faced with money squeeze, fined for voter mailing

$105 million bond required payback of nearly 10 times that amount
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader