Women Don't Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide
Author: Linda Babcock
When Linda Babcock asked why so many male graduate students were teaching their own courses and most female students were assigned as assistants, her dean said: "More men ask. The women just don't ask." It turns out that whether they want higher salaries or more help at home, women often find it hard to ask. Sometimes they don't know that change is possible--they don't know that they can ask. Sometimes they fear that asking may damage a relationship. And sometimes they don't ask because they've learned that society can react badly to women asserting their own needs and desires.
By looking at the barriers holding women back and the social forces constraining them, Women Don't Ask shows women how to reframe their interactions and more accurately evaluate their opportunities. It teaches them how to ask for what they want in ways that feel comfortable and possible, taking into account the impact of asking on their relationships. And it teaches all of us how to recognize the ways in which our institutions, child-rearing practices, and unspoken assumptions perpetuate inequalities--inequalities that are not only fundamentally unfair but also inefficient and economically unsound.
With women's progress toward full economic and social equality stalled, women's lives becoming increasingly complex, and the structures of businesses changing, the ability to negotiate is no longer a luxury but a necessity. Drawing on research in psychology, sociology, economics, and organizational behavior as well as dozens of interviews with men and women from all walks of life, Women Don't Ask is the first book to identify the dramatic difference between men and women in their propensityto negotiate for what they want. It tells women how to ask, and why they should.
Publishers Weekly
Babcock and Laschever, contrary to their book's title, do ask a series of questions: Why do most women see a negotiation as an automatic fight instead of a chance to get what they deserve? Why are women afraid to ask for what they want in the workplace? And perhaps most importantly, why don't women feel entitled to ask for it? True to their academic backgrounds, Babcock (a Carnegie Mellon economist) and writer Laschever seek their answers in a series of gender psychology and economics studies (some done by them, most done by others). They cite numerous studies indicating that women are socialized to feel pushy and overbearing if they pursue their ideal situation when it spells potential conflict with employers or co-workers. The authors also use anecdotal evidence to support their claim that women are taught to feel like every negotiation is a monumental threat to a personal relationship, rather than a fact of business life (the view held by most men, they say). Their argument has important practical ramifications: the authors cite one study that estimates "a woman who routinely negotiates her salary increases will earn over one million dollars more by the time she retires than a woman who accepts what she's offered every time without asking for more." Babcock and Laschever's work is a great resource for anyone who doubts there is still a great disparity between the salary earnings of men and women in comparable professions. Alas, it isn't as successful at eloquence as it is at academic rigor.(Oct.) Forecast: Academics and feminists will eat this up, while casual readers may be less motivated to get through the dry text. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
In this well-documented study, Babcock (economics, Carnegie Mellon Univ.) and Laschever report that the feminist movement has not made the strides that many of us would like. The work asks why women in the workplace have such difficulty negotiating for themselves (as opposed to others). The reasons they see for this cultural timidity are many and varied: women are socialized to put others first and to devalue their own work; they are seen as negatively aggressive if they look out for their own interests; and they expect to be rewarded fairly for their efforts. The aim of their research is not to show women how to negotiate like men but rather to describe how the gender divide is still deeply entrenched in our culture. They have determined that women can achieve more if they would recognize their needs and ask for them. After an extensive discussion of these situations, the authors examine those instances of women's uniquely succes sful negotiating skills and their overall benefits to organizations and society, such as the abilities to see past two options and to create value through collaboration. The final chapter almost appears as an afterthought, though the points are well taken. They discuss women's negotiating skills in terms of home life, stress, heart disease, and AIDS in just a few pages. Neither a dry academic treatise nor a self-help book, this work puts forth a model for a society that respects women's communication strengths. Strongly recommended for public and all academic libraries.-Margaret Cardwell, Christian Brothers Univ. Lib., Memphis Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Soundview Executive Book Summaries
Negotiation and the Gender Divide
While examining the discrepancies between the pay and jobs received by men and women in academia, economics professor Linda Babcock and writer Sara Laschever discovered that much of the problem of unequal pay and fewer opportunities for advancement comes from the fact that women do not negotiate as often as men. After conducting several studies of the phenomenon, they realized that the higher salaries of men can often be attributed to men asking for them and women often settling for the first salary offered. In Women Don't Ask, the authors describe the problem of inequality and offer several solutions to help women gain ground lost to fundamental differences in the ways women and men negotiate.
According to a study conducted by Babcock of students graduating from Carnegie Mellon University with master's degrees, the starting salaries of the men were 7.6 percent or almost $4,000 hi gher on average than those of the women. According to the authors, only 7 percent of the female students had negotiated their salaries and asked for more money, but 57 percent (8 times as many) of the men had asked for more money. The students who had negotiated were able to increase their starting salaries by 7.4 percent on average, or $4,053 - almost exactly the difference between men's and women's average starting pay. The authors write that this suggests that the salary differences between the men and women might have been eliminated if the women had negotiated their offers.
Shared Assumptions
Throughout Women Don't Ask?, the authors explore the causes of the difference between men's and women's use of negotiation. They also examine why women often don't realize that change is possible and why they don't know that they can ask. By studying the social forces that shape women and cause them to focus on the needs of others rather than their own need s, the authors show how society's shared assumptions about what constitutes appropriate female behavior can limit a woman when she wants to assert her own wishes and desires. The authors write that they want to help women promote their own interests by exposing the social forces that constrain them.
Women Don't Ask also serves as an examination of how modern Western culture strongly discourages women from asking for what they want. By focusing at the culture in general instead of how women need to "fix" themselves, the authors attempt to provoke social change and inspire everyone in the work force and at home to think differently about how women can and should behave. In addition, they use statistics and case studies to show how preventing women from pursuing their dreams and ambitions in straightforward ways involves substantial social and economic costs for everyone.
Deloitte and Touche
The authors cite the international accounting and consu lting firm of Deloitte and Touche, which employs about 29,000 people in the United States and 95,000 people worldwide, as an example of how an organization can create a large-scale change. In 1991, the firm decided it had a problem keeping women long enough to qualify for partner. The firm's average annual turnover rate among female managers was 33 percent. A task force calculated that every percentage point in turnover translated into an estimated $13 million for costs such as recruitment, training, hiring and bonuses. When polled, women cited the firm's male-dominated culture as a big reason for leaving.
Once Deloitte and Touche started looking at their assumptions about men and women, and began to see the implications of those assumptions, they made changes. By changing the way assignments were made and evaluations were determined, the firm started networking events and career-planning programs especially for women. By 2000, the number of female partners at the fir m tripled from 5 to 14 percent, and the company saved close to $250 million in hiring and training costs.
The authors write that the experiences of this company provide a great example for how the rest of us, with a little commitment and persistent focus, can change our world. By shining a spotlight on the barriers that prevent women from asking for what they want, and suggesting ways for those barriers to be removed, the authors provide a vision of what is possible. They explain that helping women learn to negotiate both at work and at home - and teaching society to accept women's need and right to negotiate - will make our world a better, healthier place.
Why We Like This Book
Women Don't Ask provides a compelling look at society's stereotypes and assumptions about women and how the genders negotiate differently. By focusing on insightful studies of the problem and providing examples of how many companies were able to change the ways they do business and benefit from their changes, the authors offer hope for women and better ideas for success to the companies that take their concerns and advice to heart. Copyright © 2004 Soundview Executive Book Summaries
Table of Contents:
| Preface: Why Negotiation, and Why Now? | ||
| Introduction: Women Don't Ask | 1 | |
| Ch. 1 | Opportunity Doesn't Always Knock | 17 |
| Ch. 2 | A Price Higher than Rubies | 41 |
| Ch. 3 | Nice Girls Don't Ask | 62 |
| Ch. 4 | Scaring the Boys | 85 |
| Ch. 5 | Fear of Asking | 112 |
| Ch. 6 | Low Goals and Safe Targets | 130 |
| Ch. 7 | Just So Much and No More | 148 |
| Ch. 8 | The Female Advantage | 164 |
| Epilogue: Negotiating at Home | 180 | |
| Acknowledgments | 187 | |
| Notes | 189 | |
| References | 201 | |
| Index | 217 |
Interesting textbook: Appreciative Coaching and Marketing
Advanced Financial Accounting
Author: Richard E Baker
This successful textbook is highly regarded,especially in programs that want a solid,comprehensive text for students who sit for the CPA exam. The book is loosely organized into five sections which allow for flexibility in sequencing the topics. Many of the topics are illustrated by examples using a continuous case involving a fictitious company called Peerless Products Corporation and its subsidiary,Special Foods,Inc.
Table of Contents:
| Preface | ||
| 1 | Corporate Expansion and Accounting for Business Combinations | 1 |
| 2 | Reporting Intercorporate Investments in Common Stock | 62 |
| 3 | The Reporting Entity and Consolidated Financial Statements | 120 |
| 4 | Consolidation as of the Date of Acquisition | 165 |
| 5 | Consolidation Following Acquisition | 213 |
| 6 | Intercorporate Transfers: Noncurrent Assets | 295 |
| 7 | Intercompany Inventory Tr ansactions | 366 |
| 8 | Intercompany Indebtedness | 430 |
| 9 | Consolidation Ownership Issues | 484 |
| 10 | Additional Consolidation Reporting Issues | 542 |
| 11 | Accounting for Branch Operations | 594 |
| 12 | Multinational Accounting: Foreign Currency Transactions | 632 |
| 13 | Multinational Accounting: Translation of Foreign Entity Statements | 683 |
| 14 | Segment and Interim Reporting | 745 |
| 15 | SEC Reporting | 807 |
| 16 | Partnerships: Formation, Operation, and Changes in Membership | 843 |
| 17 | Partnerships: Liquidation | 905 |
| 18 | Governmental Entities: Introduction and General Fund Accounting | 954 |
| 19 | Governmental Entities: Special Funds and Account Groups | 1023 |
| 20 | Not-For-Profit Entities: Colleges and Universities | 1098 |
| 21 | Not-For-Profit Entities: Health Care Providers, Voluntary Health and Welfare Organizations, and Other Entities | 1168 |
| 22 | Corporations in Financ ial Difficulty | 1228 |
| Index | 1289 |
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