A Review of Women Don’t Ask: The High Cost of Avoiding Negotiation and Positive Strategies for Change

2041 Words5 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Positive and negative stereotyping

Why don’t women ask? Are they afraid of being told no? Do they not feel the need to? Authors Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever explore the downfalls of why women fail to ask in their book, Women Don’t Ask: The High Cost of Avoiding Negotiation and Positive Strategies for Change. In their book, these women discuss issues such as the gender gap that is created due to starting salaries as well as the devaluing of women in organizations when they are few in number. Many times, people assume that women are being treated unfairly; however, this book brings to the forefront the various layers to the complex subject of why women acquire less than men. Opportunity Doesn’t Always Knock Women Don’t Ask opens by telling the story of a struggling urban pastor who failed to ask for help. She struggled to make ends meet; however, finding out about another pastor within her organization who asked for help to support his lavish lifestyle dismayed her. She was perplexed to find out about this; nevertheless, he asked for help. By Babcock and Laschever telling this story, it supports the idea of women failing to ask, in addition to their perspective of viewing their situation as fixed and absolute versus negotiable. This is one of the major barriers Babcock and Laschever believe is preventing women from getting what they want. This notion suggests that someone else is in control and that there is nothing that can be done about it. Although the pastor thought she was doing the right thing by not asking (She thought that the organization was doing the best it could to provide her family with adequate pay), her lack of asking placed her at a disadvantage to ask for what she needed (Babcock and Laschever, pg. 19). A locus of control study revealed by a gr... ... middle of paper ... ...Bassett, L. (2013, September 17). Women Still Earned 77 Cents On Men's Dollar In 2012: Report. The Huffington Post. Retrieved February 21, 2014, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/17/gender-wage-gap_n_3941180.html Covey, S. (1999). The 7 habits of highly effective people. London: Simon & Schuster. Hymowitz, K. (2013, September 4). Ideas. Ideas Do Women Really Want Equality Comments. Retrieved March 1, 2014, from http://ideas.time.com/2013/09/04/do-women-really-want-equality/ Teele, M. (2012, September 9). Pushing Past Obstacles, Fear, and Doubt. Podomatic Podcast. Retrieved from http://myleik.podomatic.com/entry/2012-09-19T05_17_14-07_00 Teele, M. (2014, February 5). Things that You Unconsciously or Subconsciously Do that You should Stop: Now that You Are Aware. Podomatic Podcast. Retrieved from http://myleik.podomatic.com/entry/2014-02-05T11_07_41-08_00

Show More
Related

  • Sex And Gender Discrimination In The Workplace

    231 Words  | 1 Pages

    Throughout the world, discrimination in all forms has continued to be a constant struggle; whether it’s racial, gender based, religion, beliefs, appearance or anything that makes one person different from another, it’s an everyday occurrence. A major place that discrimination is occurring at is in the workplace. One of the largest problems discrimination issues is believed to be gender. Women, who have the same amount of experience as men are not getting paid at the same rate as men, these women also are equally trained and educated. According to the article Gender Pay, it was discovered in 2007 that a woman makes 81 cents for every dollar a man earns.(“Gender Pay”) . This shouldn’t be happening in today’s society for the fact the society lived in today is suppose to be more accepting. Men are viewed as being more popular, valuable and having higher powers than women. The Reason Discrimination is involved in the equal pay equal work is because of the significance it has to how some businesses pay their employees.

    Read More

  • Gender Discrimination in the Workplace

    1829 Words  | 4 Pages

    In a news about the 32 years old pop star Beyonce “Gender Equality is a Myth” (CNN Wire 13 Jan. 2014). She wrote an essay about this on Maria’s website, The Shriver Report. She wrote that we need to...

    Read More

  • Feminism Essay

    2377 Words  | 5 Pages

    Lips, Hillary M. "The Gender Pay Gap: Challenging the Rationalizations. Perceived Equity, Discrimination, and the Limits of Human Capital Models." (n.d.): n. pag. Web.

    Read More

  • Gender Payage Gap Essay

    1384 Words  | 3 Pages

    The wage gap not only represents gender discrimination in the workplace, it also reflects the ongoing issue of racial discrimination. While white women do typically earn less than white men, they out earn the majority of female colored workers in America. The average African American female makes only 64 cents for the white man’s dollar. Additionally, Hispanic women receive only 54 cents to their white male coworker’s dollar (Hegewisch para. 9).

    Read More

  • Gender Still Plays a Role in the Workplace

    1445 Words  | 3 Pages

    We may just not be being told any information. In Lenny Liebmann's article, "Mending the Gender Gap," he reveals that women earn an average of $18,000 less annually than men. He further reports that the US Census Bureau states the male/female pay differential ranges between 15-50%, depending on the industry and the job title. Not to mention that within the Fortune 1000, 95% of all executive positions were held by men in 1997. (62-63)

    Read More

  • Gender Gap In Pay

    1584 Words  | 4 Pages

    Blau, F., & Kahn, L. (2007). The Gender Pay Gap: Have Women Gone as far as they can. Academy of Management Perspectives , 21 (1), 7-23.

    Read More

  • Gender Wage Gap Essay

    1711 Words  | 4 Pages

    Women are more than half the work force and are graduating at higher rates then men and continue to earn considerably less then men. There are several contributing factors to the gender wage gap. Women experience gender discrimination in the work force even though it’s been illegal since the Equal Pay Act in 1963. One of the challenges for women is uncovering discrimination. There is a lack of transparency in earnings because employees are either contractually prohibited or it’s strongly discouraged from being discussed. Discrimination also occurs in the restricting of women’s access to jobs with the highest commission payments, or access to lucrative clients.

    Read More

  • Sexism and Stereotypes

    567 Words  | 2 Pages

    Another large sexist factor in the workforce, is that women get paid less than men do for the same exact job. “Women get paid 77 cents on the dollar for every dollar a man makes, according to a recent study from the Institute for Women's Policy Research. That's a difference of more than $10,000 per year on average,”(Berman). Why is this? Some people believe that it is because women gravitate towards low...

    Read More

  • Equal Gender Pay Essay

    1506 Words  | 4 Pages

    Women had suffered unfair pay in the workforce for years. Statistics have shown that men still earn more than women who have the same degree, education, and qualifications. Women are the main focus for the uneven and unequal share of low-wages in the United States. However, women have additional responsibilities from men that keep them out of the workforce longer which in return leads to discrimination. This research will introduce problems, solutions, and prove that there are alternatives for women.

    Read More

  • Discrimination of Women in the Workplace

    723 Words  | 2 Pages

    It is very important to be concerned about the issue because it is constantly increasing throughout the United States. It upsets me that women are paid less than men because women have the same ability and work ethic as men do, but they are looked at differently. According to AAUW, women make 77 percent of what men make. This rate hasn’t changed since 2002 (Hill, 2013). Statistics show that women will never make as much as men due to the thought of never being comparable to men (Williams, 2013).

    Read More

  • The Women's Liberation Movement

    1111 Words  | 3 Pages

    As women, those of us who identify as feminists have rebelled against the status quo and redefined what it means to be a strong and powerful woman. But at what cost do these advances come with?... ... middle of paper ... ... Retrieved April 12, 2014, from http://www.feminist.com/resources/artspeech/genwom/whatisfem.htm Bidgood, J. 2014, April 8 -.

    Read More

  • Gender Pay Gap Essay

    725 Words  | 2 Pages

    In today’s society, Women perform similar jobs to men. Whether it’s blue or white collar jobs, women are always present and thriving for success balancing a life of business and family. In the job market, some are graduates of the best schools and have interned at the best firms, but are still not compensated as equally as men. Following the recent comments by the CEO of Microsoft concerning women asking for raises and how they should trust the system to install equality, the issue seems to be still present, and women’s work is not rewarded similarly to men’s.

    Read More

  • Discrimination Against Women in the Workplace

    1196 Words  | 3 Pages

    Another problem women have in the workplace is getting promotions. Woman who have worked for their company for many years, receiving great reviews and employee-of-the-year awards are often filled by less qualified men (Armour, 2008). The next problem women face is unfair pay. The U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics found that women working 41 to 44 hours per week earn 84.6 percent of what men working similar hou...

    Read More

  • Gender Bias And The Workplace

    727 Words  | 2 Pages

    Despite government regulations to promote equality within the workplace, women’s salaries continue to lag behind males in similar career with similar experiences. According to research performed by Blau & Kahn (2007) “women salaries averaged about 60% of men’s until the 1970s and rose to nearly 80% by the 1990s” (as cited in Bendick, Jr. & Nunes, 2012, p.244). Today, women on average earn approximately $.81 for every dollar that men earn in the United States (Guy and Fenley P.41 2014).

    Read More

  • Gender Inequality at a Workplace

    1117 Words  | 3 Pages

    Gender Inequality at a Workplace Historically, males and females normally assume different kinds of jobs with varying wages in the workplace. These apparent disparities are widely recognized and experienced across the globe, and the most general justification for these differences is that they are the direct outcomes of discrimination or traditional gender beliefs—that women are the caregivers and men are the earners. However, at the turn of the new century, women have revolutionized their roles in the labor market. Specifically in industrialized societies, the social and economic position of women has shifted. Despite the improving participation of women in the labor force and their ameliorating proficiency and qualifications, the labor force is still not so favorable to women.

    Read More

More about A Review of Women Don’t Ask: The High Cost of Avoiding Negotiation and Positive Strategies for Change

Open Document