Another way to reduce the gender wage gap

http://www.freakonomics.com/2012/11/...ont-negotiate/

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By using a natural field experiment that randomizes nearly 2,500 job-seekers into jobs that vary important details of the labor contract, we are able to observe both the nature of sorting and the extent of salary negotiations. We observe interesting data patterns. For example, we find that when there is no explicit statement that wages are negotiable, men are more likely to negotiate than women. However, when we explicitly mention the possibility that wages are negotiable, this difference disappears, and even tends to reverse. In terms of sorting, we find that men in contrast to women prefer job environments where the “rules of wage determination” are ambiguous. This leads to the gender gap being much more pronounced in jobs that leave negotiation of wage ambiguous.

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:bulb:

So, what are they missing?

So when offered the chance to negotiate...men just clam up? Am I a woman because I prefer these kinds of things to be as open and transparent as possible? :confused:

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Originally Posted by Dreadnaught

So when offered the chance to negotiate...men just clam up?

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Or when the terms are perfectly clear and the possibility of negotiation is explicitly stated women negotiate to approximately the same extent as men do.

I guess I'm just getting confused at the "and even tends to reverse" part in the original post.

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Originally Posted by Dreadnaught

I guess I'm just getting confused at the "and even tends to reverse" part in the original post.

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http://www.fieldexperiments.com/uploads/w18511.pdf

It just means that they were, in this study, slightly less likely to apply for those jobs where the possibility of negotiation is explicitly stated and the rules made clear.

Huh, interesting.

Pretty consistent with the literature showing that women are less confrontational and group-oriented. I.E. If a job description doesn't say the salary is negotiable, then most women assume they shouldn't be negotiating.

Does anyone ever see job descriptions that list salary as "negotiable"? I see "competitive" sometimes, but not "negotiable".

I've seen both. Competitive more frequently.

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Originally Posted by Dreadnaught

Does anyone ever see job descriptions that list salary as "negotiable"? I see "competitive" sometimes, but not "negotiable".

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If these findings are repeatable perhaps no-one will ever again see job ads explicitly stating that salaries are negotiable :o

It may be in the lingo: Starting At:$X.XX, or, pay based upon experience, range of salary presented.

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Originally Posted by Loki

Pretty consistent with the literature showing that women are less confrontational and group-oriented. I.E. If a job description doesn't say the salary is negotiable, then most women assume they shouldn't be negotiating.

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It's not just for jobs and salaries or wages. I'm not sure how it would be categorized or proven, but men are also more 'likely' to seek discounts for apartment rent, hotel/motel rates, or price-compete for all sorts of voluntary services. Born schmoozers? I dunno....

Women (also called the Fairer Sex) tends to view things in terms of Fairness, including the Rules, and rules of engagement.

It's totally anecdotal, but I've seen how gender affects "negotiations" between Landlords and Tenants.

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Originally Posted by Aimless

http://www.freakonomics.com/2012/11/...ont-negotiate/



:bulb:

So, what are they missing?

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Men are raised to "provide" under macho culture. So it is understandable that men behave that way.