7 thoughts on “On negotiating pay”

  3. I don’t know…. Knowing about this supposed reason for pay gap – i.e. women don’t negotiate – I was supermotivated to negotiate a good salary for my present job. My motivation was that I did it for women everywhere, which is something that I could act on, for if I’d done it just for myself I would have felt like a greedy person, and not been motivated ( I still felt quite greedy to be honest – but surpressed that.

    It worked surprisingly well, better than I ever thought it would (which was a REAL discovery). I think I negotiated another 10-20% on what initially offered – and then thought AHAA so this is how it works!!!! I felt horrible during it but stuck it out. And I don’t think they thought I was a bitch — I think it gained me respect. So maybe the idea that women would be pushy bitches is overrated – and maybe exists more in our own mind (and is a fear inhibiting us – it was for me) than in the mind of employers. I think anyone confident in their own worth will gain respect, man or women. Give it a try! And if it fells horrible negotiating for yourself, think of it as negotiating for your daughters/sisters/friends because you’ll make a small contribution towards closing the pay gap.

  4. Like Wahine, I’ve also negotiated for greater renumeration and promotion. As long as one can demonstrate their increased value to one’s boss it works out well. Simply asking for a rise or promotion, as this cartoon depicts, is unrealistic for either men or women. Also, don’t be disappointed if you fail, keep trying!

  5. You’re assuming that all bosses are rational creatures.

    Wahine, it could also be that you and ttgtbf are the exception. We do not know how many women try to negotiate for a raise only to hear “Well, the company isn’t doing that great right now…” when the company is actually doing very well. I’m guessing it’s a rather high percentage.

    They aren’t, at least not all the time. It’s also true that there are bosses who would scoff at giving anyone a raise, whether they are male or female, only to save the company some money.

    Yes, it’s possible that this comic has been exaggerated for effect (“the internet is right!” is hilarious, btw) but it does represent a rather uncomfortable truth — ‘we’ don’t like assertiveness in women.

  6. Thanks for posting my cartoon!

    I wrote it after reading about a study of pay negotiation in the book “Why So Slow? The Advancement of Women,” by Virginia Valian. The study found that people view asking for raises more negatively in women than in men.

  7. Thanks so much for stopping by! We’re all huge fans of Valian’s work around here– how nice to see it reflected in a cartoon.

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