Why Women Don't Negotiate

Women who fail to negotiate their salaries at the start of their careers could leave up to $2 million on the table.

This week's Salary Talk guest is Linda Babcock, author of "Women Don't Ask: The High Cost of Avoiding Negotiation--and Positive Strategies for Change." Linda talks to Aaron and Wendy about her considerable expertise as a college professor and researcher, regarding why women don't negotiate salary, what makes them anxious and how they can improve their skills.

Linda's book supports our earlier article based on a 2,000-person survey that found women are more apprehensive than men regarding negotiating and do it far less. Forty-six percent of men always negotiate salary following a job offer, compared to just 30% of women. And while 39% of men are apprehensive about negotiating, that number jumps to 55% for women.

But Babcock said women may have good reason to be wary of negotiating. She said women often pay a higher price for negotiating than men, since men are expected to argue their worth while women get labeled as a "nag"---or worse. But when they do negotiate, women are every bit as effective as men, Babcock said.

But all hope is not lost. Women may have to prepare more and be extra wary of pitfalls compared to men, but this podcast is full of free tips on how women can negotiatre more often and more successfully. Also, Linda talks about the importance of managers being cognizant of the gender disparity so they can better deal with the situation.

Enjoy!

Connect with Today's Guest: Discover more about Linda Babcock. Check out the program Babcock created to empower women and girls called Progress. To learn more about today's book, go to Babcock's website www.womendontask.com.

You can play "Reign of Aquaria" the online game designed to help young girls learn how to negotiate here: http://progress.heinz.cmu.edu/Girls/Game.aspx