{"id":2111,"date":"2012-09-05T07:10:14","date_gmt":"2012-09-05T11:10:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=2111"},"modified":"2012-09-05T07:10:14","modified_gmt":"2012-09-05T11:10:14","slug":"why-women-get-smaller-raises-than-men","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=2111","title":{"rendered":"Why Women Get Smaller Raises Than Men"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Ever wonder the real reason\u00a0why women are paid less than men<\/a>?<\/p>\n

Women who work full-time earn, on average, 77 percent of what men do. It’s a lingering problem \u2014 one I’ve\u00a0spent lots of time thinking and writing about over the years \u2014 and it can’t be ignored.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m well aware of the usual explanations: Some women take time out of the workplace to raise families and care for aging relatives; the types of jobs they do often aren\u2019t as high-paying as men\u2019s and so forth. But I\u2019ve long thought that some other reason lurks beneath the surface.<\/p>\n

And now I\u2019ve found it.<\/p>\n

(MORE:<\/strong>\u00a0Put Your Retirement Plan Back on Track<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Troubling Findings About Women\u2019s Pay<\/strong><\/p>\n

A new study published in\u00a0Organization Science<\/em>, \u201cEngendering Inequity? How Social Accounts Create, Versus Merely Explain, Unfavorable Pay Outcomes for Women<\/a>,\u201d found that women got lower raises than men because their managers thought smaller pay increases wouldn’t upset women as much as their male colleagues.<\/p>\n

The findings came from an experiment with 184 male and female managers who took part in a simulation (85 percent of the managers were male). The study\u2019s participants had to determine the raises of their \u201cemployees\u201d and were told that the money was limited as a result of the firm\u2019s financial troubles, which were not yet public. The employees each had the same job and level of performance. The only thing that distinguished them from one another was their gender.<\/p>\n

What did the managers do? They gave their male \u201cemployees\u201d 71 percent of the money available for raises, doling out just 29 percent to their female \u201cemployees.\u201d (The study didn’t break down the raises based on whether the managers were male or female.)<\/p>\n

\u201cResearch on stereotyping shows that people assume that women care more than men do about communality and belongingness and that men care more than women about their own attainment and self-interest,\u201d wrote Maura Belliveau, the study\u2019s author, an associate professor at Long Island University. For this reason, the managers generally felt that the women would be able to recognize the need for the cutbacks and would not feel as personally offended as the men if they received small raises.<\/p>\n

A\u00a0New York Times blog<\/a>\u00a0said this study suggests that the nation\u2019s wage gap may be attributed partly to the way bosses view working women.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen managers know they can blame the company\u2019s financial woes for their pay decisions, they are likely to give women smaller raises than their male counterparts,\u201d wrote Tara Siegel Bernard. \u201cAnd that\u2019s because women may be seen as being more readily appeased by such excuses than men.\u201d<\/p>\n

Implications for Women<\/strong><\/p>\n

In my view, it\u2019s all about what managers believe they can get away with.<\/p>\n

This research has broad, and upsetting, implications. It suggests that employers think they can use the current fragile economy as an excuse to provide women with lower raises than men.<\/p>\n

So what can be done to help fix the pay gap?<\/p>\n

(MORE:<\/strong>\u00a0Male Entrepreneurs Can Learn a Lot From Women<\/a>)<\/p>\n

I asked leadership consultant Selena Rezvani, author of the new book\u00a0<\/em>Pushback: How Smart Women Ask \u2014 and Stand Up \u2014 for What They Want<\/em><\/a>, for her insights on the study. (She offered smart advice on how women can get better raises in my earlier post, \u201c5 Ways Women Can Increase Their Pay<\/a>.\u201d)<\/p>\n

Rezvani wasn\u2019t surprised by the study\u2019s results. \u201cIn my research experience and observations, when a salary conversation unfolds, women are less likely than men to push for a deeper explanation or prod for resolution of an unsatisfactory situation,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd if they do push back on an excuse or explanation, they are more likely than men to be seen as difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

The raise gap widens with seniority, Rezvani says, which means it\u2019s especially troubling for many women in their 50s and 60s.\u00a0\u201cFemale baby boomers must understand that generally speaking, they will be lowballed when it comes to financial rewards,\u201d\u00a0she says.<\/p>\n

Rezvani believes that women aren\u2019t as aware of managers\u2019 perceptions of them as they need to be. As she sees it, this is one reason the pay-raise patterns persist.<\/p>\n

Her advice: \u201cWomen can share this news with other women to educate each other and get the dialogue going.\u201d<\/p>\n

How to Get The Raise You Deserve<\/strong><\/p>\n

Rezvani offers two tips for women to combat pay discrimination:<\/p>\n

Be wary of reasons you’re given.<\/strong>\u00a0Continue to challenge explanations offered. This means that when women have a money conversation, they must come well-informed and be ready to back up their position that their manager can and should provide a larger raise.<\/p>\n

Leverage your network to get informed about pay.<\/strong>\u00a0In a recent\u00a0study on which I collaborated with LinkedIn<\/a>, individuals who networked often were significantly more confident when they approached negotiation conversations than those who didn\u2019t network or did it just a little.\u00a0Women should equip themselves with pay data from third-party sources and supplement this with research from their network \u2014 inside and outside the office. They should know what kind of raises their co-workers have been getting, and they should try to learn what competitors are paying for comparable roles.<\/p>\n

My personal advice<\/strong>: For information and advice about raises, visit websites like\u00a0Payscale.com<\/a>and\u00a0Salary.com<\/a>, as well as the\u00a0Economic Research Institute site<\/a>,\u00a0which can show you what a particular position pays where you live.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ll be interviewing for a job at a nonprofit, check out the organization\u2019s latest online tax filing (Form 990) to see what its employees and executives earn.<\/p>\n

Finally, don\u2019t forget to add a dollop of ice to your veins when heading into the boss\u2019s office at review time. Your forcefulness could pay off in your paycheck for years to come.<\/p>\n

posted by\u00a0Kerry Hannon<\/a>, August 30, 2012\u00a0More by this author<\/a><\/p>\n

\"womenKerry Hannon has spent more than 25 years covering personal finance for Forbes, Money, U.S. News & World Report, and USA Today. Her website is\u00a0kerryhannon.com<\/a>. Follow her on Twitter\u00a0@kerryhannon<\/a>.<\/div>\n
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