Studies have shown that men value money more than women. Men have a preference of monetary reward from work over other rewards. (Barbulescu & Bidwell, 2013). Meanwhile, research has shown that women tend to be more collaborative when they negotiate because of the heightened importance they place on interdependence. (Johnson, 2018) Unfortunately the value of interdependence does not always go both ways and this can be taken advantage of when negotiating.
HOW DOES CAREER ASPIRATIONS AFFECT NEGOTIATING?
The theory lies in motivation. When a person is motivated to achieve a goal they are more likely to go the extra mile to get there. If a person loses that motivation, they lose their willingness to push themselves and are less likely to negotiate or even get to a point of negotiating. This can happen in anyone’s career, but over time, women tend to lose sight of their initial career goals. (Toth, 2016). There are several reasons why, however this research focused on societal norms and professional blockers. Societal norms refers to factors impacting career aspirations outside of the workplace. Professional blockers refer to blockers that occur within the workplace. Both are impacting career aspirations and the GPG.
Societal Norms:
Women in Ireland are more educated than men; females across all age groupings (25-64 years) had higher levels of third level attainment than males. (CSO Ireland, 2022). This would imply that women have the same or more career aspirations as men upon graduating. So what happens over time? Claudia Goldin’s research highlighted a key difference in the current GPG versus the historical causes of the GPG. Goldin explained that in the past, women may have been more commonly working in lower paid disciplines. In modern times men and women are doing the same jobs, just for different pay. Goldin goes on to explain that pay disparity emerges after the birth of the first child. This finding reflects the primary research highlighted below.
Professional Blockers:
It appears that women have to sacrifice more and work extra hard to maintain their original career aspirations. A woman with a family who is in a leadership role has had to sacrifice more than a man in the same role. An example of this is time with her children, did she take a shortened maternity leave to not miss out on an opportunity in work? Did she have to work part time as some point? Did she sacrifice family life altogether? And it is not just family and children. On a day to day basis women have to prove themselves more so than their male colleagues. They have to shout louder to be heard and recognised. Research into this area found; the status bump and leader emergence (ie. promotion/recognition) that resulted from speaking up with ideas only happened for men, not for women. (Harvard Business Review, 2017). Again, this is echoed in the primary research below. With these challenges, you can see how easy it is for a woman to lose site of her initial career aspirations.
WHAT DID THE PRIMARY RESEARCH TELL US?
As stated, social norms and family responsibilities play a part in the GPG. Perhaps a bigger part than ever before. Several of the interviewees described how having children impacted their work and their career. This correlates with Claudia Goldin’s research. One participant mentioned that since becoming a mother she was concerned about the next step of her career. “I don’t know about the next level. It’s a concern now. . . I will miss the next promotion round so it has a knock on effect.” Up to that point she had been progressing and getting promotions. Another interviewee made an interesting point about up-skilling and development. Prior to having a child she could spend time researching or learning a topic. “It changed but not only how I think but also how things go. Before I had a child, when I was interested in a topic I could spend a day of the weekend to learn new things.” This type of opportunistic up-skilling has been impacted. She went on to say how it is not the same for her male colleagues who are essentially her competition in the workplace. Naturally, when a mother is on maternity leave she is also missing promotion cycles and career advancing opportunities.
Another participant explained how women in male dominated industries have to work harder to get to the top. This is an example of a professional blocker. Women have to prove themselves more times than men. This interviewee stated, “You could be the best at your job, but you’re not the one they think of first.”. She went on to say; “When you’re a junior manager and all four managers are guys, if you suggest a better idea, they will constructively find gaps in why it won’t work.” Constantly having to prove yourself is exhausting. Having to do it even more than a male colleague is frustrating. She went on; “you need to work twice as hard to be treated better or equal. You need to propose four ideas and maybe you will be listened to on the fifth idea.” It is easy to see how a woman can lose sight of her original career aspirations and opt out of negotiating opportunities. This research also indicates why there are fewer women at the upper echelons of corporations.
ACTIONS:
There is a lot to consider but what can we do to change this phenomenon? Here are some actions we can take today to start solving these extra challenges faced by so many female professionals;
- Be more open to ideas and suggestions put forward by female colleagues
- Offer advice and guidance on how to progress and clearly define future opportunities
- Reward smaller success more regularly
- Be flexible to allow women to remain in full time employment throughout the professional career and family obligations
I hope you found this information useful. If you have any questions feel free to reach out directly and please follow HireWise.ie for content and more…
