All too often justification for these inequalities seem to circle back to us, women. According to a quick Google search, we’re not getting paid as much as men because we’re apologetic, scared of being seen as aggressive and – if we do pluck up the courage to ask for a raise – we’re simply not as skilled at negotiating for a rise as men.
Yet new research reveals this isn’t the case.
In an experiment by Holona Ochs and Andrew B Whitford, male and female participants were randomly assigned the roles of boss and employee and given the task of coming to a wage-labour agreement. Results showed that men and women reached similar bargaining outcomes and were equally matched on negotiating nous.
The upshot? The gender pay gap is bigger than your performance review nerves (which are perhaps unfounded, given your aforementioned aptitude to strike a deal) – and the honus shouldn’t be on individual women to solve the broader structural issue.
