Date:         Thu, 08 May 97 15:36:18 EDT
From: Alan <DAVIDSON@UCONNVM.UCONN.EDU>
Subject:      Article on negotiating (fwd)
To: socgrad@CSF.COLORADO.EDU, gss@UCONNVM.UCONN.EDU
Message-Id:   <970508.153659.EDT.DAVIDSON@UConnVM.UConn.Edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT


----------------------------Original message----------------------------
Date:         Thu, 8 May 1997 12:05:33 -0400
Reply-To:     Graduate Student Conversations <GRADTALK@UVVM.UVIC.CA>
Sender:       Graduate Student Conversations <GRADTALK@UVVM.UVIC.CA>
From:         "Karen E. Zaruba" <kzaruba@UMICH.EDU>
Subject:      Article on negotiating
To:           GRADTALK@UVVM.UVIC.CA
In-Reply-To:  <v01530500af9680c398b9@[128.83.168.45]>

I realize that negotiating a salary is an important topic for all of us,
regardless of gender, but Nathalie's and Tracy's posts reminded me of
something I saw in "Women in Higher Education" about women and negotiating
for salaries.

The article is "Overcoming Gender Bias by Developing Negotation Skills"
by Cheryl Thompson-Stacy of Mount Union College in Ohio.  (WIHE, Feb 1996,
volume 5, no. 2, page 5).  The author is a woman whose dissertation was on
gender bias in higher ed, and she said that in her research she found that
women administrators identified salaries and lack of negotiation for
higher pay as key pieces of the puzzle.

Bear with me as I excerpt parts of it.  I don't mean to play fast and
loose with copyrights, but I am not sure how widely-available this journal
is.  I thought it might be interesting for everyone

START QUOTE: ...even at the level of dean, VP, or president, 80% of the
women I interviewed did NOT negotiate the starting salary for their
current positions [the author notes that some negotiate better pay for
subordinates]

.....most said they had no training at nogotiating...many
said they were so happy to be offered the job that they were thrilled to
accept whatever salary was offered....others compared their previous
incomes as adjunct profesors or grad students, and concluded the salary
was adequate.

Those in hiring positions themselves agreed that males do a
much better job of self negotiation.  One woman who has hired about 25
women in her career said that, 'Of the 25, only one asked for more money,
and she got it.'  She had also hired about 25 males, of whom 20 asked for
more money.

....women who ask for more money are not automatically
disqualified for the position or dismissed as greedy.  On the contrary,
they may have gained new respect for valuing their own skills.

Once you accept a position at even a few thousand dollars less than the
going rate, you'll never catch up.  Because most schools give
across-the-board percentage raises each year, one who starts at a lower
salary will just fall further behind each year. END QUOTE

The article continues with some tips:

START QUOTE:

1. Never accept a job offer on-the-spot (more than 75% of the women she
had talked to made this mistake, to their dismay)

2. Use the time to benchmark.  Women who did benchmarking expressed
surprise at the copperation by their counterparts at other
institutions....

3. Call back the person making the offer.  If it seems in line with
prevailing salaries, ask for a few thousand more, just for practice.  If
it seems out of line, say something like 'The job sounds interesting and
it looks like a good fit.  But I'm concerned about the salary offer.  I
have checked at other schools and found out that the prevailing salary is
more in the range of ______'  Or discuss what special skills you bring to
the job. END QUOTE

************************************
Karen Zaruba
University of Michigan