I discovered a personal account by a female academic in The Chronicle of Higher Education's Site titled"The Womanly Art of Negotiation", in which she discusses the various struggles she faced negotiating her salary as a recruited assistant professor candidate. Oh, also, she happened to be nine months pregnant while battling it out with the department over her contract.
Reading this article made me consider for the first time how negotiation is supposed to work, and how it actually works in the case of female candidates for employment. It's not surprising to me that we live in a society that substantially values employing white heterosexual males over non-whites, or those who aren't male-gendered or don't identify as heterosexuals. I am a part of one of the most prestigious university debate unions in the northeast, and beat out 45 other university teams (including teams from Cornell and Colgate) to make it to the semifinals of a recent tournament. I was one of only 3 females who made it to the semifinals, whereas 13 males had gone through. The top ten speakers of the tournament where all males, and predominantly white males at that. Believe me, the message has been loud and clear that the value of intellectual and hardworking women hardly correlates to the value of men.
So, how am I supposed to combat the obstacle of my gender once I start (hopefully) receiving job offers? Now, this may be a bit like putting the cart before the horse, however, I find it very disconcerting to hear that even when applying for positions in academia (where one would think existing hiring biases around gender/race/and sexuality would be acknowledged and combated) that there are certain limitations to one's ability to negotiate based on gender. Are we still really operating on that whole "we like quiet and submissive females" thing that the West is so popular for? Because from what this article states, as a female either you take an offer without asking anything in addition, or, you suffer through a nerve-wracking ordeal of negotiations. The latter strategy being the effort of a woman who recognizes her right to state her worth in the market of ideas. Although I champion these women who push back when a salary proves to be unsatisfactory, when so little ground is gained at the end of the whole thing it makes me wonder why institutions seem to get defensive when a woman asks for more?
There is totally a stigma around women taking control of the negotiation process, and I think this is a huge deterrent for many female professionals who might not be happy with the salary they're offered to negotiate. As the author of this article explained, many females in academia are just thankful they got offered a position in the first place, and don't want to jeopardize their chances by asking more of their employer. Although it seems as if negotiating on your own terms as a woman is a somewhat grueling and stressful process, I've learned that employers are more likely to come to the table when you appeal for a promotion or raise in the future. If you stand your ground from the getgo, the less likely you'll be shortchanged by your institution in the end. All those women who accepted positions without blinking an eye, on the other hand, are less likely to receive substantial pay increases (since raises are usual performed as a percentage increase of a current wage, and when you start with a lower-than-average wage then your net raise as a whole is low) or promotions.
For part-time work and internships, I've been quick to accept the offer on the table. I mean, I'm lucky as a college student to get hired anywhere, right? Wrong. Now That I'm about to graduate, I want to educate myself on how best to a)plan what I want my career to look like, and b) understand what my value is as an employee/academic.
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