On Monday, I spoke on the subject of women and negotiations to about 50 women at The Financial Women’s Association of San Francisco. One of the points I made was that women need to compare themselves to all workers, including men in similar positions, not just to other women when they are preparing for salary negotiations. One of the questions that came up was how to get this salary information as it generally isn’t posted on the wall at work.
After my talk, one of the attendees came up and told me that back in the ’50’s and ’60’s a conspiracy, of sorts, was hatched in which it became unacceptable for folks to talk about their salaries. This secrecy coincided with women entering the workforce in large numbers and was designed to hide the fact that women were earning so much less than men. Clearly, it benefits corporations, as well as men, to keep this information hidden as much as possible. This attendee, Lynn, told me that she has put together a group of 14 professionals in her industry, 7 men and 7 women, who meet together regularly and share all sorts of information about their profession, including salaries and pay rates. This allows all of them, including the women, to be aware of what others are earning.
Learn from Lynn! If you are in an industry, an organization, or a position where you find it difficult to get market information on what you are worth, take charge of the situation and create your own information network. You can do this by creating a mixed-gender group that meets in-person or virtually but make sure that you keep up to date on what others, women and men, are getting paid. In experimental research, when men and women are given the same information prior to a negotiation, they end up with equal results. So, make sure you are working with the same data as your male colleagues before you enter a negotiation for a new job or a promotion in your current position.