Found another interesting CNN article today, this time about the pay scale for women. Shocker of shockers, we’re still underpaid. And this is predicting that it will continue to be that way until approximately 2050. Cool …. shortly after I retire. Lovely.
Stuff like this makes me stop and think about WHY women are consistently underpaid. I thought the point this article makes about not putting themselves forward in a competitive fashion was an interesting one. In my job, I know that I never feel that I am qualified enough or have enough information under my belt to be truly effective. And when it comes to aggressive negotiation or competition, I am not stellar in those situations either. I am quite sure effective negotiation would help with the salary gap, but it is completely alien to me. And I’m sure I’m not alone.
The linguist Deborah Tannen has several “pop linguistic” books about different communication styles and how they affect our perception of other people. She covers regional differences (”slow” Southerners vs. “rude” New Yorkers) as well as gender differences. “Talking from 9 to 5″ deals with communication at work. Not really an instruction book on how to get your pay equality, but fascinating stuff, none the less. I’ve got a copy, if you want to borrow it…
stepan
October 22nd, 2004