Around this time of year, many of us in the workplace fill out our employee evaluations, goals for the new year, and rate ourselves at our job performance.
A new study from the Harvard Business Review shows women aren’t rating themselves nearly as high as men, which leads to less pay, among other things.
To find out why women are less likely to ask for a raise, Newswatch 16's Ryan Leckey teamed up with Dr. Lauren Hazzouri, aka “Dr. Lauren.” She’s a Scranton based Psychologist and Founder of NOT THERAPY. NOT THERAPY is helping to revolutionize the way girls and women care for their emotional health.
Dr. Lauren says this new study on the gender wage gap brings up an important conversation.
While there is some conflicting evidence on women in the workplace regarding pay, here are some key points Dr. Lauren says to keep in mind:
The confidence gap
The confidence gap is defined as a significant difference in confidence levels in women vs. men. The research indicates that a confidence gap exists. However, much of the research that indicates the difference is done on adolescents. There is a well-documented confidence gap among boys and girls and less so for women and men.
Regardless, an important distinction to make is on the difference in Confidence vs. Self-esteem and focus on increasing both.
Something to remember from Dr. Lauren: thoughts lead to feelings and feelings lead to actions. To change your behavior— in this case, not asking for a raise, consider the following:
- Identify social norms that are contributing to your negative opinion of yourself. Social norms are the often-unspoken rules that tell us what to do and what not to do to be accepted.
- Identify inner critic
- Write down negative thoughts— thoughts aren’t facts.
- Change the negative thoughts to the truth to change your feelings and actions.
Regardless of confidence levels, research suggests that some of the behaviors that help men, like self-promotion and assertiveness, can backfire for women— which could be a deterrent to asking or the reason they’re not getting the raises when they do ask.
Gender pay gap:
- White women make 80 cents on the male dollar.
- Black women make 61 cents on the male dollar
- Latina women make 53 cents on the male dollar.
Other valuable info on pay gap:
- When women enter a traditionally male-dominated occupation, wages go down in that field, even for men.
- The pay gap widens as women get older.
- Women aren’t represented in leadership roles. Two-thirds of junior employees are female, but women hold only about one in five senior roles.
Truth about pay raises for women:
- Women ask. They just don’t get the raises.
- Women get far less credit for the work they do, especially when working with men.
- Women who are mothers have their commitment to their work questioned constantly.
What’s the solution?
Women need to keep asking, and workplaces need to check their internalized biases at the door.