Run silent, run cheap: the high price of not asking for salary equity

Cheryl Thompson-Stacy

In today's environment, white

males are increasingly feeling

as if they are being personally

blamed for the fact that there is

still a significant wage gap

between whites and Blacks and

men and women.

This has -- in typically convoluted

fashion -- led to a backlash against affirmative

action and other equity programs.

Singling out white-male-dominated upper

management will not contribute to ensuring pay

equity. Therefore, the practical question is: "What

actions can women and minorities proactively take to

substantially lessen the salary gap?"

We each thought we were alone among

professionals who had made it to executive-level

positions without asking for more money upon being

offered a new position. Both of us felt disappointed in

ourselves for this because, in general, we are

assertive and have no qualms about clearly stating our

opinions, decisions and solutions to problems to both

males and females. However, we were not showing

the same assertiveness when it came to our own

needs. Are we really that different from other women

and minorities?

To determine this, one of us (Thompson-Stacy),

decided to personally interview women deans, vice

presidents and presidents at two-year campuses in a

Midwestern state to identify strategies they had used

to gain these positions.

More Work, No More Money

To our surprise, Thompson-Stacy found that 80

percent of the top-level female administrators

interviewed had not done any salary negotiation

when offered their current and past positions..

Consequently, 60 percent of the total population

surveyed believed that they are -- or have been -- paid

substantially less than their male counterparts.

Several examples were given to document the

salary gap that the women were experiencing. One of

the most striking is the situation where a woman dean

was asked to perform the duties of another

administrator who had left. Because of financial

concerns at the college, no one was immediately being

hired to replace him. She told her supervisor that she

would take on these additional responsibilities until

someone was hired. This woman performed both jobs

for five years with no additional pay for the extra

responsibilities. The only pay increase that she received during

this time period was the same percentage increase in

salary that all of the administrators received.

However, male colleague at the same institution as

this woman dean was also asked to take on a large

project. He said that he would supervise the project

only if he received extra pay and that the extra pay be

put into his base salary. His request was approved.

According to the female dean, "It never occurred to

me to ask for more money for taking on additional

duties, and it never occurred to my male colleague to

not ask for additional money." This is a telling

statement.

Retirement Earnings Affected

Variations of this example take place daily in

higher education administration. Women and

minorities do not negotiate well or at all for

themselves -- while white males do. What does this

mean? It means that when women and minorities are

offered a position, they tend to either accept or reject

the offer when it is made. They seldom ask for more

money. Therefore, they often begin jobs at a salary of

several thousand dollars less than a white male who

has asked for more money before accepting a position.

Institutions of higher education tend to grant the

same percentage increases to administrators at

the beginning of the fiscal year. Therefore, a

salary which starts out several thousand

dollars less will fall further and further

behind as the years go by. By the time

retirement is reached, the salary gap will

have reached tens of thousands of dollars

which, in addition to the years of earning

much less, also has a big impact upon

retirement earnings for women and

minorities.

The blame for this cannot rest with the

hiring administrators. A good administrator

will always attempt to hire someone. while

placing more emphasis on departmental and

institutional financial constraints, rather than

the desires of the applicant. This doesn't

mean that the salary which is offered to the

applicant will be ridiculously low, but that

the administrator will offer the lower salary

in the salary range for this position.

Several of the women interviewed who

did the actual hiring and salary negotiation

with potential employees stated that many

times they felt like telling a woman or

minority applicant that they would get a

higher starting salary if they would just ask,

for it. However, these administrators realize

that if they did this, they would not be doing

their job for the institution.

`Managerial Bargains'

It is not the hiring administrator's job to

encourage applicants to ask for more money.

Applicants must do it on their own. Women

and minorities must realize that, in today's

environment, they are what have been called

"managerial bargains." Some institutions will save

25 percent to 30 percent by hiring a woman

executive manager as compared to hiring a

male executive manager. If the woman or

minority agrees to work for this lesser salary,

it is their decision. No one but them has

made the decision to work for the, lower

salary.

Basic mistakes that women and

minorities make which contribute to their

lower salary levels are: (1) accepting job

offers on the spot without negotiating for a

higher starting salary, (2) not knowing what a

"fair" salary offer is, and (3) giving reasons for

asking for more money.

All of these areas can be improved if

women and minorities use the following

strategies.

Never accept a job offer on-the-spot.

Even though the job may be their "dream

job," they must curb their excitement and not

let their emotions lead them into accepting a

lower salary. Higher education institutions

do not expect an immediate answer to a job

offer. Potential employees will have at least a

few days to make a decision.

Research salary levels of similar positions.

The College and University Personnel Association

(CUPA) and the institutions

themselves publish data on salary

levels. Public institutions, in fact,

must make salary information

available to the public.

Common Errors

Many women in the survey

also said that they had contacted

others -- both males and females -- in

comparable positions and point-blank

asked them their salary

range. The women found that

most people were very

cooperative and forthcoming with

this information. The women, in

turn, shared with their colleagues

the salary that they were being

offered to take the position.

Salary information must be looked

at in terms of the size of the

institution, geographic location

and job responsibilities. Women

and minorities must find out what

the market salary is for the

position and ask for more. This

strategy will allow room for

negotiation to occur.

It is important to remember that asking for

more money will not label a woman or a

minority as greedy or too aggressive. The

request may not always lead to a higher

starting salary but a potential employee who

asks for more money will not be told "Sorry,

we don't want you because you are too

greedy." They may be told that the salary

offered is the highest that can be given, but the

applicant will have the chance to still take the

initial offer. There is nothing to lose by asking

for more money and everything to gain.

Another common error that women and

minorities tend to make when they do

negotiate is to give reasons for asking for more

money. An example gathered from this study

was from a woman dean who was offered the

dean's position at a salary of $ 50, 000. She

said that she needed $55,000 because of the

expense of relocating. The response that she

got from the human resource director was that

relocation expenses were always given to new

administrative employees based on the number

of miles being moved. Now what? Does the

woman say that she was lying and that she

really just wanted the $55,000 salary? She has

put herself in an awkward position. in this

case, she ended up accepting $51,000 plus the

relocation expenses when she could have had a

base salary of $55,000 plus the relocation

expenses.

Skills Not Taught

When a potential employee

gives reasons for requesting

additional salary, the job offerer

can counter these reasons with

other arrangements instead of

increasing the base salary. The

goal for women and minorities is

to raise the base salaries that they

are accepting. The base salary is

what future raises and retirement

income are built upon. The only

reason a woman or a minority

should ever give for asking for

more money is that they feel they

are worth the expense.

Once a woman or minority accepts a

salary, they are stuck with this decision.

Institutions will not often, if ever, give a

double-digit percentage increase to someone

because they initially accepted a low salary.

To earn a large salary increase, the woman or

minority will have to leave the institution to

take another position. This is part of the

reason thai 65 percent of the respondents to

the survey had only been in their executive

management positions for less than five years.

Why do women and minorities seldom

negotiate for themselves and how have white

males learned to do this? in general, these skills

are not taught in a practical manner in most

master's or doctoral programs. Many

arguments can be made from a sociological

point of view regarding upbringing, parental

and peer expectations -- and a number of other

theories. However, it doesn't matter as much

bow this has happened but bow can we address

the inequities that have resulted. According to

the U.S. Department of Labor (1988), women

and minorities will be the major source of new

entrants into the labor force. They will

account for 63 percent of the net labor force

growth, or 13.2 million workers, by the year

2000. This presents an enormous opportunity

for the approximately 3,600 institutions listed

by the Department of Education (1994) to

eliminate the long-standing handicap that

females and minorities have had with the "old

boys" network.

Practicing the strategies mentioned above

will help to narrow the salary gap. This, in

turn, will lead to increased productivity for

institutions of higher education. Organizations

that are truly cutting edge as we enter the 21st

century will pay their managers based on

leadership skills, flexibility and the ability to

work well with others, regardless of their

gender or race.

COPYRIGHT 1996 Cox, Matthews & Associates
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group