The better negotiator

A paper by Ashleigh Shelby Rosette, a professor at the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, Anyi Ma at the University of Wisconsin business school and Rebecca Ponce de Leon of Columbia University found that women are better than men at playing a weak hand. Most workers don’t walk into a raise or a job negotiation with a strong alternative; it’s too hard to line up competing offers. Entrepreneurs looking for capital usually find it tough to interest any investors, let alone several. In such situations, the researchers found, women were less likely to walk away empty-handed. Women struck a deal 48pc of the time, compared with 40pc of the time for men. The paper argues the “weak alternative” scenario is one in which the stereotypically feminine approach of appearing caring and cooperative can be an asset. The stereotypically male approach to negotiation — anchor high, haggle hard — can backfire. The paper also found that in situations where men and women did have a strong alternative, they performed equally well.

(Adapted from “Women Aren’t Bad Negotiators. Sometimes We’re Better Than Men,” published on March 8, 2024, by Bloomberg)

The hurdle of the first rung

Long before bumping into any glass ceiling, many women run into obstacles trying to grasp the very first rung of the management ladder — and not because they are pausing their careers to raise children— a five-year landmark study shows. As a result, it’s early in many women’s careers, not later, when they fall dramatically behind men in promotions, blowing open a gender gap that then widens every step up the chain. Though women and men enter the workforce in roughly equal numbers, men outnumber women nearly two to one when they reach that first step up — the manager jobs that are the bridge to more senior leadership roles. In real numbers, that will translate to more than one million women across the US corporate landscape getting left behind at the entry level over the next five years as their male peers move on and upward, perpetuating a shortage of women in leadership positions.

(Adapted from “Where Women Fall Behind At Work: The First Step Into Management,” published on March 8, 2024, by Bloomberg)

The male economist bias

Economists like to see themselves as generators of rational explanations. They scorn fuzzy thinking and beliefs that have no basis in fact; they attack problems with a ruthless logic. Happy as they are to turn this beady gaze on others, though, when it comes to looking at themselves they may be as befogged as anyone else. Take the issue of female representation in their field. Academic economists are overwhelmingly male. According to information from university websites, about 20pc of Europe’s senior economists are women. In America, 15pc of full professors are women. At Harvard, arguably the most prestigious economics department in the world, the faculty pictures that beam down from the wall feature 43 senior members of the department. Only three are women. Two have tenure. The profession’s problem with women could be a problem with economics itself.

(Adapted from “Women And Economics,” published on December 19, 2017, by The Economist)

Not having it all

Can women really have it all? Even in 2024, the data suggest that having both a career and children is out of reach for many women. Across the world, 95pc of men between the ages of 25 and 54 are employed, but just 52pc of women are. In the OECD, a club of mostly rich countries, the shares are 91pc for men and only 75pc for women. What explains the gap? Unequal access to education and workplace discrimination plays a role. But, in the rich world at least, childcare looms largest. One study found that up to 80pc of the difference between male and female labour-force participation may be explained by women quitting work (temporarily or permanently) after the birth of their first child. In poorer countries, motherhood explains only about 10pc of the gap because most women leave the workforce after marriage.

(Adapted from “Mothers Still Struggle To Have Careers,” published on March 7, 2024, by The Economist)

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, March 11th, 2024