Women Don't Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide

When Linda Babcock asked why so many male graduate students were teaching their own courses and most female students were assigned as assistants, her dean said: "More men ask. The women just don't ask." It turns out that whether they want higher salaries or more help at home, women often find it hard to ask. Sometimes they don't know that change is possible—they don't know that they can ask. Sometimes they fear that asking may damage a relationship. And sometimes they don't ask because they...