Next-Level Negotiating (HBR Women at Work Series)

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How Women Can Get What They Want in a Negotiation

by Suzanne de Janasz and Beth Cabrera

Tara, an MD/PhD who works for a large public university, contacted one of us (Suzanne) a few weeks after participating in a negotiation workshop she ran, wanting to share some positive news about successfully negotiating an 11% pay increase. A faculty member for six years, she had come to learn that she was not only underpaid but also had a higher teaching and clinic load than others in her group. She, like many women, accepted her job offer without negotiating.

How common is Tara’s situation? Research suggests that 20% of women never negotiate at all.1 A woman who opts not to negotiate her starting salary upon graduation will forgo an average of $7,000 ...