34
faculty Research
How Women Can Beat the Wage Gap Trap higher pay for both men and women. With respect to bosses, it is beneficial to initiate contact and to be a provider of information. In the case of peers, there is a benefit to relationships that allow for the exchange of information. Finally, individuals who have close, trusting, and open relationships with their subordinates earn higher pay. Interestingly, not only do women have greater potential to raise their pay through these effective network relationships, but other research seems to indicate they may be better equipped to do so.
Three ways WOMEN MAY increase pay: Motivate and get to know your team
Women are thought to be better than men at establishing group consensus and managing teams. Drawing upon this strength, they should focus on building stronger and closer relationships with subordinates.
T
he wage gap between women and men continues to be a troubling fact in the U.S. workplace. While it is clear that issues such as discrimination remain, recent research from the Villanova School of Business (VSB) offers some suggestions about how women can manage their network relationships to help narrow the gap. The original intent of VSB Professors of Management and Operations Kevin Clark and Patrick Maggitti and co-author Holly Slay of Seattle University was to examine how network relationships in an organization affected pay. They found that the nature of these relationships matters for all employees; however, to their surprise, women appeared to have more of an opportunity to increase their pay by effectively managing those relationships. The study of 315 early career, whitecollar professionals enrolled in part-time MBA programs examined the influence of three distinct corporate networks to determine which was the most influential in increasing compensation for both men and women: subordinate networks (those
villanova business | summer 2011
working below you), peer networks, and networks with superiors. Perhaps not surprisingly, the results confirmed that the relationship an employee has with his or her boss can have a positive effect on an employee’s pay. Interestingly, Clark, Maggitti, and Slay found it is actually the subordinate networks that matter the most—despite the fact that study participants and conventional wisdom indicated they believed the relationship with their boss was the most important factor driving compensation. These findings are critical for anyone tempted to advance their careers only through ingratiating themselves with the boss—it appears that treating your team better and providing leadership is a surer path to a bigger paycheck. In some ways, this makes perfect sense: If you connect with those below you, they will perform well, making you look good to your boss, and you get a raise. In addition to substantiating the relative importance of subordinate networks, the study found specific factors that are linked to
Find out what your friends know
Since women have a strong awareness of their work community and groups, they should try to make an increased effort to obtain information specific to work and job opportunities from their peers. Influence your supervisor
Make chance run-ins meaningful with your boss by always having something in your pocket that is a value add-on. Instead of chatting about the weather, bring up a recent project or accomplishment or suggest solutions to problems instead of seeking answers to questions. Over time, your boss will come to view you as a thoughtful and effective person—one who needs to be rewarded and retained. The researchers emphasize that these tactics will not eliminate the wage gap but, given the abundance of attention focused on the persistent existence of the gap, it is good to see studies that provide women with suggestions about what they might do proactively to increase their pay.
