Who better than one of the country’s leading experts on workplace female demographics to expose two simple concepts regarding pay disparity for women: know your worth and learn how to negotiate. Paulette Norvel Lewis, regional administrator of the Women’s Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor, knows a thing or two about the power of negotiation skills. Before her ascension in her current federal department, she was regional advocate for the U.S. Small Business Administration. She shares some timely advice with the readers of rolling out.
Has it been your experience that because women are reared to be nurturing they are predisposed to accepting wage discrimination? Is the gender gap wage due more to women not knowing their value in the workplace or decision makers just devaluing the gender overall?
I don’t think wage discrimination occurs because women are raised to be nurturers. I think that it originally occurs because women often don’t do their homework to find out their value in the market. It persists for the same reason and because women are trained to be “nice” rather than assertive. They sometimes think that they will be rewarded without asking if they are nice and do good work. Unfortunately, over time this can lead to resentment and “acting out” on the job which, in turn, positions the individual not to be rewarded. Also, for the most part, women lack negotiating skills. If they have them, they are especially uncomfortable negotiating for their own gain.
Even when a woman remains in the labor force, has a positive experience — i.e., time out of the labor force to raise children — there is still a persistent unexplained wage gap.
In Mika Brzezinki’s book, Knowing Your Value: Women, Money, and Getting What You’re Worth, she writes about the perils of women taking on the behavior of men — shouting, swearing, etc. — in order to connect with decision makers and exhibit their worth. Do you feel this is a viable tactic for women? Or would they be better served by demonstrating accepted negotiation skills?
I don’t believe that swearing and other disrespectful behavior serves anyone well — men or women. Women have many skills such as listening, showing appreciation, valuing people and their feelings, mentoring, training and reconciliation, that can be extremely valuable in achieving success for themselves and others in the workplace. We should never resort to unacceptable social behavior.
Has mentorship played a significant role in your organization?
Mentorship has not played as large a role in my organization as it should have. I have found that people have to want to be mentored otherwise they consider it an imposition. Over the years, I have mentored many young people. Some did not realize that they were being mentored until years later.
If your organization offers flexible scheduling, has it helped retain more women?
Yes, my organization has flexible workplace policies. I can’t say that it has helped to retain women but I know that it has made their lives more manageable.
A new Mercer survey reveal that organizations worldwide lack a strategy for developing women leaders. What are your thoughts on this?
It’s probably true that most organizations do not have an intentional plan to develop the leadership skills of women. Some have affinity groups that they hope will foster those skills among women.
