Gender in job negotiations
Subtitle: a two-level game
By: Hannah Riley Bowles, Kathleen McGinn
Contributors: McGinn, Kathleen L.; John F. Kennedy School of Government
Series: Faculty research working papers series -- RWP08-027; Faculty research working paper series -- RWP08-027
Publisher: John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
Published: 2008
Place of publication: Cambridge, Mass
Language: eng
Number of pages: 30
Subjects: Equality; Income distribution; Sex discrimination in employment
Description: We propose a two-level-game (Putnam, 1988) perspective on gender in job negotiations. At Level 1, candidates negotiate with the employers. At Level 2, candidates negotiate with domestic partners. In order to illuminate the interplay between these two levels, we review literature from two separate bodies of literature. Research in psychology and organizational behavior on candidate-employer negotiations sheds light on the effects of gender on Level 1 negotiations. Research from economics and sociology on intra-household bargaining elucidates how negotiations over the allocation of domestic labor at Level 2 influence labor force participation at Level 1. In conclusion, we integrate practical implications from these two bodies of literature to propose a set of prescriptive suggestions for candidates to approach job negotiations as a two-level game and to minimize disadvantageous effects of gender on job negotiation outcomes.
Notes: "May 2008."