Women's Day: Why We Need To Junk 'Goldilocks Syndrome' & Normalise Pay Negotiation

In October 2023, Claudia Goldin won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences. While this was the first time a woman had won the prize without a male co-awardee, it had added significance because her research had focused exclusively on women.

It showed the world something that we all knew at an anecdotal level, highlighting how gender and economics have played out over centuries. It underlined a concrete fact in red and bold - women across the world are paid less than their male counterparts. For years we have routinely read that women are poorly represented on boards.

We keep hearing about the ※leaky pipeline§, and about how women start-up founders struggle to get funding. There are many theories to explain these phenomena 每 with marriage and maternity being on top of the pile. As depicted in Goldin＊s research, both milestones combine a woman＊s self-expectations with society＊s perceptions to form a Venn diagram that routinely knocks women off the work ladder.

What is also interesting in Goldin＊s research is a concept called ※greedy work§ - which essentially means that male employees who are able to stretch themselves in the job, routinely get paid more. The optics of working long hours does pay off and thereby increases the pay-gap.

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Imposter and Goldilocks Syndrome

Without falling into the trap of oversimplification, if one were to extrapolate this concept of ※greedy work§, we would find that women are significantly less likely to negotiate for a raise than their male counterparts, even when their skills and attitude are perfect for the role.

It is not uncommon to find women accepting the salary offered to them without a healthy discussion on it. Women also do not tend to push back when accepting workloads or working hours.

Women who take a career break are often left without any bargaining power 每 a trend that is now increasingly seen across industries. As a result, they accept salaries that are far below their peers. One reason for this lack of conviction is the imposter syndrome that pervades work life, or the common experience that women hold themselves back from pursuing opportunities and career advancement because of self-doubt, feelings of inadequacy and low self-worth, especially around professional credentials.

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There is a well-known statistic especially among HR circles that supports the prevalence of this syndrome - men apply for jobs even if they meet just 60% of the job requirements, while women apply only when they think they meet 100% of the requirements. A second reason for the absence of negotiation is the ※Goldilocks syndrome§, that stems from a collective cultural understanding of what constitutes appropriate and inappropriate behaviour in a woman.

Women are often compelled to display personality traits that are ※just right§. Too much opinion, and they are type-cast as ※aggressive;§ too soft a demeanor, and they are labelled as ※docile§ or ※ineffective§.

As a result of this double bind, women often leave money on the table at the cost of being disliked or judged. Interestingly, this unconscious bias is present across genders 每 women themselves perceive other women as aggressive if they negotiate or challenge the status quo.

An Exercise In Unlearning

There are shifts in attitudes taking place. Research conducted by academicians in the U.S. revealed that younger women are in fact negotiating, even if they may not necessarily be getting higher wages. Older women do negotiate more frequently 每 but for their teams and colleagues, and seldom for themselves. On average, according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), women earn 20% less than their male counterparts who perform the same job.

In India, this gap is wider 每 standing at 34%. There is a certain amount of unlearning that we need to do as women, as workers, as employers and as a society. Women typically see an increase in wages as a reward to their hard work.

Men on the other hand are negotiating when they anticipate hard work. Negotiation must be normalized and should not be restricted to salary alone. Women should also raise their hand when they see a plum internal posting or assignment which plays to their strengths and aspirations and negotiate to be considered, at the least. Organisations, on their part, need to take a hard look at their compensation policy, and take steps that recognize the challenges around negotiating compensation.

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Is the organisation committed to pay parity? Does it pay employees as per the pay levels or does it solely decide on the candidate＊s previous pay package? This is especially important if an organisation wants to tap into the pool of women who have taken a career break. Does the organisation routinely do pay parity audits? What is the culture of the organisation? How does it react to a woman negotiating? Is fairness a value that is practised by the leaders? Are there strong senior women who participate in the compensation decision of a candidate? Are there opportunities for coaching and mentoring younger women?

The stereotypes and biases that surround women negotiating must be forsaken and women themselves must believe that they are good enough for the role they apply for or inhabit. In a world where purpose and fairness are becoming the unspoken currency of an organisation, a woman negotiating for a fair salary will hopefully become par for the course.

Anjali Varma is People and Culture Officer at National Law School of India University, Bangalore.