"Babcock and Laschever, contrary to their book's title, do ask a series of questions: Why do most women
see a negotiation as an automatic fight instead of a chance to get what they deserve? Why are women afraid to ask
for what they deserve? Why are women afraid to ask for what they want in the workplace? And perhaps most importantly,
why don¹t women feel entitled to ask for it...? A great resource for anyone who doubts there is still a great
disparity between the salary earnings of men and women in comparable professions"
--Publishers Weekly
"A highly readable book....Women Don't Ask should be read by anyone with a fear of negotiating, male or female,
and by managers who want a better understanding of how 47 percent of the work force confronts the workplace."
--Alan B. Kruger, The New York Times
"Women Don't Ask is not a straight recitation of findings--nor is it simply a "rant." It goes beyond
well-known facts and offers concrete tips on how women can remedy the underlying problems and actually move ahead.
The authors prescribe refreshingly specific methods of negotiation that they've seen work for even the most confrontationally-challenged
women."
--Allison Nazarian, ForeWord Magazine
Publisher Web Site, May, 2004
Summary
When Linda Babcock asked why so many male graduate students were teaching their own courses and most female
students were assigned as assistants, her dean said: "More men ask. The women just don't ask." It turns
out that whether they want higher salaries or more help at home, women often find it hard to ask. Sometimes they
don't know that change is possible--they don't know that they can ask. Sometimes they fear that asking may damage
a relationship. And sometimes they don't ask because they've learned that society can react badly to women asserting
their own needs and desires.
By looking at the barriers holding women back and the social forces constraining them, Women Don't Ask shows women
how to reframe their interactions and more accurately evaluate their opportunities. It teaches them how to ask
for what they want in ways that feel comfortable and possible, taking into account the impact of asking on their
relationships. And it teaches all of us how to recognize the ways in which our institutions, child-rearing practices,
and unspoken assumptions perpetuate inequalities--inequalities that are not only fundamentally unfair but also
inefficient and economically unsound.
With women's progress toward full economic and social equality stalled, women's lives becoming increasingly complex,
and the structures of businesses changing, the ability to negotiate is no longer a luxury but a necessity. Drawing
on research in psychology, sociology, economics, and organizational behavior as well as dozens of interviews with
men and women from all walks of life, Women Don't Ask is the first book to identify the dramatic difference between
men and women in their propensity to negotiate for what they want. It tells women how to ask, and why they should.