Oswald said that Australia was the “natural” testing place for these theories because “it is the only country in the world to collect systematic information on whether employees have asked for a rise [in pay]”.
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Andrew Oswald, professor of economics and behavioural science at the University of Warwick, said the findings showed “some element of pure discrimination”.
It’s often said that women don’t get pay rises because they’re more timid than men when it comes to asking for one.
While conventional thinking indicates that “don’t ask, don’t get” is to blame for holding women back from getting pay rises, and contributing to the well documented gender discrepancy in salaries, a surprise new study debunks this apparent wisdom as a total myth.
The research uses data gathered in the Australian Workplace Relations Survey (AWRS) which covers the period 2013-14 which is a representative sample of Australian employees and workplaces.
The research by Cass Business School, along with Warwick and Wisconsin universities, blasts a hole in the theory of the “reticent female” – that women are less likely to ask.
When like-for-like men and women were compared, the men were a quarter more likely to be successful, obtaining a pay increase 20 per cent of the time.
The study only compared full-time like-for-like male and female workers, thereby eliminating any impact on the study from part-time workers, which the study claimed was a first. “It’s a very common thing for women to say and believe, but all of the evidence is anecdotal, so it’s very hard scientifically to do a proper test of this”. “The study potentially has an upside”.
“It could be that Australia is odd”.
In addition to finding that men are 25% more likely to get a pay rise when they asked, the report also found that there was no evidence for the idea that women would not ask for a pay rise for fear of upsetting a boss or not complying with a perceived female stereotype.
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However, Dr Amanda Goodall, co-author of the study from Cass Business School suggests that the study could have its positives.
