<\/em>competent until you make a mistake.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\nPiece of Evidence #4: Salary Surveys<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Several researchers have found that women negotiate their salaries less often and ask for less than men do, suggesting that women undervalue themselves<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n- Linda Babcock of Carnegie Mellon University found that men negotiate their salaries four times as often as women do. When they do negotiate, women ask for 30% less than men do. <\/li>
- Marilyn Davidson of Manchester Business School found that her male students both expect and think they deserve higher salaries (on average $80,000) than female students expect and think they deserve (on average $64,000). <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Exhibit #5: Reported Confidence Levels<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Researchers have also found that men overestimate their abilities<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n- Social psychologist Brenda Major ran tests in which she asked men and women how they expected to perform on tasks. Their performance was the same, but men always overestimated how well they would do, and women always underestimated.<\/li>
- Columbia Business School found that on average, men think their performance is almost a third better than it actually is.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
The Prevailing Image of Confidence<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nToday\u2019s prevailing image of confident behavior involves showboating, being authoritative, making decisions, and displaying bravado and aggression\u2014in short, all the ways men display confidence.<\/strong> Over time, we\u2019ve been socialized to accept this as the only version, though many women find it foreign and inauthentic to adopt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n- For example, during Vanessa\u2019s annual review, the president of her organization told her that if she wanted to climb any higher, she\u2019d have to make decisions. He told her that it didn\u2019t matter if her decision were wrong; she just needed to choose something and pursue it. Vanessa was flabbergasted\u2014it was bizarre to her that making a wrong decision didn\u2019t matter.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
In reality, there are many presentations of confidence because all confidence requires is taking action. <\/strong>It\u2019s possible to take action (and demonstrate confidence) by being quiet, listening, sharing credit, acting calmly, and even showing vulnerability or uncertainty (ruminating won\u2019t induce confidence, but reviewing decisions to learn from them can be advantageous). <\/p>\n\n\n\n- For example, on a panel about women\u2019s economic promise, all of the participants but one were women. The women respected the moderator and the man talked whenever he liked. He was an outlier and in this setting, his traditional male confidence appeared rude.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
In fact, some of the non-mainstream expressions of confidence might be advantageous.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n- For example, instead of speaking a lot, women might wait for an opening in a male-dominated conversation and say one really important, authoritative thing. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Additionally, many studies show that women who act the same way as men aren\u2019t received well by either men or women.<\/strong> For example, Victoria Brescoll of the Yale School of Management tested people\u2019s impressions of men and women in different positions. First, she asked them how much they\u2019d talk in different positions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n