What you say without even talking

My Master’s degree includes a variety of career events at the university. Company representatives visit and talk about interesting topics that are relevant in their companies and professional lives or the career perspectives students have in their companies. 

Sometimes, however, it is not what representatives say, but how they behave that is actually most interesting.

Just last week, we had three female representatives visiting. At the end of their presentations, a Q&A-session took place. I realized that I perceived one of these women as more competent than the others, even though I had only heard a short presentation by each of them and could by no means judge their professional performance. So what caused my perception?

Having a closer look at each of the women gave me a clue: the one woman that I assumed to be more competent was sitting on her chair in an upright position and looking attentively into people’s faces. Another woman was somehow crouching on her chair and often stared to the floor in a forward-bent position. The third woman was constantly playing with a strand of hair. In no way do I want to deny these women’s individual professional competence, but it was startling how much influence their posture had on me.

Paying attention to your body language 

This incident reminded me to pay more attention to my own posture when being in a professional environment! I also googled this topic and would like to share an interesting finding:

by now, we probably all know that we should have a firm, but not too strong hand shake, make eye contact and stop fidgeting (which could be playing with your hair, picking at your nails or displaying some other nervous action). But I had not heard about the following concept before:

The social gaze vs. the look of business

Women often tend to use the social gaze when they should actually use the look of business. The difference lies in where your eyes are focusing when you are talking to somebody. 

source

Focusing on the eyes-to-forehead triangle signals a no-nonsense approach, while shifting your eyes to the mouth of a person can be misinterpreted as flirty.  This does not mean that we should never use a social gaze in business environments, but rather that we should pay attention to the individual effect of where our eyes go.

Next time you go to an important event or meeting, just take a minute to think about your posture and adjust appropriately!

Carolin

The Six Golden Rules for Negotiating Your Salary

Last week you read “Gender Bias at Work”, the first part of my review on the Liesel Beckmann Symposium on Gender and Diversity. Another topic presented and discussed at this symposium was “The Gender Pay Gap: Is it Simply a Lack of Recognition towards Women’s Contributions?” by Dr. Clara Kulich from the University of Geneva. While I am a huge fan of data and research, I realize it is also important to deliver real-life suggestions for the times when you are in the situation of, say, negotiating a salary. And it just so happens that I am in that situation right now.

Scientific Research on the Gender Pay Gap

Nevertheless, let’s begin with some research on the Gender Pay Gap. At the symposium, Dr. Clara Kulich summarized that the overall gender pay gap is around 19% and rises to 26% in managerial positions. However, not only the base salary is relevant when comparing women’s vs. men’s salaries, but also flexible remuneration such as bonuses, stocks and options, pension contributions etc. These flexible parts of an income can complicate a comparison, especially because women prefer “safe” pay packages that are not performance-oriented.

The Negotiation

We want to close that Gender Pay Gap. Now. If things continue developing at the pace they are now, we’ll have equal pay by 2058. That won’t do us any good, because we’ll be retired. Women negotiate less when it comes to their own salary – and this in part contributes to the Gender Pay Gap. I would like to make you more comfortable with negotiating your salary. Be it for an internship or your first job out of university. It certainly is something I had to get comfortable with. So I searched career-help books (including Lean In for Graduates by Sheryl Sandberg) and the web, and picked the following six rules as the most important when it comes to negotiating your salary.

1. Never “sell yourself” under value. Know exactly what you are worth. Take into account your professional experience (from previous internships, jobs, projects at university including student organizations etc.) and your education. Don’t sell yourself under value, because your pay also is an indicator of how respected and valuable you are to a company.
2. Do the research. Gather information about not only yourself, but also about your potential employer. There are various sources you can utilize to access information on the average salary you can expect in a certain field (see links below). Take into account the company’s size, number of employees, and office location. Then, consider yourself. What would you like to make and what minimum amount do you need to support yourself (and perhaps take a vacation)? 
3. Wait until you receive an offer. Don’t state compensation requirements right away in the interview. If the recruiter asks you to call out a number, try to delay the topic so you can fully demonstrate your qualifications first. Postpone the negotiation by inquiring further about the position and responsibility within the company. You can also ask for a salary range for comparable positions in the company. If your interviewer does not let loose, utilize the research you have done and aim for a range slightly above this average (e.g. if the range is 30.000€-35.000€, state 36.000€-40.000€). Also, never accept the first offer!
4. Negotiate communally. You might be thinking that I have some sort of disorder telling you to act in a communal way (= female stereotype) when I just wrote an entire article about Gender Bias at work. When negotiating, even Sheryl Sandberg advises women to “think personally, act communally”. In more concrete terms, this means you should stress communal goals that you want to achieve in the job (e.g. improving the team’s success) when discussing compensation. Acting in a communal way will lead to better negotiation results for women. 
5. Define your walking-away number. What is your BATNA (best alternative to a negotiated agreement)? This is the lowest amount you are willing to accept – your walk-away number. If the employee’s final offer lies below your BATNA, then you will walk away. Remember that your BATNA is subject to change over the course of your career as you gain experience and expertise. Don’t remain in a position where you are undervalued.
6. Practice. It can be daunting to have an upcoming compensation negotiation. So prepare. Write a script with your negotiation outline and role-play with a family member or friend. Get used to arguing your position in a negotiation.  

Have fun and good luck negotiating!

Here are some sites you may find helpful to gather information on compensation:

Germany

http://www.gehalt.de/

http://www.stepstone.de/Karriere-Bewerbungstipps/gehalt.cfm

http://www.squeaker.net/de/Insider-Berichte/Erfahrungsbericht/t/Gehalt

https://www.staufenbiel.de/ratgeber-service/gehalt.html

http://www.absolventa.de/karriereguide/arbeitsentgelt/einstiegsgehalt

USA

http://salary.com/

https://getraised.com/

http://www.payscale.com/mypayscale.aspx

Asia

www.gemini.com.hk/assets/doc/survey_china.pdf

www.michaelpage.com.cn/salary-centre.html

http://www.hays.cn/en/salary-guide/index.htm

Annamarie

Same Behavior, Different Consequences: Gender Bias at Work

During the Liesel Beckmann Symposium, three leading researchers presented their findings on gender and diversity in organizations. Here is part one – stay tuned for the next two parts!

Descriptive Gender Stereotypes

Prof. Madeline E. Heilman of New York University has done groundbreaking research on gender bias in a business context. Through her research, she was able to identify descriptive gender stereotypes as consistent across society and many countries around the world. Descriptive stereotypes convey beliefs about persons’ attributes. They prevail over many years and consequently are very difficult to alter. That said, these stereotypes are in the minds of men and women. At this point you might wonder why these descriptive gender stereotypes actually are a problem. One issue is that they are inconsistent. This means that the attributes of women and those of managers do not match – we perceive women to have a lack of fit for managerial positions. Therefore, we (and again, I mean men and women) expect women to be unsuccessful in managerial, “think manager – think male” jobs. This influences the performance evaluation of women negatively.

Prescriptive Gender Stereotypes

Apart form descriptive gender stereotypes, there are also prescriptive gender stereotypes. These are stereotypes that describe what we think women and men actually should be like. The difficulty with prescriptive gender stereotypes is that if a woman behaves in a male-stereotyped way, for example by behaving in an agentic and managerial manner, she is penalized for this behavior. And if she behaves in a communal and nurturing manner, she is rewarded. Of course the same principle applies to men vice versa. To me, men’s prescriptive gender stereotypes are critical. Picture a new father in a senior executive role who wants to take time off after his child is born, or maybe even reduce his job to part-time. This man is sure to be subject to gender bias and therefore receive some nasty comments down the alley of “wimpy”, “unmanly” or even “lazy”. And ladies let’s be honest, we all know that there is hardly anything more manly than a guy with a baby stroller!

How to Fix the Problem

Gender bias can result from descriptive and prescriptive stereotypes. I want to stress that women and men behave in the same way towards gender bias. This means that all of us need to keep consciously reminding ourselves of the gender stereotypes we have in our head to avoid behaving in a gender-biased way.

Annamarie

Female Entrepreneurship Series: Working Between Cultures

Working Between Cultures, founded in 2012, is a business that aims to increase diversity in companies, universities, research institutions, and NGOs. It offers seminars and personnel training to improve dialogue among people and to support their personal development. Both founders, Maria Prahl and Eliza Skowron, are trained coaches for seminars and personnel development and previously worked as employed trainers and coaches in this field.

I talked to Maria about her personal and professional background and the founding story of Working Between Cultures.

The Founders

Maria Prahl: Maria’s studied Culture Studies as an undergraduate. She went on working for the Robert Bosch Foundation in Berlin. After meeting her husband and moving to Munich, she assumed responsibility for various projects in personnel training at the Technical University of Munich. Maria continued her education by taking part in training at the Robert Bosch Foundation to become an international seminar leader. This was when she realized her passion for leading seminars in order to help and improve other’s personal and professional development. While pursuing her professional roles, Maria also studied Communication Studies and East-European History in her Master’s degree. After concluding her Master’s degree, she studied Personnel Development alongside work. Her focus lies on Diversity Management and Train-the-Trainer.

Eliza Skowron: Eliza studied German Philology, Cultures Studies and Migratory Movements. She received a Master’s degree in Philology and a Master’s degree in Political Studies. As did Maria, Eliza was trained to be an international seminar leader. She worked as a lecturer for the German language and culture at integration courses for migrants and refugees. Her focus lies on intercultural communication for Germany, India, and East and Southeast Europe. Eliza primarily works with multi-cultural groups and in international teams.

The Story

When Maria and Eliza met in 2003 at a Seminar of the Robert Bosch Foundation, they knew instantly that they shared the same values and work ethic. Both already were passionate personnel trainers at the time, but they felt they needed to break free of the bureaucratic confines of a university setting. Because they were both very much aware of the risks – especially financially – of founding an own business and being self-employed, the two young women decided to continue working in their day jobs for another year while developing their business plan and acquiring customers at the same time. Once they were sure to have gathered enough contracts for their intercultural personnel training, Maria and Eliza quit their jobs and were then fully self-employed. Maria recalled: “That was such a liberating moment.”

The Struggles

Maria said: “Initially, I had an issue with lacking self-confidence. And I think that is a topic specific to women.” She stated the core problem is that women often do not believe that their abilities are anything special. That is, until they realize that others are doing the same thing and making a living of it. It sometimes happened that she didn’t voice an idea or opinion – and then somebody else did and collected the reward. Maria also told me that in the early stages of founding Working Between Cultures, she had doubts if she was actually good at what she was doing and if she was professional enough. Women tend to be much more self-critical than men in their self-assessment.

The Success

The more positive feedback Maria received from her clients, the more her self-esteem and belief in her unique capabilities and talents grew. Maria said now she knows that clients value the founder’s continual self-assessment and subsequent advancement. Because of Working Between Culture’s high quality work, the business has regular customers that keep coming back to benefit from their excellent services.  

Annamarie 

Female Entrepreneurship Series: Ruby Cup

Maxie Mathiessen, Julie Weigaard Kjaer, and Veronica D’Souza founded their business Ruby Cup in 2011 in Denmark. The three women met during their Master’s degree at Copenhagen Business School.Their motivation to found the business stemmed from the will to found something with which they not only earn money, but improve the world in at least a small part. 

The Three Founders

Maxie Mathiessen has been active in public, private and non-governmental organizations and has worked as a researcher drafting studies for the UN General Assembly, as a corporate analyst, and consulted on micro-finance topics in Nicaragua. She holds a Master’s degree in International Business and Politics and a Bachelor’s degree in Business, Languages, and Culture from the Copenhagen Business School.

Julie Weigaard Kjaer has a broad professional background with several years of experience in business administration, supplier management, financial planning and social entrepreneurship in both public and private companies. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Business, Languages,and Culture and is a Master student in Supply Chain Management with minor studies in Sustainable Business at the Copenhagen Business School. 

Veronica D’Souza has worked for both for-profits and non-profits as a sales representative, project manager, journalist, creative campaign developer, and strategic advisor. Her special focus is sustainable business, human rights, health, leadership, and managing strategic partnerships. In her Master’s degree, she studied International Business and Politics with a minor in Sustainable Business at Copenhagen Business School and Columbia Business School.

Product and Business Model 

The three entrepreneurs already knew the menstruation cup from American and European markets. At the same time they realized there was a huge problem of African women’s access to feminine hygiene products. They wondered why this simple solution of a menstruation cup was not introduced where it was most needed: in Africa.

Initially, the business model was based on the “Bottom of the Pyramid” theory. However, they realized this approach did not serve the market in Africa, so they modified their business model and sales channels. The menstruation cup Ruby Cup now is sold successfully via e-commerce throughout Europe. For each menstruation cup sold in the western world, a cup is sold at a symbolic price to girls and women in Kenya, where they cannot afford feminine hygiene products and girls often miss a significant number of school days during their menstruation. Infections and disease also result from a lack of feminine hygiene products. The menstruation cup can be used for up to ten years and thereby solves the problem of feminine hygiene on a long-term basis in Africa. 

On the one hand, the three female founders of Ruby Cup are fulfilling their goal of providing feminine hygiene products to girls and women in Kenya. On the other hand, Ruby Cup is being sold and used in many European countries. With the use of Ruby Cup, waste created through discarded feminine hygiene products can be eliminated, as Ruby Cup can be used for up to ten years. 

Financing

The three women of Ruby Cup were able to finance their start-up very successfully from the beginning on. They won multiple international business plan competitions, received a grant from the Swedish government and were backed by venture capitalists. Meanwhile the business is able to finance itself through sales generated. 

Annamarie

Female Entrepreneurship Series

I am a passionate writer about females in business. So when it was time to write my Bachelor's thesis, I saw a somewhat tedious task as an opportunity to conduct research on a women2business-related topic. The title of my thesis is “Gender and Social Entrepreneurship”. I wanted to find out if there were gender differences between social businesses founded by women vs. men. It was an interesting topic to research on, and what made it even better is that I knew I could use some of the material for women2business.

Status Quo of Female Entrepreneurship 

To give you some background information on women in entrepreneurship and why this topic is so important to us: worldwide, there are still about twice as many male as female entrepreneurs. In pursuit of gender equality, the number of male and female entrepreneurs should be the same. What might be holding women back in founding their own business? This is a complex question to answer as the prevailing circumstances for female entrepreneurs differ greatly among countries.

However, one of the most striking research findings in my thesis is that women are significantly less confident about their ability to found and lead a business; the literature supports this finding. Are similar doubts holding you back from following through with your business idea? 

women2business Female Entrepreneurship Series

Every week, we will be presenting to you a successful female-founded business on our blog. We want to show you that by being an entrepreneur you can achieve a steep learning curve and jump-start your career. We also want to encourage you to be bold and reduce possible doubts about founding your own business. We begin with the first profile of a female start-up on Monday. 

Until Monday and let yourself be inspired by our female entrepreneurs!  

Annamarie