Women at the Bargaining Table: Pitfalls and Prospects

Negotiation Journal, Vol. 25, p. 233, 2009

Marquette Law School Legal Studies Paper No. 09-19

21 Pages Posted: 2 May 2009

See all articles by Catherine H. Tinsley

Catherine H. Tinsley

Georgetown University - McDonough School of Business

Sandra I. Cheldelin

School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution

Andrea Kupfer Schneider

Yeshiva University - Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law

Emily T. Amanatullah

Georgetown University Women's Leadership Institute

Date Written: May 1, 2009

Abstract

Research evidence across a number of disciplines and fields has shown that women can encounter both social and financial backlash when they behave assertively, for example, by asking for resources at the bargaining table. But this backlash appears to be most evident when a gender stereotype that prescribes communal, nurturing behavior by women is activated. In situations in which this female stereotype is suppressed, backlash against assertive female behavior is attenuated. We review several contexts in which stereotypic expectations of females are more dormant or where assertive behavior by females can be seen as normative. We conclude with prescriptions from this research that suggest how women might attenuate backlash at the bargaining table and with ideas about how to teach these issues of gender and backlash to student populations in order to make students, both male and female, more aware of their own inclination to backlash and how to rectify such inequities from both sides of the bargaining table.

Keywords: negotiation, gender, identity, power, culture

JEL Classification: K4, K40, K49

Suggested Citation

Tinsley, Catherine H. and Cheldelin, Sandra I. and Schneider, Andrea Kupfer and Amanatullah, Emily T., Women at the Bargaining Table: Pitfalls and Prospects (May 1, 2009). Negotiation Journal, Vol. 25, p. 233, 2009, Marquette Law School Legal Studies Paper No. 09-19, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1397699

Catherine H. Tinsley

Georgetown University - McDonough School of Business ( email )

3700 O Street, NW
Washington, DC 20057
United States
202-687-2524 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://explore.georgetown.edu/people/tinsleyc/

Sandra I. Cheldelin

School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution ( email )

3401 Fairfax Drive MS4D3
Arlington, VA 22201
United States
703.993.3652 (Phone)

Andrea Kupfer Schneider (Contact Author)

Yeshiva University - Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law ( email )

55 Fifth Ave.
New York, NY 10003
United States

HOME PAGE: http://cardozo.yu.edu/directory/andrea-schneider

Emily T. Amanatullah

Georgetown University Women's Leadership Institute ( email )

Austin, TX 78712
United States

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