InformationWeek

"From interviewing lots of women and men, I noticed women were more likely to fluctuate on starting salaries," says Davis. "Women need to be more aggressive and stand their ground about their starting salary."

JoAnne Patricia Powers, a software engineer for a transportation equipment company in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., has bachelor's degrees in mathematics and computer science, an MBA, and nearly 20 years of staff and management experience in IT. She doesn't have children or other familial responsibilities that limit the number of hours she can work. Powers says she's very satisfied with her job, but estimates she earns 8% to 10% less than her male counterparts.

"I think men are still offered more--or perhaps they have the chutzpah to ask for more to begin with," Powers says. "If a company can get the same quality of work from someone and pay less, it will." However, Powers decided not to focus on gender-based pay inequalities. "As long as I enjoy the kind of work I am doing and the work environment is pleasant, I am not willing to go through the stress of job-hopping just to increase my compensation."

But Brent Longnecker, executive VP at Resources Connection LLC, says too many women put too much trust in their employers' salary decisions. "They assume things will be fair, until after one or two career leaps they realize things aren't always fair, and they could have asked for more," Longnecker explains.

Longnecker also says men are more likely to seek assistance from headhunters. "Outside advisers can normalize and equalize salary negotiations," he says. "Everyone feels awkward talking about money, but headhunters can remove those emotions."

Return to main story, "Women In IT Strive For Equal Job Compensation."