Just 57% of women are comfortable asking for a raise

It's no secret that working women were hard hit during the pandemic, with millions forced out of their jobs, largely due to  increased caregiving demands. Now, as that talent returns to the workforce, women are eager to make up for lost time — and money. 

Eighty-four percent of women are confident that they can succeed in their job, according to a recent survey by financial services company Fidelity, and 77% have a healthy work-life balance. But those wins are paired with a cruel reality: just half of respondents said they feel equally confident when it comes to negotiating pay or asking for a promotion.  

"It should be 100%," says Lorna Kapusta, head of women investors and customer engagement at Fidelity. "All working women should feel like they have a path to negotiate for themselves. Where we are is not where we want to be." 

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The root of this discrepancy, according to Kapusta, goes back to the systemic barrier that has always existed between women and money. Despite companies' DEI efforts and women's growing presence in the workplace, it's proved challenging to break down historic financial norms.

"When we're young girls we are often taught to say thank you and be good — and 'being good' does not include asking for things," Kapusta says. "If we go back and look at old research from five years ago, we'd be in a very different place. It has been a journey to become more flexible, to provide more of the support that women historically have been looking for. But we're still early in that journey, and in building the ability to go in and ask for what you know you're worth."

Beyond  cultural norms and historical context, Kapusta points to a lack of training on how to begin raise negotiations, even if the employer is more than willing to participate. Often, when women muster up the courage to knock on their manager's door, they'll approach the topic too passively. 

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"They'll say, 'I feel bad about having this conversation with you,' or 'I'm sorry, but this is what we need to talk about,' versus feeling confident that this is the value they're providing and this is what should be provided back," Kapusta says. 

But how do businesses fix years of learned behaviors? According to Kapusta, it happens in stages. The first is to acknowledge it with more pay transparency around wages for all positions. Then, it's time to counter it. 

"From an employer perspective, there is so much opportunity to help," Kapusta says. "It's not just a year-end or a mid-year conversation. There should also be ongoing check-ins that are really talking about performance, finding ways to create awareness and making the tools and resources and workshops available so that everybody is equally equipped to self-negotiate — because women are still very much in training."