It’s simple (and not so simple): Start by asking for more. It’s likely the guy in the cubicle next to you already has. In a widely cited study for her book Women Don’t Ask , Carnegie Mellon’s Linda Babcock asked a group of male and female MBA graduates if they’d negotiated their first offers of employment. She found that only 7% of the women surveyed engaged in salary negotiations, while 57% of the men had. That’s not altogether surprising — many women fear that asking for a higher salary or a better title makes them appear aggressive and unlikeable. The sad truth is that women are more likely than men to be penalised for asking for more simply because of tacit societal gender norms. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it. Buying into the misconception that advocating and negotiating for yourself is only for “pushy broads” is like relegating women to a permanent Mad Men secretary status. None of us can afford to do that, and there’s a good financial reason why.