Female sole proprietors in professional services tend to charge less for their work than their male counterparts. But while it might seem women are doing themselves a disservice, new research suggests that the opposite may be true.
For decades, much has been made of the fact that women overall earn less than men, something that has largely been blamed on gender discrimination. But according to a team of U.S. researchers, even when women have substantial discretion over the amounts they charge, they still end up making less.
The revelation that women are under-selling themselves even when they have the option not is the startling conclusion of "A Behavioral Study of Pricing Decisions: A Focus on Gender," by William L. Cron of Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, John L. Graham and Mary C. Gilly of the University of California at Irvine, and John W. Slocum Jr. of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.
The effect is so striking, the paper says, that as various professions attract more women, with women sometimes closing in on becoming the majority, industry leaders are concerned the average incomes of entire industries may be driven downwards.
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