Women Have This Advantage Over Men in Earning Higher Salaries
As much as we’d like to think we’re in our careers because of our passion for the work, we’re also in it — at least partially — to earn a living. And, as we all know, the higher the salary, the easier the livin’. How to earn said high salary is up for debate. Maybe you just need to ramp up your negotiation skills. Or create a group of inspirational female mentors to keep you on track. Or maybe you need a higher emotional intelligence quotient — according to a new study, that is.
Published in the August 2017 Journal of Vocational Behavior, the study found that those with a higher emotional intelligence quotient, or EQ, earned higher salaries across all industries. Emotional intelligence, which (don’t worry!) can be cultivated over time, is the ability to recognize, understand, and navigate one’s own emotions as well as those of others.
For not getting much credit, a high EQ helps a lot around the office, especially in management positions. For example, empathy and an elevated EQ are correlated, which lends itself to the ability to better motivate and influence the behaviors of others positively. Furthermore, emotional intelligence can lead to social success in the workplace. Having office friends equates to access to more opportunities, such as high-profile projects or improved mentorship. Lastly, people with a high EQ are more open to reformation. By accepting criticism better and fixing their mistakes more effectively, they are able to excel in their careers more so than those with lower EQs.
For once, this is some potentially good salary-centric news for women, who typically register higher EQs than men. A study from 2016 shows women as a class outperform men in 11 of the 12 emotional intelligence competencies. (The only one men prevailed in was emotional self-control.) A few of the “soft skills” women possessed more so than men were adaptability, organizational awareness, coaching & mentoring, and leadership. As the title of the study states, these qualities are “crucial for effective leadership and superior business performance.”
We can only hope these findings will lead to some more literal #girlbosses.
Do you think you have to a high EQ to succeed in your career? Tweet us @BritandCo!
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