Career success knows no gender. Both male and female can achieve career excellence. However, there are instances wherein in single ladies tend to downplay their careers around men.
Researchers from Harvard University, University of Chicago and Princeton co-authored a study entitled “Acting Wife: Marriage Market Incentives and Labor Market Investments” wherein it answers, “Do single women avoid career-enhancing actions because these actions could signal personality traits, like ambition, that are undesirable in the marriage market?”
The question was answered through field experiments with MBA candidates. The candidates completed a survey about their career goals and personal traits. It will be the basis in order to match them to certain internship programs. There were two groups of candidates. The first group’s answers will be anonymous and the other group will be discussed in a classroom setting.
When the students found out that their answers will not be shared with their classmates, both single and non-single women answered similarly. However, the single ladies in the other group seem to downplay their career goals and aspirations.
“Single woman reported a desired yearly compensation $18,000 lower and being willing to travel seven fewer days per month and work four fewer hours per week when they expected their classmates would see their answers,” says the research. Based on that, single ladies are most likely not to choose career-focused job once they found out that their answers will be shared with their classmates, especially single males.
Another survey given to the candidates was about asking for raise and promotion. More than 50 percent of single women avoided raise or promotion because they fear that they will be foreseen as too ambitious and assertive.
On the other hand, The National Bureau of Economic Research made a study on how gender identity and relationship affects the household. Studies showed that single ladies are most likely to have successful careers but then failed when it comes to relationship stability. Those women who excel in their careers are usually single, divorced or they have difficult marital status.
“We establish that gender identity - in particular, an aversion to the wife earning more than the husband - impacts marriage formation, the wife's labor force participation, the wife's income conditional on working, marriage satisfaction, a likelihood of divorce, and the division of home production,” stated in the research.
Meanwhile, Jobs & Hire shared interesting and helpful tips on how to date a career focused woman.
