The Program for Research and Outreach on Gender Equity in Society (PROGRESS)

The Program for Research and Outreach on Gender Equity in Society (PROGRESS) was established by Linda Babcock, James M. Walter Professor Emerita with joint appointments in the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences and Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy, in 2006 to improve society by empowering girls and women through the art of negotiation.

Babcock is a leading authority on negotiation with over 20 years of experience on the subject. Her work focuses on gender and negotiation. She has co-authored two acclaimed books on the subject: Women Don’t Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide and Ask for It: How Women Can Use the Power of Negotiation to Get What they Really Want.

Why Do We Exist?

The tendency for women to negotiate less than men is a current and persisting problem, even among young college-aged women and those in business schools today. Unless society makes changes to the way we socialize our children and change our attitudes to allow women to be more direct in asking for what they want, this problem will continue to have an adverse impact on women for decades to come.

Babcock's award winning book, Women Don’t Ask, has been extremely successful in getting this message out to adult women. However, her research shows that because behavior and attitudes about negotiation are adopted early in life, the greatest impact can be achieved if negotiation training begins at a young age.

Learning how to negotiate starts by taking one’s own voice seriously, gaining confidence in talking to peers, and feeling comfortable resisting the pressure to engage in activities that put one’s safety, health and future in jeopardy. Negotiation can also help to strengthen girls’ relationships with parents, family members, teachers and other adults in their lives. By teaching girls to negotiate, we can help to successfully reshape the futures of all girls.