Negotiation 101: Don’t Play the Game

By now, you’ve probably heard about the scholar who had a tenure-track job offer rescinded after she tried negotiating on a number of terms. That incident has stoked a lot of talk on an important question: What’s the right way to go about negotiate an academic offer? We asked our experts to dole out some advice.

While it’s common wisdom that you shouldn’t negotiate if you’re not prepared for the other party to walk away, we’ve almost never heard of that actually happening. Have you?

Our focus should be on how the department and the university fell short in this instance. They fell short in every capacity. We need to have a discussion about how chairs, deans, departments and university respond in the midst of negotiations. The culture of entitlement, the systemic culture of “shut up and take the job,” has only gotten worse in recent years; the systemic divestment from higher education and the lack of cultural valuing of professors has produced a moment in which a mere request for additional resources is met with scorn and disdain.

And of course, gender matters here—and race matters across the board. Whether looking at the lack of societal investment in maternity leave or data about women being less likely to negotiate, it is no wonder when attempts to negotiate are met with punishment. And the fact that one of the issues here appears to be maternity leave demonstrates how far we still have to go regarding equity.

Given the hiring climate we’re in, what advice would you give to young academics on negotiating?

It’s time to change the culture of the university. That doesn’t start with prospective faculty; it starts with those with power.

Rather than see the “negotiation” as a game, with winners and losers, chairs should view it as an opportunity to create optimal conditions for a faculty member to succeed. It is an opportunity to figure out what is needed for a prospective faculty member to succeed in the classroom, on campus, and with respect to her research agenda. It isn’t personal; it isn’t a sign of disrespect; it isn’t about what she didn’t get; it isn’t evidence that she feels entitled to request something you didn’t have. We really need to transform a culture that looks down upon those who request resources, who demand to be valued and respected. We need to change a culture of entitlement that presumes perspective faculty, graduate students, and adjuncts should just be happy they have a seat a table.

Demanding a meal, a nourishing meal, should not be met with scorn and punishment; instead it should be a moment to look in the mirror and ask why we expect someone to sit at the table without any food.

Here’s what other academics had to say in the Negotiation 101 series:

• David Evans: “Know Your Absolutes.”
• Gene Fant: “Be Reasonable, Be Transparent.”
• Paula M. Krebs: “Find Out What’s Really Negotiable.”
• Allison M. Vaillancourt: “Stop Writing, Start Talking.”
• Jonathan Rees: “At the Very Least, Negotiate Your Salary.”
• Rob Jenkins: “At a Community College, It’s Take It or Leave It.”
• Noliwe Rooks: “Women, Don’t Demur.”
• David Leonard: “Don’t Play the Game.”