Gender, work–family negotiations, and caregiving ambition

We extend the study of gender and negotiation, which primarily focuses on monetary negotiations, to understanding the role of gender in the context of work family negotiations, an area that has received less attention in negotiation research. In particular, we focus on understanding work family negotiations in light of caregiving ambition, a construct related to peoples aspirations to care for others both directly and indirectly. We first review past literature on gender and monetary negotiations, gender gaps in salary and career advancement, and negotiations concerning work family issues in organizations. Given this extant research, we consider the relationships among gender, caregiving ambition and negotiating work family arrangements. Specifically, we offer six propositions relevant across phases of the negotiation process (pre-negotiation: the decision or propensity to negotiate; during negotiation: the negotiation process; and post-negotiation: the negotiation outcome), taking into account both extant research on how gender influences negotiation processes and outcomes, as well as new directions as per the caregiving ambition framework. We then discuss the implications of these negotiations for both career and family outcomes and why they merit further study.