The (Not Just) Womanly Art of Negotiation

From the jobs section of the CoHE, a nice tidbit on negotiating salary for a new job. And hey, it ain't only women. I have usually meekly taken what I have been offered, as I always felt fortunate to get an academic job. But no more!

Here's a snippet:

Over lunch, one of the top women in my field told me about her experience switching jobs just a couple of years ago, when she was already famous and hotly recruited. She described her first meeting with her new department chairman this way:
The chair said, 'We're giving you this much in start-up."
She said, "Great!"
He said, "And we'll give you a postdoctoral student."
She said, "Great!"
He said, "And we'll pay your summer salary for two years."
She said, "Great!"
He said, "You're not very good at this, are you?"