Balanced Negotiations: An Online Negotiation Training for Women

Research has identified consistent differences in the processes and outcomes of negotiation between women and men (Mazei et al., 2015; Stuhlmacher & Walter, 1999), but there has been little investigation into different types of negotiation trainings specifically for women (Barkacs & Barkacs, 2017; Kulik et al., 2020). This study developed and evaluated an online evidence-based negotiation training for women. Using a pretest-posttest randomly assigned control group design, 95 early career female participants completed three short self-guided online training modules. Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA), with pretest scores used as a covariate to reduce error variance, found that the intervention had a significant effect on increase perceptions of malleability of negotiation skills, increased feelings of negotiator self-efficacy, increased setting of specific and complex goals, and reduced fear of backlash. The intervention was not found to have a significant effect on negotiator anxiety or the choice to continue past the study to participate in an optional Zoom negotiation. The implication of these findings for practitioners, academics, and future research are discussed