Who’s asking?: Gender, race, and negotiation outcomes

Negotiation is a necessary skill for librarians working with electronic resources, especially as libraries confront inflating costs for collections resources and impacted budgets for library materials. This paper will share the results of a two-part study that explored whether gender or race/ethnicity impacts negotiation approaches and outcomes during the negotiation of library acquisitions in academic libraries. The presented research will seek to bridge a gap in the library literature and identify: 1. Are there common patterns of negotiation styles or approaches in academic library acquisitions? 2. Is there a connection between negotiation approach, gender, and/or racial identity? 3. Does gender or race impact negotiation outcomes? The study built on previously established research on gender, race, and negotiation in the fields of business and communications and developed new findings through an interview study examining qualitative, individual experiences with negotiation in academic library acquisitions. Contrary to previous studies that found women were at a disadvantage in negotiations, both in their approach to negotiations and their experienced outcomes from negotiations, the results of this study suggest that librarians negotiating for electronic resources are data-driven, communicative, and experience success, regardless of gender or race. However, while negotiation outcomes were unaffected by gender or race, librarians experience a range of uncomfortable and, sometimes, discriminatory behavior during negotiations. Further study of negotiation interactions is encouraged to identify and address problematic behavior and provide solutions for improving negotiation interactions.