It has been two weeks since finishing “Lean In:
Women, Work, and the Will to Lead” by Sheryl Sandberg, and I still talk about
it to anyone who will listen. Sheryl Sandberg is the current COO of Facebook.
I find the gender studies Sandberg presents fascinating.
For example, a Harvard Business School case study that is based on Heidi Roizen
was changed slightly to judge reactions based on gender. Roizen is a venture
capitalist described as using her “outgoing personality…and vast personal and
professional network [that] included many of the most powerful business leaders
in the technology” to build her success.
In 2003, two professors took this case study and
gave it to their students as two separate case studies. Students were handed
the exact case study with either Heidi or Howard being the one difference. They
were then asked to rate their impressions of the two.
The good news is that the students found them both
to be competent workers, but that is where it ends. Howard is a person they
want to hang out with after work. They can see themselves having a beer or even
going on a weekend fishing trip with Howard. Heidi, not so much. She seems a
little egotistical and not really a team player.
The research clearly showed, “success and likability
are positively correlated for men and negatively correlated for women. When a
man is successful he is liked by both men and women. When a woman is
successful, people of both genders like her less. This truth is both shocking
and unsurprising: shocking because no one would ever admit to stereotyping on
the basis of gender and unsurprising because clearly we do.”
As late as 2012, “Science Faculty’s Subtle Gender
Biases Favor Male Students” by Corinne A. Moss-Racusin states, “when evaluating
identical resumes for a lab manager position from a male student and a female
student, scientists of both sexes gave better marks to the male applicant. Even
though the students had the same qualifications and experience, the scientists
deemed the female student less competent.”
“Lean In” is based on a 2006 TED talk that Sandberg
gave titled, “Why we have too few Women Leaders.” Start with this 15 minute
presentation that is chocked to the gills with discuss(able) points and then pick
the book up and prepare to be wowed. If it helps, I picked it up as a skeptic myself.
2 comments:
I was also skeptical of this book before reading it. I think it was one of the best career books I've read in years. I wish I would have read it and hopefully been receptive to it's message when I was younger. I realized that by refusing to even interview with a CPA firm after I passed the CPA exam because I didn't want to take a pay-cut I probably made a huge career mistake.
Me too, Savvy! I am going to have all of us read it here, chapters at a time, and discuss the bias that we have and don't even know it. Very eye opening!
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