Happened to watch this TED talk by Sheryl Sandberg (COO,Facebook) and thought of sharing this :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18uDutylDa4
The talk is on why we have only few women leaders and the simplistic lecture of hers did bring couple of very fair( from my pov) points :
1.Women do not tend to negotiate
2.Success and likability are negatively co-related with women.
Well, let me make it clear : I am no feminist, I believe that leaders should be well deserving of the position they hold irrespective of their gender.
Having said that, I tend to agree with the points Sheryl has brought out :
Women do not tend to negotiate :
Well, right from childhood..there is not much expectation laid on the girl, boys are
expected to perform better. With girls, if they are motivated and tend to perform well..its more like she has exceeded the expectation...so its pretty much like a bonus, and so the career progression is perceived more as "oh, she likes to do it,so let her do it"..The pay check is "oh! whatever"...as the society wasn't really expecting all of this from her,and so the girl too tends to believe that and never really bothers much about the pay check.And once she starts thinking about starting a family,she stops talking at office, no more raising hands for good work...forget talking about promotion.
So if the lady is really inclined, the average age at which she can progress well in the career is 45,i e when both her kids could be on their own.By this time,the drive and the abilities to take challenges die down (this is debatable, of course) and its pretty much like " I have a job to pay my bills"
I have observed that there are 3 different types of men in the workforce :
1.Men who are appreciative of capable women colleagues
2.Men who are neutral about women
3.Men who are critical of capable women
The group 1 is what we would like to have and see, group 2 as good as they don't exist and group 3 does like women, but only the funny bunnies-not the one that makes sense.The minute you get argumentative with a certain work opinion..they will almost kill you with their hatred stemming from ego.
About group1,though its great to have such people around, it all takes a different turn,if the capable woman in question is young..and then society misconstrues..spoils it all and group 1 stops any sort of encouragement.
So the end point of it all is, for a young woman- don't rely on anyone-stand up for yourself. A lesson I too have to start thinking about!
Success and likability are negatively co-related with women
Yep, I agree with this point..An opinionated man is smart,an opinionated woman is difficult- this exact perception leads to capable women who rise to success to be hated.
In a software company I was working immediately after uni, there was this lady- she was the team lead of a critical project and didn't look old at all for that sort of a role.I checked with my colleague about how the promotions worked out so well, the answer came quickly.."oh she..she is very manipulative..makes friends with the c-level,goes for all their parties and that is how she makes her way..and by the way..everyone around hates her"...ok then!!
I became friends with her at a later stage,and realized that she was nothing what my colleague had told.She was very bright,clear headed and a smart technical person.She did deserve every promotion she got,but if a woman climbs the ladder quick-society finds
other reasons for her success..very weird.
Progress is not an easy affair for a young woman, and for every young woman who has made their way through their efforts and has done well irrespective of
office politics and power play, they are worth every reward and more..
