Guardian: Women start out as ambitious as men but it erodes over time

Source: www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/nov/19/women-start-out-as-ambitious-as-men-but-it-erodes-over-time-says-researcher

Quotes: “Many women are just as ambitious as men when they begin their careers, but become so wearied by fighting against multiple structural and experiential barriers to their success that this ambition often wanes.

This is one of the findings made by Michelle Ryan, a professor of social and organisational psychology at the University of Exeter in the UK, in her research into why women are under-represented in leadership roles and report lower ambition.”

“… men and women have absolutely equal levels of ambition and want to make it to top in equal numbers.

“But while men’s ambition increases over time, women’s decreases. My research suggests that this drop is not associated with wanting to have kids, or to stay home and look after them. It’s related to not having support, mentors or role models to make it to the top, and the subtle biases against women that lead to their choices.”

“She advised ambitious women to find a sponsor in the workplace who supported their career. Often this was a senior man, because there were not enough women in senior roles. Senior men with daughters of an age where they were entering the workforce tended to be more supportive of women’s careers, she said.

“The other bit of advice is to be resilient in the face of the uphill battle, to be aware of the unconscious biases and the lack of support, and not internalise it by saying ‘it’s because I’m not good enough’,” Ryan said.”

WashingtonPost: Why do we devalue someone the minute they care for others?

Source: www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-leadership/wp/2015/10/21/nurses-fathers-teachers-mothers-why-do-we-devalue-someone-the-minute-they-care-for-others

Quotes:

“Yes, we have too few women at the top, but we also have far too many women at the bottom. … What’s really going on here is we are discriminating against people who have to care for others … if you’re at the top and take time out to take care of others, you’re knocked off your leadership track.”

“Men wrote to me, including gay men, and said, “How dare you frame this as a woman’s issue?” They were right. They also said, “I am not any happier with my role as a mandated breadwinner than women used to be as the mandated caregiver. I want to be able to spend more time with my children.” So I really changed my views of what men want but don’t dare say.”

“To boil it down, my advice is break the mold. Do not accept the hierarchies you are given. Do not accept the assumptions about the workplace that you are given. Do not accept the ideas about male and female roles you are given.”