Lean In with Sheryl Sandberg
Dear friends of women in science,
We've discussed Sheryl Sandberg's efforts to increase women's access to top management of STEM-related companies several times. Now she has released a new book, Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead, and has begun a big effort to make these issues more nationally visible, to get more women into management and help them achieve breakthroughs when they reach the glass ceilings. She calls her book "sort of a feminist manifesto." The last ten years have not produced progress on these issues. She says, "Ten years of no progress is a stall. We need a new dialogue on gender."
Sandberg is a top executive at Facebook and, as we've mentioned, is a mother of two who says that Corporate America still puts women out on the margins. Women must permit themselves to sit at the table, instead of taking the chairs around the sides of the room, and they need to ask for what they really need. She details how she asked to have pregnant women's parking closer to the entrance when she was pregnant, and got it with little resistance. But she had not thought to ask before she needed it. We need to work together (lean in) to get it right. She calls for a cultural shift to make more progress possible.
I think this is an important book and I hope a lot of us will read it, will discuss it with our colleagues, and will work at her suggestions for breakthroughs. It's interesting that it's directed at both men and women, because both must change if progress is to occur. If you have read it, please let us know what you think!
cheers,
Laura
Hi Laura,
I read it and was very inspired. I liked her approach of encouraging women in powerful positions to speak out more about their struggles in particular. And I appreciate how she gives specific examples from her own life and cites all of the studies we've discussed in this forum during the course of her book.
I found it terrific.
Did everyone at the latest networking event agree? Absolutely not. Even the keynote speaker felt that she and Ann Marie-Slaughter et al are all "50%" right. Why? Because each side is presented with a focus on only one part of the equation.
We know that women have to change themselves and stop being "good girls". We know that there are institutional barriers as well. But you know what? There is only so much you can control in your own career. And what Sheryl's book focuses on is putting you in control of yourself and making the most of your expansive set of skills. And that I find truly helpful as opposed to one more study telling me everything I have to battle to get ahead. Trust me, I know what those things are just by coming to work everyday!
Cheers,
Helen
Hi Ilona,
I'm glad she's playing the book for maximum publicity and setting up Lean In groups all over the country. She's not really into the blame game, which I do think needs to be played a bit longer to clean up the societal pressures we fight. But she does have a nice, empowering approach asking women to take charge of what they can affect, to lean in instead of sitting back out of the discussion, to share their best ideas, to expect to be asked to lead. That's all good.
cheers,
Laura
Hi Helen, I hope you'll come back by and comment after you've read it, and perhaps after the discussion, to let us know what you and your network think.
cheers,
Laura
The book looks intriguing. The perspective is valuable. Sandberg's platform is extremely visible and influential. Calling for a new dialogue on gender is great, because it shifts the focus to the culture, not to the women-as-victims paradigm which is tired and played out.
What are we going to all do about it? I just would like to point out that we'd benefit from voices that showcase more daily struggles in the workplace as well. Achievement is not always about being a corporate manager. Achievement in science or in education is often measured very differently, and perhaps in more varied ways. I'd love to also see Nancy Hopkins write a book about a new dialogue on gender.
This is all the rage amongst the women I work with. I'm excited to read this book before a networking event next month. It should be excellent Spring Break reading!
Helen
