Fowle 1 Caroline Fowle Malcolm Campbell English 1103 October 26, 2013 Chutes and Ladders: Why Women

are Falling Down on Their Way Up My college English teacher began each class with a bit of free writing: a prompt was projected and we responded in writing with our first thoughts. No stakes, no pressure. One day the prompt was I am good at or I am knowledgeable about and I suddenly had no thoughts. Following those ellipses seemed impossible. I wouldnt allow myself to admit, even to myself, that I was good at something. I was so ruffled by my response that I later began doing a little independent exploring on the role of confidence in success (success, for this purpose, as defined through very material gains in educational and professional endeavors) and the broader involvement of confidence as a way to explain the gender gap in the professional world. My investigation began with some casual hyper-awareness of females in classroom settings. In my visual arts class, for example, I noticed one young woman in particular who prefaced each comment or question with some kind of disclaimer or apology. This might be stupid, but or Im sorry, but. She was so unsure and unconfident of her thoughts that I began getting annoyed with her. Why couldnt she just share her ideas? Everything she said contributed to the discussion. It was a liberal studies class with under twenty students arguably, the most comfortable layout in all of academia for participation. She certainly didnt hesitate from participating; her hand went up more often than anyone else, but a disclaimer preceded each comment or question, no matter how insightful or important her main idea was.
Comment [CF3]: The gender gap concept is introduced without background information. Perhaps a few statistics regarding unequal pay, employment, or advancement prior to the conclusion of this paragraph will demonstrate the importance of a still-present gap. Comment [CF4]: Im not so convinced that an individually can be casually hyperaware. If this is a skill you possess, flaunt it more often. Comment [CF2]: conducting

Comment [CF1]: Stop living in the past

Fowle 2 Why does this behavior persist, even in this modern learning environment? Theres a lot of support that should make young women feel more confident, cocky even. In 2012, according to Forbes, 70% of valedictorians were female. And according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, even though women make up just under half of the workforce (47%), women were the majority of those in professional and technical occupations (57%). More women are graduating from high school and college than ever before. So is the female in my art class demonstrating a societal lag time before these results make her a little more confident? Actually, a lot of research suggests otherwise. Confidence begets success and the inverse isnt necessarily true. Even though women are entering the work force in greater numbers, fewer women are making it up the ladder. Women, according to Forbes, make up 37% of mid-managers, 26% of vice presidents, and head only 4% of Fortune 500 companies. What can explain this drop off? A social psychologist at Harvard Business School, Amy Cuddy, has paved the way in research to examine how people perceive power in a certain situation. She conducted a famous experiment that demonstrated that certain poses can make you feel and appear more powerful: two minutes in a power pose could create a 20% increase in testosterone levels and a 25% decrease in cortisol (a stress hormone). These qualities are favorable in situations involving judgment and decision-making (typical in business). Power poses include stretching your arms out or putting your legs up on the desk and leaning back. People who spent a few minutes in these poses prior to their interviews were more likely to be hired in their experiment and also were more likely to take (potentially profitable) risks (modeled in a gambling scenario). On the other hand, subjects who spent time in low-power poses (making themselves smallerpulling in arms or touching neck) had the
Comment [CF11]: Just as you provide supplementary information abut cortisol later, perhaps an additional detail about the benefits of testosterone would be helpful. Comment [CF10]: That examines Comment [CF9]: Just kidding about the previous comment regarding gender gap information. Comment [CF8]: , but Comment [CF6]: Were the majority in professional Comment [CF7]: Says who? Comment [CF5]: Futhermore,

Fowle 3 opposite reaction i.e. increased levels in cortisol, decreased levels of testosterone, and were less likely to take a risk. Although research also shows that women typically assume power poses less often than men, anyone can "fake it" (spend a few moments in a power pose) and feel like she belongs as a high hierarchical rank in an organization. Cuddys research supports the idea that there are certain behaviors that make people feel more powerful, thus more confident. So young females who are fitting into their environment and mirroring other older women in their lives are bearing the physiological and psychological consequences of these learned habits in the same way that young males do. However, the outcomes of these habitual behaviors are notably different depending on the gender. The ideas presented in Cuddys findings led to questioning of other seemingly benign aspects of our society that could explain the gender gap. Id heard claims that language is male-dominated, but was never convinced and didnt want too stumble into a feminist tunnel vision in my exploration of confidence and the gender gap. But I recently read an interestinged study conducted by Lera Boroditsky, an assistant psychology professor at Stanford University. She conducted an experiment that asked two groups of people to describe "bridge." The first group of people responded with "beautiful" "elegant" and "slender" as the most common adjectives and the second responded with "strong" "sturdy" and "towering" most frequently. How could two groups of people respond with such varying results? The first batch of people was German and the second was Spanish (or native Spanish speakers). The German word for bridge is feminine (die brucke) while the Spanish is masculine (el puente). It turns out gender roles may be this subliminal and integrated into our thoughts as we consider our role in the world. In addition, words of
Comment [CF14]: Were of German nationality/heritage/upbringing Comment [CF13]: No more Comment [CF12]: Where?

Fowle 4 professional or analytical nature are typically masculine and the more abstract conceptual words are feminine. Boroditsky also found that in 85% of personifications, whether a male or a female is chosen can be predicted by the grammatical gender of the subject in the artists native language. For example, German artists were more likely to paint death as a man, whereas Russian artists more frequently depicted death as a woman. Clearly, this study does not entirely account for why women are falling behind on their way up the ladder or why women have confidence issues. Confidence, itself, is a feminine noun in most cases. And although English does not use gendered articles, and many languages have neutral articles, there are broader implications for these findings. But it provides evidence that how we think (what language we use) is integrated in how we perceive our surroundings and thus place ourselves into our environment. With all of these factors to explain the gender gap, the next question that people have been asking for generations is, of course, what do we do about it? Is it more beneficial for women to increase their representation in the current system or for women to remain under-represented in the short-term and try to change the status quo from the outside? Last year, Harvard tried to change the way the system works by restructuring their curriculum. Harvards Business School Class of 2013 was the first class to go through a new program aimed at improving the environment for female students and maintaining female professors. From 2006 to 2007, a third of the female junior faculty left and each year female students enter the business school with equal scores as men but fall behind during the program. Harvards MBA program is participation-heavy (about 50% of your grade in most classes is determined by it). So, in the Class of 2013 experiment, they had a curriculum that prepared people to participate in the classroom. At Harvard, students were
Comment [CF18]: Each year since years XY? Each year since the schools beginning? Comment [CF16]: How? Sample sentence? Comment [CF17]: Comment [CF15]: According to whom?

Fowle 5 taught how to raise their hand. This curriculum change demonstrates that even the deans at one of the worlds best business schools considers seemingly small social behaviors (evidence of confidence?) to be determinants of women reaching the top. In response to the program changes, a female professor at Harvard asked Are we trying to change the world 900 students at a time, or are we preparing students for the world in which they are about to go? Thats a sentiment that needs to be dealt with whenever change is called for. Certain people will always be benefiting from the status quo and it seems to be easier to adapt to it, rather than change it. Ive only found one study that suggests that there is not a difference in confidence between the genders. A University of Basel study in 2011 found that young women had as much self-esteem as young men based on 7,100 14-30 year olds. This statistic, I think, is a little misleading as age dramatically affects self-esteem in adolescence. Part of the issue with assessing confidence is that, as David Brooks of the New York Times suggests, male self-confidence tends to be based on efficacy, how they perform tasks, while female selfconfidence tends to be based on self-worth, on more general traits like integrity and compassion. As Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, writes in her book, Lean In, We hold ourselves back in ways both big and small, by lacking self-confidence, by not raising our hands, and by pulling back when we should be leaning in. A lot of women have criticized her book as being elitist and for not addressing the issues that the majority of workingwomen face. But I think thats a strange double standard for a lot of people, especially women, to make. I dont think anyone was upset when J.P. Morgan gave advice to other businessmen or demanded that he address all of mens problems. Why cant a
Comment [CF23]: Comment [CF22]: It feels like youre leaving a thought unfinished at the end of this paragraph. Comment [CF20]: A survey of 7,100 Comment [CF21]: Little could be eliminated Comment [CF19]: Because before this exercise women didnt raise their hand often enough, thereby leading to lower participation grades

Fowle 6 successful woman write about her experiences? She also prefaces the book by stating that her intention is to offer advice that would have been useful long before I had heard of Google or Facebook and that will resonate with women in a broad range of circumstances and recognizes that shes incredibly privileged and most people dont have the resources she has. Despite its critics, the book has been well received by others. The book doesnt just speak to women. Its message is directed to men too. Many men have formed or joined Lean In Circles (a group of people who have read Lean In, discuss the issues present, and work towards effecting change). A member of a Lean In Circle, James Dominick, who has a highranking job at a South Korean bank in New York, understood the importance of her message: After reading the book, I now understand that women are promoted on achievements and men are promoted on promise, which is something from a behavioral bias standpoint just worth knowing. An area for women to lean into is in the tasks and projects they sign up for; in a professional setting, women and men gravitate towards different tasks. A study by the Center for the Advancement of Engineering Education found that, when working in groups, highly accomplished male students gravitated toward the technical tasks, while highly accomplished female students gravitated toward the administrative tasks. But I wonder if its a matter of preference; whats to say that technical work is better than administrative work? Couldnt technical works higher value just be a result of the previously established outlook in a male- dominated business world? But its dangerous to publicly call it a matter of preference or natural ability or inclination; Lawrence Summerss infamous suggestion that women are less involved in science and engineering because of a different availability of aptitude at the high end contributed to his resignation . By the
Comment [CF26]: From what position? Comment [CF25]: Get outta there Comment [CF24]: I think the but could be eliminated

Fowle 7 way, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, girls lead in a science exam in most developed countriesor the gap is insignificantexcept in the United States. The exam was taken in 2009 by 470,000 fifteen year old students. That points a finger to some kind of unknown American-specific cultural factor. With all of this in mind, Im not sure what the solution could be. I dont think bolstering the confidence of half the worlds population is necessarily a good thingat least in parts of the world where men and women are on equal footing. Over-confidence is a dangerous path. We shouldnt have to choose over-confidence or under-confidence. We need to aim for self-assurance and fix any factors that might reduce a womans confidence to commit in a professional setting i.e. fears of not having support if she decides to start a family.
Comment [CF27]: Score higher Comment [CF28]: on Comment [CF29]: standardized science exam Comment [CF30]: Should probably be located after lead Comment [CF31]: If you need more material, theres always research that shows that the degree of masculinity in names shows a correlation with career outcomes.