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Women Should “Branch Out,” Not “Lean In”

There has been much discussion of late of the obstacles women face in their careers: the pay gap, and more recently, the confidence gap. The takeaway from the ink spilled on these subjects is that women need to close these gaps in order to achieve greater equality in their professional lives. Women should “lean in”, […]
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There has been much discussion of late of the obstacles women face in their careers: the pay gap, and more recently, the confidence gap. The takeaway from the ink spilled on these subjects is that women need to close these gaps in order to achieve greater equality in their professional lives. Women should “lean in”, speak up, and make themselves more visible on the job. The reason given for why women bump up against those stubborn glass ceilings is that they are more focused on accomplishing tasks than advancing their careers.

But why must it be women’s responsibility to “lean in”, or to attempt to emulate male bravado? Overconfidence has its pitfalls, and when women attempt to step up and demand more from their employers, they can face severe consequences. Instead of “leaning in”, perhaps women should branch out and find methods of leadership that work best for themselves and those around them; otherwise they risk swapping one stereotyped gender role for another.

One problem with the “lean in” hypothesis is that not all women have their careers inside the corporate machine. Men have historically dominated corporate culture; consequently, women who challenge it or attempt to circumvent it risk punishment. Sometimes they are even branded as pariahs and pushed out. The authors of the confidence gap piece in The Atlantic correctly intuited that if women mimic their male counterparts’ confidence, irrespective of expertise, they are thereafter known as “bitches”—a label that hurts them in the eyes of their peers and superiors. Rosa Brooks at Foreign Policy expanded on that idea, detailing the drawbacks of overconfidence: the most famous example she gave is former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s bold statement that the Iraq invasion would last no more than five weeks. If women imitated this reckless behavior, they stand to make the same blunders without the same benefit of the doubt afforded to men. So leaning in or faking confidence might not be the way to build the necessary credibility to lead.

Fortunately, there are viable alternatives for women to rise to the top. America has been steadily moving away from corporate culture, especially after the 2008 crisis; women especially are making great strides in entrepreneurship. According to research performed by the Center of Venture Research, more venture capital is being directed towards female-led businesses: since last year, there has been a 20 percent increase in venture capital firms investing in female-founded companies with high growth potential. Out of 17 countries, the U.S. in ranked number one for having the ideal conditions to foster successful female entrepreneurs. A local example of this is the two sisters behind the spectacularly successful Georgetown Cupcake in Washington, D.C. Aside from their flagship store in Georgetown, they have opened satellite locations in New York City, Boston, and Los Angeles. After being denied business loans, they maxed out their credit cards to obtain startup capital. Though the traditional route of a business loan was closed to them, the sisters used their creativity and tenacity to establish a flourishing business. An added bonus is that they are able to use their autonomy to express themselves: their website features them with a mixer covered in pink glitter, not something you would normally see in a corporate business.

Some women are even returning to the kitchens that their mothers forsook in order to focus on family. The Economist recently ran a piece describing a rise in women forgoing work life in order to raise their children, a trend including women with college degrees. They also found an interesting counter-intuitive caveat: women are leading in the labor market as well. Women lost only one job per 2.6 that men lost following the financial crisis and hold half of all jobs in the U.S. Could it be that women truly can “have it all” if they so desire? Perhaps within certain industries women lag behind men, but, taken as a whole, it appears that men are the ones who risk being pushed to the margins of the economy, not women.

Recent op-eds make it seem as if the boardroom and the corporate ladder are the only places women can achieve success and recognition. But those perceptions are outdated and limiting to women whose gifts may lie elsewhere. Women can certainly commandeer management roles in corporations, but they can also strike out on their own by founding businesses and nonprofits, or by taking on the mantle of leadership in their own homes and communities. If a woman is ambitious and wants to have an impact on the world around her, she would do herself a disservice by only thinking along traditional paths.

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