The Ambition Gap

In her book, Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead (New York: Alfred A Knopf, 2013), Sheryl Sandberg, the Chief Operating Officer of Facebook, observes that, even with all the gender progress made in our country in recent decades, the young women of today are less likely than their male peers to characterize themselves as "leaders," "visionaries," "self-confident," and "willing to take risks."  This plays out as an "ambition gap" resulting in far fewer women than men aspiring to, and advancing to, leadership positions.

This ambition gap starts in the earliest years with boys and girls being treated differently.  Sandberg cites two messages that you would have expected in 1951, but which actually were broadcast in 2011:

• Gymboree sold onesie body suits for boys that proclaimed "Smart Like Daddy" and for girls that said "Pretty Like Mommy."
• J.C. Penney marketed a t-shirt to teenage girls that announced, "I'm too pretty to do homework, so my brother has to do it for me."

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