Why Aren’t Women’s Academic Successes Paying Off in the Workplace?

In this article in The Atlantic, Garance Franke-Ruta comments on Lean In, the new book by Sheryl Sandberg that exhorts women to take more risks, speak up, negotiate better working conditions, and propel themselves higher. The mystery, says Franke-Ruta, is why women’s success in universities, where for years they have outnumbered men in undergraduate and graduate programs and earned better grades, hasn’t translated into more success in the workplace (only 4.2 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs are women). 

The reason, she says, is that in the real world, a number of forces operate to women’s disadvantage:

• Sexism – Studies show women are offered lower starting salaries, are judged more negatively, and get more criticism and less praise than men with the same credentials.

• Reticence – Many women shy away from self-promotion: 57 percent of men negotiate their first salary versus 7 percent of women. Women also set less-ambitious goals for themselves than men with the same skills and qualifications. 

• Built-in barriers – To prove discrimination, women must initiate a grievance against their bosses, which is inherently difficult.

• The “tiara syndrome” – Many women believe that studying and careful preparation will be recognized and result in a figurative tiara being placed on their heads. But in most jobs, personality and networking count more than formal qualifications and hard work. 

• Passivity – Many women absorb this from the high school and college dating scene. “Men learn early that to woo women, they must risk rejection and be persistent,” says Franke-Ruta. “Straight women, for their part, learn from their earliest years that they must wait to be courted. The professional world does not reward the second approach.” 

• A defensive posture – “To be female in our culture is to be trained from puberty in the art of rebuffing,” says Franke-Ruta, “– rebuffing gazes, comments, touches, propositions, and proposals.” No wonder those who are looking for discussion panel members or op-ed articles say it’s harder to get women to say yes than men.

• Naiveté about academic credentials – “I’ve come to think of this as intellectual primping,” says Franke-Ruta, “the frequently futile hope that one more degree will finally win notice, and with it, the perfect job or raise.” 

So what will level the playing field? Assertiveness. Not being shy about skills and accomplishments. Networking. Risk-taking. Leaning in.

“Miss Education: Why Women’s Success in Higher Education Hasn’t Led to More Female Leaders” by Garance Franke-Ruta in The Atlantic, April 2013 (Vol. 311, #3, p. 28-29), no e-link available

From the Marshall Memo #478