Why are men more confident than us?
“Companies employing women in large numbers outperform their competitors on every measure of profitably.” – Katty Kay and Claire Shipman
If you have not had a chance to glance over Katty Kay and Claire Shipman’s latest feature in The Atlantic, you should. This piece, analyzing The Confidence Gap between men and women, is unique and illuminates an interesting, thought provoking truth.
Studies show men overestimate themselves while women underestimate themselves. This is noteworthy. Why are men so much more self-assured than women? Is it due to a history of putting man on the pedestal? Have we evolved in such a way because institutional frameworks and society have historically degraded women? As I’ve noted in previous posts, we have made tremendous progress in the past 50 years alone, but not receiving recognition has psychological effects that further contribute to the subordinate role women tend to play in the workplace. As Kay and Shipman highlight, women earn more college degrees than men do today. Throughout their search of examples of confident women, they found that highly successful women surprisingly lacked workplace confidence.
Society can no longer deny that prosperity can be felt throughout when women are empowered. Nonetheless, women remain underrepresented in top-level positions and are not equally recognized for their achievements. This includes financially as seen with the current wage gap issue. One of the authors, Katty Kay, exposes her feelings which serve s a great example of the lack of confidence remarkable women tend to have. She spoke several languages and had a degree from a top university, yet she did not feel qualified to compete for prominent positions. She compares herself to the males who acted more certain, spoke louder and overall felt strongly that they were more intelligent. This contributed to a subconscious phenomenon of feeling that they were more qualified, although not at all true. As I read on, I found myself feeling shocked. Successful, intelligent women with amazing potential went on to feel that they somehow should not be where they are. They question their success. It is this lack of confidence that is holding women back. If we don’t consider ourselves as qualified and prepared for high-level positions, how can we get there? Society does not recognize our achievements at times, but we must recognize our own. As Kay and Shipman address in their piece, success is based just as much on confidence as on competence.
Closing the confidence gap is in our hands. Its our ticket to closing the wage gap and putting underestimated women in the top level positions they deserve.
CarolinaLaLopez 