Lean In: Work, Women, and the Will to Lead
Reading Response Paper
Marie Dvorakova
ENG 201-09
Winter 2015

Women and their unequal positions in a work place, is a commonly discussed topic and the theme in Sheryl Sandberg’s book called “Lean In: Women, Work, and their Will to Lead”. Sandberg is a successful business woman, chief operating officer of Facebook, and a writer. She dedicated and targeted the above mention book to all women, who wish to have equal opportunities as men. Her book is divided into eleven selections, where the author and other successful women share their stories, and even jokes from places they worked at. Sheryl Sandberg provides her female readers with tips how to have a voice in a company, being an irreplaceable employee, how to find a balance between a career and family, and especially being appreciated and feeling important. However, the main point of the book is about women accomplishing their dreams, and being an equal competition for men at a work place. She also talks about women not wanting a career and preferring a calm life of a homemaker, which is one of the reasons why we do not have very many women leaders in our society. As a business major student I asked myself many times the same questions: “Can I succeed in this field? Am I a business type of person? Can I have a career and family at the same time?” When I discussed this topic with my guy friends, they never wondered, if having a busy and time demanding career, is possible along with their family live. It is actually expected from men to spend hours and hours at work, making money and providing for their families. However, this is not expected from women. One part of me agrees with this common belief because most women are mothers, and that should be their primary responsibility, the second part of me wishes the society has the same expectation for women. In our Mormon culture we still have the traditional believes that a woman should be a wife, mother, and a homemaker. Men are expected to provide. We hear this counsel occasionally in Church talks, or articles. We also hear about the importance of having an education, specifically a college degree. Brigham Young University in Provo, the biggest CES School, currently educates 49% of female students, and 51% of male students. According to a poll taken by The Digital Universe in 2015, only 33% of female graduates are planning on having a career after having a family (The Digital Universe). This number is a serious shock for me. I absolutely respect the fact that some women find their purpose of their lives in a motherhood and raising children, and they would trade the best career for their family. I personally do not have my own family yet, but as of right now, I am certain that I would not feel complete as a person. I do not go to school to get a degree. I go to school to get a degree, which will help me to get a job. I always knew that I wanted to be financially independent for couple of reasons. One of the reason is that we never know what the future will bring to us and maybe I will be in a situation, where I have to the provider for my family. My husband can lose a job, have a serious sickness, die, divorce me, and etc. I know those are extreme scenarios, but I think some women do not want to see that “those things can happen.” At work I met several women, who dropped out of school when they were young because they got married and were pregnant, never finished their degrees, and then after twenty years they had to go back to school because for some reason they had to be the provider of the family. I know I do not ever want to be in this situation, and that is why I want to be successful in my career. The author of the book talks about successful women, who knows how to find the balance between their family and work. They get “how do you do this all?” question a lot. The book certainly inspired me in a way, where I know that “I do not have to do this all.” You go to work to make money, so you can hire a cleaning lady. You go to work to make money, so your child can go to a day care, where they meet friends and learn important things in this early age, which adults cannot teach them. You go to work, you work hard, you make yourself irreplaceable, you get people who will work for you, who will help you to do projects, so you can leave work early and be with your family. The key “is not doing it all”, but finding “what to do.” Finding the right balance between a job and my future family is definitely my goal. If I sound as a feminist, I also want to sound as a woman, who already cares about her unborn children and their future. I do not ever want to sacrifice my family for my career because family is a true gift and the most important things we have here on Earth. One day I want to be a wife, a mother, and a woman with a career. As Sheryl Sandberg said I do not have to choose. I can do both. I was never really bothered with things like “women get paid less, women usually do not succeed in this and that field, and women are not capable of this and that.” I personally believe that if you really want something, and you work hard, you can get yourself in a position where you want to be, or complain about unequal opportunities you have among men. I am certain that I can achieve anything I want, if I work toward it with all my power and ambitions.

Sources: * The Digital Universe (2015). Retrieved by Marie Dvorakova on 2/28/2015. http://universe.byu.edu/2011/12/24/final-story-comms-321/ * Sandberg, S. (2013). Lean in: Women, work, and the will to lead (First edition.). New York: Alfred A. Knopf.