In Chapter 1, The Leadership Ambition Gap, Sandberg begins by telling the reader that she was born in an environment where girls could do anything that boys could do and she and her siblings were raised to believe that all careers paths were open to them. There is no doubt that women have the skills to lead in the workplace, they are increasingly outperforming men in school, earning more than 50 percent of undergraduate and master’s degrees. Unfortunately, these academic gains have not translated into significantly higher numbers of women in top positions. A contributing factor is the leadership ambition gap which exists between men and women.
Although many professional women are “ambitious”, fewer women than men aspire to hold senior positions. Fewer women describe themselves as being ambitious. Women who are “ambitious” are viewed as being aggressive or hard-charging, traits which are considered to be negative for women.
As pointed out by Sandberg, “Fear is at the root of so many of the barriers that women face.” These fears include fear of …show more content…
Sandberg invited them to sit at the table, but they all just stayed where they were. Women are more susceptible than men to the Imposter Syndrome, the phenomenon of capable people being plagued by self-doubt.” For women feeling like a fraud is a symptom of a greater problem, women underestimating themselves. Sandberg admits that there are still times when she feels like a “fraud.” Men typically attribute their success to their own skills and qualities unlike women who attribute their success to getting lucky, being hard-working and receiving help from others. Sandberg suggest that a way to overcome lack of confidence is to “fake it until you feel