Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, discusses the complex reasons why women on average do not rise to the top of their professions. What she discusses is a little bit in your future but it is food for thought on how you might want to live your life. Sort of an existential discussion in a way. Do you agree with what Sandra says? Go ask your mother/motherly figure what she thinks (+10 pts.)
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Ladies and Gentlemen, Instructions on How Women Can Break Through the Glass Ceiling.
Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, discusses the complex reasons why women on average do not rise to the top of their professions. What she discusses is a little bit in your future but it is food for thought on how you might want to live your life. Sort of an existential discussion in a way. Do you agree with what Sandra says? Go ask your mother/motherly figure what she thinks (+10 pts.)
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I am blown away by this speech. From the very first statistic, that only 9 out of 190 heads of state are women, I was captivated. From the messages included, the one most prevalent to me was the impact of gender stereotypes in our world today. According to Sheryl Sandberg, if a woman and man are married and both have full time jobs, the woman still ends up doing twice as much house work, and triple the childcare. Even if a mother has a full time job, she is expected to fulfill the traditional roles of a mother as well. When I asked my mom about this, she said "Society is still hard on women when they don't fulfill their traditional roles." She also commented that what is appreciated in a woman isn't always appreciated in a leader, which makes it harder to progress in a career. In my opinion, the best way to change this starts with the family. If families that have two working parents had an equal division of household work and childcare, the women would be more able to advance in their careers. I read an article about that a few months ago in the Boston Globe, and what startled me was that some families look down on others for dividing work that way. You would think that anything that cuts the divorce rate in half (according to th speech) would be worth a try. No matter what methods it requires to get there, I believe that the goal should be as Sheryl Sandberg described her hopes for her daughter; she should "Not just succeed but be liked for her accomplishments."
ReplyDeleteFrom Jenny Maxwell:
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sheryl Sandberg but only some of her points. Agree with her attributing factors and that they are definitely true and are concerns that we should be aware of. For example, when a man and women achieve a goal the man is more likely to accredit the success to him, whereas women are more likely to credit external factors. Or another example is that women systematically underestimate their abilities. These and other factors most definitely are detrimental to the high success in the work force for women but it being the only reason why there is such a small percentage of women in high business jobs I would have to disagree. There a many other factors like women are typically the ones who stay home with the children, also women in lots of countries still do not have their rights women’s rights in America is still relatively new. I believe that what Sheryl is trying to do is a really amazing thing I am a strong believer in women having enough confidence to achieve their goals in whatever they peruse. My mother agree with her message for don’t sell yourself short and put yourself out there. She also believes that if women would be more supportive of each other then it may be easier for women to reach these jobs and to want to reach these jobs.
This is an incredibly inspiring speech given by Sheryl Sandberg for women and girls of all ages. Sheryl brought up countless, quite striking points about how the average woman's role in society is evolving. I agree with her when she declares that all women need strive to reach their goals, take on that extra project, ask for another promotion, and to push their comfortable limits. It seems to me that there are plenty of qualified women out there who just need to voice their opinion and take those extra opportunities in their career. When I showed my mom this video clip, she told me that she has actually witnessed many of these situations Sheryl brought up, even in her own office at work. My mom is a physical therapist at Monadnock Community Hospital out in Peterborough, and she said that she agrees with Sheryl about how hard it is to keep a balanced life, especially for women. She has seen both men and women get to the top of the corporate ladder in a certain career, and get a divorce a short period of time after. She has also noticed some women not taking certain positions or opportunities, or perhaps settling for a lower, less rewarding job in order to make sure she can have the time to take care of the kids. I think these are very difficult and also extremely fragile aspects of womens' lives to balance. I agree with Elizabeth that the gender stereotypes today are shockingly accurate and impact our lives greatly. The specific point in Sheryl Sandberg's speech that caught my eye was at 6:40, when she brings up a valid point. She states, "Men attribute their success to themselves, while women attribute it to other external factors." We can see this in our classroom every day, even in the slightest sense. Women, although just as qualified as men, do not recognize their own success and this makes it less likely that they are rewarded a promotion, even if they rightfully deserve it. Women need to realize how capable they truely are, and "keep their foot on the gas pedal."
ReplyDeleteThis captivating and eye opening speech, presented by Sheryl Sandberg, is about women in today’s society and the level of equality between men and women. I agree with Elizabeth when she states that the change begins within the household. If the partners equally divided the chores, the women would have more opportunities to advance in their careers. But Sheryl Sandberg not only discussed the partner to a real partner, but also that the women have to sit at the table and not to leave before you leave. Sheryl stated that women understatement their own abilities and when they have success, award outside factors, like someone helping them and worked hard. She stated for this success, women need to sacrifice more to reach the opportunities then the men do. All this sacrifice and success comes from the pressure of society. I believe in society, men are expected to have more success than women. I would believe that statement to be untrue until Sheryl stated, “success and likeability create a positive impact for men and a negative impact for women.” In my opinion, I believe this to be true. For women, being liked and having success can come at different times for different reasons, but in present day, they do not come together in the workforce. Women have to, according to Sheryl, overcome more challenges in the workforce to reach the same level as men who did not work as hard. This could present the women as unapproachable, and therefore, unlikeable. Society today wants women to challenge and thrive, but also to fulfill the traditional roles. I believe women need to keep their hand up or foot on the gas pedal, because if they drop, all that has been worked towards and is still working towards will be lost.
ReplyDeleteSheryl Sandberg’s speech was motivating and truthful. I agree with the three points that she made in her speech: sit at the table, make your partner a real partner and don't leave before you leave. Clearly, she is on the right path with these rules for women to become more successful and involved in the work community. Also, I feel that women need to own their success more than they do. This agrees with Sheryl’s point that “Men attribute their success to themselves, while women attribute it to other external factors." We see this happening everyday, and if we work on these things it will solve the problem that Sheryl and many others are trying to fix. However, my mom does not feel that what Sheryl said was a hundred percent accurate. She believes that men and women are biologically different and those differences define the natural roles of each. In the animal kingdom, females give birth, nurture and raise children. Males are the hunter-gatherers who are more biologically driven than women to provide and compete. She also thinks that those women who want to get to the top and succeed, are a smaller percentage than the women who prefer to follow their biological role. Between what Sheryl said and what my mom says I can see both sides to this controversial topic.
ReplyDeleteWow, great discussion! You three ladies and "anonymous" all make valid points and take some real significant aspects from her speech.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sheryl Sandberg on the fact that in today's world women are still seen as workers of the home rather than people with a career. This stereotype, thus far, has taken awhile to change. We now have the right to vote but still are "supposed" to care for the children. When Sandberg stated that working women still do twice as much as the chores and three times as much child care as there male counterparts, I was appalled. I see this in my life everyday, my mother works just about everyday but Sunday and still raised me and my brother as well as cleaning the house. Granted my father contributes to the chores outside of the home but still the amount of work the mother puts into home and the children in it, compared to the father is crazy. Women make so many sacrifices throughout their life to help those around them without helping themselves. Whether this is in the work place, by not keeping their hands raised as mentioned in Sandberg's speech, or having to stop work to raise the children or take care of the home. This certainly holds true in my home; my mother moved to NH from Florida to help my father's business, hindering her own job. She ended up not putting the effort into her job and eventually losing it, just so that she could focus on her children. Why couldn't my father have helped her so that she could continue to work like she wanted? I do not understand why women do not push themselves further in their careers, if that is what they want to do. The world around us is hard. It is a man's world but without women it would not run that smoothly. We need to keep going with our lives, the way that we would like to live them.
ReplyDeleteI thought that Sheryl Sandberg brought up many accurate and motivating points in her speech for women. I was pleased that she recognized that in order for women to succeed in business, women must address their work attitudes, as I have seen some speakers put most of the blame on the structure of society for the current male dominance in leading positions today. In her speech, Sandberg uses many references that explain how women have different feelings towards work than men, which she says is much of the explanation towards why men are still holding most of the leading positions, even though there are more women in the workforce than ever. When I asked my mom to watch this video, she responded by explaining that she agreed with the psychological differences between men and women that Sandberg brought up. She also said that she agrees that women need to “sit at the table” and make themselves known in order to succeed in the workforce, which is hard for some people. One point that Sandberg brought up that stuck me was that, when talking about how the genders feel about success, “men correlate positive feelings, and women correlate negative feelings.” Also, I agree with Kaitlyn’s point that “women need to realize how capable they truly are.” In leadership, confidence is key. Workers do not want to follow somebody who is not confident in themselves, so a huge part of women’s success is overcoming their own negativity towards themselves, and “sitting at the table,” even if they are the only woman at that table.
ReplyDeleteThis speech starts off very strong and interacts with the audience in a personal way which i beleive starts a wonderful speech. Sheryl brings ups up a very shocking statisitc on how only 9 out of 190 in state and only 13% in the parlimant. The other statitics she stated were also very shocking. When she uses personal expierence in her speech it personally draws me in closer. I feel like people do not beleive that women can rise to the top and to be honest, aren't given the chance. This might be a little sexist but i feel as though guys think they can do things better. I do agree with Sheryl very much, and i am glad she came out and started to talk about, as my mother does.
ReplyDeleteSheryl Sandberg gave a brilliant speech that I personally agree completely with. I have heard plenty of arguments and complaints against why women are not succeeding as men are, but what she brings up is new to me. Society is often the scape goat and what Sandberg discussed made more sense. I agree with her statement that women do not understand or believe in their success like men do. Women tend to be too humble and insecure when they should accept it was all their work that caused them the success. Women and men have always been proved to have different ways of working their minds and it does not surprise me that that difference shows up in this issue. A woman's mental attitude really differs from a man's sometimes and in this case it is a negative. I agree with Sandberg that women need to overcome these attitudes towards work. They need to “sit at the table” as Sandberg points out. I agree with Jess when she said, “Women make so many sacrifices throughout their life to help those around them without helping themselves”. This is a very true statement especially when it comes to family. Women are still under the stereotype that they have to give up their lives for the family while the husband keeps working. These stereotypes need to be broken and accepted. Women need to break out of what society expects and thinks. The numbers continually impress me on the lack of female success in the world such as only 15% of parliament around the world are women.T he numbers and studies done have been an eye opener and with the advice of women like Sherly Sandberg, hopefully women can begin to make their stand up there with the men.
ReplyDeleteFrom the brain of Alex H
ReplyDeletei think that this is a very well put together speech by Sheryl and she expresses her information very well. I do think that this is a good motivation for women and girls, but i cant help but feel a bit frustrated by the way she presents it. She says that women have to strive to reach their goals in life. why dosents that go with out saying? i guess women need to be reminded to try... pretty legit statment right? Everyone needs to reach or strive to be the best that they can in whatever a person takes an interest in and that to me definitely goes with out saying. although i did find the percentages very shocking about the women in the work place and ill i have to say is i wouldn't have a problem competing with women for the profession i chose.
Abbi
ReplyDeleteI agree with pretty much everyone posting. I do not agree with Alex though. I feel like men nowadays tend to be a bit sexist without really realizing it because this seems normal. They take it lightly with their jokes about women staying in the kitchen and such, but I think it’s serious. Woman aren’t being reminded to try, they’re being reminded what to focus on! Maybe the reason why woman need to be reminded is because we KNOW that we are expected to stay home when married, be the one who cooks and cleans, and takes care of any children. Maybe if woman got more support from men and help with things around the house, then they wouldn’t need to be "reminded to try" to succeed in the workforce. Women need to try more in the workforce, yes, but men need to try more when it comes to tasks that everyone just expects woman to do. Yes, we have come a long way with woman’s rights but I do not believe that men and woman are equal yet. The world is still very sexist.
I know someone who was very successful when younger, and had a great job. She worked incredibly hard in high school and college and succeeded more than most women probably do. She was then asked to stop working so that she could take care of kids and the house. She ended up getting divorced in the end, and had a lot of trouble finding a job because of the long time since she had been working. She still hasn’t been able to find a well paying job requiring all of her skills even though she worked very hard in school and is extremely smart! She was expected to stay home because of how sexist the world is. And now that she's on her own she doesn’t even have a chance to succeed.
It isn’t fair those women are treated this way. And don’t get me wrong, I’m not just complaining about men. Yes, women tend to be sexist as well, not fighting for themselves or trying to be treated the same as men. They know that they're "supposed" to stay home or not be working at the top of their company, and because of people like that; the way society looks at woman isn’t changing. I agree with Sheryl, woman need to try harder to rise to the top and be respected equally with men.
Sheryl Sandberg's speech is a motivational push for aspiring women in the workforce at one level, and a fascinating revelation in our culture and the way gender equality has evolved, especially over the past fifty years. She mentions that "women systematically underestimate themselves." I agree; it seems that for every accomplishment a woman achieves, she has to downplay it or attribute it to someone else's help and not to her own hard work. What is it that has caused women to think like this? Do we feel as though we are consistently inferior and cannot take full credit for our work because we have been brought up to think that?
ReplyDeleteJane brings up an interesting point that relates to this- her mother said that we are born to act this way- as in the ancient ideals of what kind of role women are supposed to accept applies to the modern corporate world. I agree that this has shaped the rough road aspiring women have had to negotiate, however I also believe that we have shed many of those ideals. Does gender inequality still exist in the corporate world and in society as a whole? Absolutely. But if we've evolved from dainty housewives to confident job-seekers in fifty years, who says we can't shake off those ancient roles that hold us down in the up-and-coming generation? Some would argue that the reason why women feel the need to stay more connected to their personal life is within their subconscious, a part of their being that cannot be changed. I believe that this is true to a point, but it is not a barrier to women's success. My mother is an obstetrician at Catholic Medical Center in Manchester- she said that she agrees with Sandberg's first point strongly: you need to "sit at the table", or get directly involved, to be successful as a woman in the workforce. She also said that she believes women's insecurity stems from how we lived in a man's world for a long time, and we become unsure of our abilities because men are skeptical about our entrance into their world. The last piece that she mentioned was that unfortunately, women still have to face some harassment and difficulties that men do not have to deal with. But if you believe in your abilities and keep pushing along, and you love what you do, you will be successful.