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Caroline Fowle Instructor: Malcolm Campbell English 1103 October 2, 2013 Wheres the Confidence? My college English teacher starte each class with a prompt that we woul write about !reely" #he i ea was to $ust write an let your min go where it coul " %o sta&es, no pressure" One ay the prompt was 'I am goo at() or 'I am &nowle geable about() an my min was blan&" I coul n*t thin& o! anything to !ollow those ellipses" +hy, %o one was going to see what I wrote" +hy coul n*t I a mit to mysel! that I was goo at something, I am not alone" I ha-e notice that be!ore some young women state their opinion they say 'I*m sorry but") .s i! whate-er she ha to say, nee s to be pre!ace by an apology because it coul potentially be o! no -alue an waste e-eryone*s time" I i this mysel! an now watch !or it in the classroom" I see young women start with isclaimers be!ore they say what they want to: '#his might be a stupi comment but() or 'I*m sorry" I ha-e a /uestion") I*m watching this beha-ior at the high school an college le-el, but this attitu e continues into higher e ucation an the pro!essional worl " .s most Millennials woul probably attest, I grew up without noticing any real bias because o! my gen er" +hen games were split into boys -s" girls in elementary school, it was always a !un competition" .n the playgroun was the only place I e-er really the battle o! the se0es" In 2012, accor ing to Forbes, 102 o! -ale ictorians were !emale" .n accor ing to the 3ureau o! 4abor 5tatistics, e-en though women ma e up $ust un er hal! o! the wor&!orce 67128, women were the ma$ority o! those in pro!essional an technical occupations 69128" More

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women are gra uating !rom high school an going to college than e-er be!ore" +omen account !or about 932 o! entry:le-el management positions" 3ut somewhere along the line 6up the la er,8, something changes" +omen ma&e up 312 o! mi :managers, 2;2 o! -ice presi ents an hea 72 o! Fortune 900 companies 6Forbes8" 5heryl 5an berg, Faceboo&*s COO, belie-es that many women on*t try !or the high:up positions, partially because o! 6an o!ten unspo&en8 plan to create a 'wor&:li!e:balance) in case they e-er ha-e &i s" Others ha-e trie to e0plain i!!erences obser-e in per!ormance an representation in certain sectors" 4awrence 5ummers*s in!amous suggestion that women are less in-ol-e in science an engineering because o! a ' i!!erent a-ailability o! aptitu e at the high en ) contribute to his resignation" 3y the way, accor ing to the Organi<ation !or Economic Cooperation an =e-elopment, girls lea in a science e0am in most e-elope countries>or the gap is insigni!icant>e0cept in the ?nite 5tates" #he e0am was ta&en in 200@ by 710,000 !i!teen year ol stu ents" #hat points a !inger to some &in o! un&nown .merican:speci!ic cultural !actor" It*s a sensiti-e topic" #he men an women who !ought !or e/ual opportunity are still here an the woun s are still !resh !or some" In !act ma&ing any claim that women an men $ust li&e i!!erent things or ha-e i!!erent interests will ma&e you a !ew enemies" #here are a lot o! obser-ations to support those i eas, but rather than accepting them, most scientists continue to /uestion what !orces are behin these tren s" . stu y by the Center !or the . -ancement o! Engineering E ucation !oun that, when wor&ing in groups, highly accomplishe male stu ents gra-itate towar the technical tas&s, while highly accomplishe !emale stu ents gra-itate towar the a ministrati-e tas&s 6New York Times8"

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#his gen er gap we*re seeing isn*t the most important isparity in our society" .ccor ing to the %..CA, one in si0 .!rican .merican men has been incarcerate as o! 2001" #hat*s a scarier statistic than howe-er many women are not becoming millionaires in top:tier management positions" 3ut, I belie-e, the implications o! the gen er gap are important in comparing the progression o! all once:represse groups" +e can loo& at how women ha-e integrate into the top an speculate about how other groups or minorities will !are" I! women, who are now more e ucate than men, are still not le-eling out with their male:counterparts, what*s it going to ta&e, Bar-ar 3usiness 5chool*s Class o! 2013 was the !irst class to go through a new program aime at impro-ing the en-ironment !or !emale stu ents an maintaining !emale pro!essors" From 200; to 2001, a thir o! the !emale $unior !aculty le!t an each year !emale stu ents enter the business school with e/ual scores as men but !all behin uring the program" Bar-ar *s

M3. program is participation:hea-y 6about 902 o! your gra e in most classes is etermine by it8" 5o, in the Class o! 2013 e0periment, they ha a curriculum that prepare people to participate in the classroom" .t Bar-ar , stu ents were taught how to raise their han " #his curriculum change emonstrates that e-en the eans at one o! the worl *s best business schools consi er seemingly small social beha-iors 6e-i ence o! con!i ence,8 to be eterminants o! women reaching the top" In response to the program changes, a !emale pro!essor at Bar-ar as&e '.re we trying to change the worl @00 stu ents at a time, or are we preparing stu ents !or the worl in which they are about to go,) #hat*s a sentiment that nee s to be ealt with whene-er change is calle !or" Certain people will always be bene!iting !rom the status /uo an it seems to be easier to a apt to it, rather than change it"

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#here aren*t !oolproo! ways o! /uanti!ying con!i ence but I thin& that there is a gen er gap associate with it" .my Cu y, a social psychologist at Bar-ar 3usiness 5chool, con ucte

a !amous e0periment that emonstrate that certain poses can ma&e you !eel an appear more power!ul: two minutes in a 'power pose) coul create a 202 increase in testosterone le-els an a 292 ecrease in cortisol 6a stress hormone8" #hese /ualities are !a-orable in situations in-ol-ing $u gment an ecision:ma&ing 6typical in business8" Aeople who spent a !ew minutes in these

poses were more li&ely to be hire in their e0periment" I! women practice this, they might !eel more con!i ent" #here are a !ew stu ies that suggest that there is not a i!!erence in con!i ence" . ?ni-ersity o! 3asel stu y in 2011 !oun that young women ha as much sel!:esteem as young men base on 1,100 17:30 year ol s" #his statistic I thin& is a little mislea ing as age ramatically a!!ects sel!:esteem in a olescence" Aart o! the issue with assessing con!i ence is that, as =a-i 3roo& o! the New York Times suggests, 'male sel!:con!i ence ten s to be base on e!!icacy, how they per!orm tas&s, while !emale sel!:con!i ence ten s to be base on sel!:worth, on more general traits li&e integrity an compassion") Finally, I*m not sure i! bolstering the con!i ence o! hal! the worl *s population is necessarily a goo thing>at least in parts o! the worl where men an women are on e/ual !ooting" O-er:con!i ence is a angerous path" +e shoul n*t ha-e to choose o-er:con!i ence or un er:con!i ence" +e nee to aim !or sel!:assurance an !i0 any !actors that might re uce a woman*s con!i ence i"e" !ears o! not ha-ing support i! she eci es to start a !amily"