I was sitting in a review session during exam week when I heard the girl behind me stress out about our upcoming final. She was frantic about the concepts, the applications that we would use, and passing the class in order to graduate in this past May.
Then something really predictable happened. The guy next to her, calm and poised, said"Don't worry, it's all about confidence. I don't know this stuff at all, but I know I'm gonna do fine."
So, let's talk about The Confidence Gap.
Because it's so real.
I've known it to be true that the women in my life are double and triple checking, worrying, making to-do lists; they are making things happen. Now, not that men aren't, but there seems to be a hurried sense of urgency that men don't seem to have. Some call that confidence. I would agree.
If you've read Lean In, you've probably heard about this before and while you listened or read about her life experiences in and out of the office, it probably clicked. The 'Sit at the Table' story clicked for me as I remembered intern meetings where all of the female interns sat in the chairs around the table, but the male interns sat down at the table.
I've pulled some interesting reading material about females in power, the dynamics between them and their male counterparts. See for yourself if the "confidence gap" is real in your workspace or at home.
1. The Atlantic Are People Becoming More Open To Female Leaders?
2. The Atlantic // The Confidence Gap by Katty Kate & Claire Shipman
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