Leaning In.

We as scientists have all heard of ‘the leaky pipeline’. The same issue of retaining women in top management positions occurs in business. Both industries lament the loss of women due to child rearing responsibilities. Although not the only factor, it is the most discussed and after at least three decades into this debate, and it seems we are still not much closer to solution. So what else are we doing?

Facebook’s chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, in a recent piece in The New York Times, she is quoted: “We [women] hold ourselves back in ways both big and small, by lacking self-confidence, by not raising our hands, and by pulling back when we should be leaning in.”

This struck a chord with me. Although I don’t always have questions at seminars, when I do have one, I am more likely to sit back and wait to see if someone else will ask it – because I figure like good ideas, more than one person will think of a good question. And what happens if no one else asks it? There is the internal battle of whether to raise my hand, or just let it go because my question is likely trivial. Simply put, I lack the self-confidence. If you met me you would not call me shy, so where this doubt in my abilities comes from, I will leave for the psychologists to debate. In the meantime, I am going to challenge myself to take Sheryl’s advice, and start leaning in.