http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/10/books/review/sheryl-sandbergs-lean-in.html
I was on Facebook a few days ago and saw the above article shared by a 2007 Joyce Ivy Summer Scholar who is now a senior at the University of Pennsylvania. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg promotes the 'lean in' move for women, a message that encourages women to speak out and often in their careers. I thought it was great to see her post it. Coming from the Midwest, many of our Summer Scholars have been very humble and polite about their impressive accomplishments. One thing that I love most about the Joyce Ivy Foundation is that the Summer Scholar experience allows girls who are the cream of the academic crop at their schools to see that they not only do well in their communities, they can also hang with some of the best and brightest in the nation-- something they might not have otherwise found out until later (or ever). As our alumnae continue to get older and move into the working world, I know their trends of success and innovation will continue.
Two parts of the article really stand out to me-- Sandberg's following quotes:
“I still face situations that I fear are beyond my capabilities. I still have days when I feel like a fraud. And I still sometimes find myself spoken over and discounted while men sitting next to me are not. But now I know how to take a deep breath and keep my hand up. I have learned to sit at the table.”
“What would you do if you weren’t afraid?”
Fear is what holds us back from evolving in any aspect of life, be it leaving a hometown and going away to school, taking a new job in a different part of town, moving across the country, traveling, or dating. It is easier and more familiar to stick with what you know, to go with the flow, and let others make the decisions. As the NYT article points out, Sandberg's book highlights the fact that women are far more likely to hang back and be talked over by male colleagues and therefore have to make a more concerted effort to get their ideas out in the open and taken seriously. This circumstance is certainly something I faced when I worked in the mostly male-dominated entertainment industry. Though I work in education now, an area which is known for having more female than male workers, particularly at the ground level, I find that I still have the "other people have been doing this longer and must know better and be able to do this job better than I do" mentality on occasion. The more experience I gain, the clearer it has become to me that I have some very good ideas, a great work ethic, and the organizational and life skills to make things happen. The more cognizant I have become of having sold myself short in the past, the better I have become at not doing it in the present.
I was on Facebook a few days ago and saw the above article shared by a 2007 Joyce Ivy Summer Scholar who is now a senior at the University of Pennsylvania. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg promotes the 'lean in' move for women, a message that encourages women to speak out and often in their careers. I thought it was great to see her post it. Coming from the Midwest, many of our Summer Scholars have been very humble and polite about their impressive accomplishments. One thing that I love most about the Joyce Ivy Foundation is that the Summer Scholar experience allows girls who are the cream of the academic crop at their schools to see that they not only do well in their communities, they can also hang with some of the best and brightest in the nation-- something they might not have otherwise found out until later (or ever). As our alumnae continue to get older and move into the working world, I know their trends of success and innovation will continue.
Two parts of the article really stand out to me-- Sandberg's following quotes:
“I still face situations that I fear are beyond my capabilities. I still have days when I feel like a fraud. And I still sometimes find myself spoken over and discounted while men sitting next to me are not. But now I know how to take a deep breath and keep my hand up. I have learned to sit at the table.”
“What would you do if you weren’t afraid?”
Fear is what holds us back from evolving in any aspect of life, be it leaving a hometown and going away to school, taking a new job in a different part of town, moving across the country, traveling, or dating. It is easier and more familiar to stick with what you know, to go with the flow, and let others make the decisions. As the NYT article points out, Sandberg's book highlights the fact that women are far more likely to hang back and be talked over by male colleagues and therefore have to make a more concerted effort to get their ideas out in the open and taken seriously. This circumstance is certainly something I faced when I worked in the mostly male-dominated entertainment industry. Though I work in education now, an area which is known for having more female than male workers, particularly at the ground level, I find that I still have the "other people have been doing this longer and must know better and be able to do this job better than I do" mentality on occasion. The more experience I gain, the clearer it has become to me that I have some very good ideas, a great work ethic, and the organizational and life skills to make things happen. The more cognizant I have become of having sold myself short in the past, the better I have become at not doing it in the present.
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