Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer for Facebook, spoke recently at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. She discussed what she called an “ambition gap” that affects women around the world. In developed countries this gap is found at the individual level. Women consistently demonstrate less ambition than men in countries like the United States. Noting a recent incident where children’s clothing maker Gymboree offered boys’ shirts that said “Smart Like Daddy” and girls’ shirts that said “Pretty Like Mommy,” Sandberg argued that our culture trains boys and girls alike to believe that ambition is not an appropriate feminine trait. As evidence she pointed out data that shows that success and likeability tend to be positively correlated in men, but negatively correlated in women. Our culture, she says, rewards men from an early age for drive and success, but punishes women for the same traits.
The video is definitely worth a watch. Check it out below and then let us know what you think in the comments.