The theme for this year’s International Women’s Day is #AccelerateAction.
Too many times we hold ourselves back because we don’t think we’re good enough (to win that competition, to pass that exam, …). Or we don’t think we’ll be successful (in getting that promotion, in getting that new job, …). So, we don’t even try.
Research conducted by Katherine Coffman identified that women lack confidence in their ability to compete in professions that are stereotypically seen as ones that men excel in, such as science, math and technology. Women are also more likely to dismiss praise and underestimate their own abilities.[1]
We are getting in our own way. The 2024 Global Gender Gap Report released by the World Economic Forum revealed that the global gender gap closed all of +0.1 points over 2023; it currently sits at 68.6%. The rate for achieving gender parity actually slowed in 2024 - it will take 134 years to reach full parity. That is in roughly five generations!
So, what can we do to #AccelerateAction? My advice for accelerating the rate of progress toward gender parity (and equality) is for women to embrace their insecurities.
Embracing one's insecurities means acknowledging them without shame, understanding where they come from, and learning to move forward despite them. It’s about shifting the mindset from "this makes me weak" to "this makes me human." Instead of letting insecurities hold you back, you use them as a tool for growth, self-awareness, and even connection with others.
Embracing one’s insecurities means facing your fears. It doesn’t mean ignoring or suppressing them, but rather facing them head-on with self-compassion and some vulnerability.
Embracing my insecurity is exactly what I did when I founded Child-free Women in the Workplace. For years I felt insecure about my decision not to have children. I feared being asked if I had children because I worried that I would be judged as selfish or career-obsessed when I said that I didn’t have them. Last year I decided to be very vulnerable and share my experiences and thoughts on being child-free — broadly and specific to in the workplace — by posting them online. I want to change the equation that woman = mother. I want to raise awareness of the child-free perspective and the biases and inequalities those folks experience in the workplace.
The confidence in my decision to not have children has grown exponentially because I chose to embrace this insecurity and do something about it.
If we’re going to #AccelerateAction, we have to embrace our insecurities to get over them. Please, have the confidence to share your ideas in the team meeting. To apply for the job for which you don’t meet every single qualification. To request the raise that you have earned. By doing this, we can get out of our own way and speed up obliterating the gender parity and equality gaps.
[1] Dina Gerdeman, “How Gender Stereotypes Kill a Woman’s Self-Confidence”, Harvard Business School Working Knowledge, February 25, 2019: https://www.library.hbs.edu/working-knowledge/how-gender-stereotypes-less-than-br-greater-than-kill-a-woman-s-less-than-br-greater-than-self-confidence
