I was just reading an article about precisely this. Four Ways Women Stunt Their Careers Unintentionally: Having combed through more than a thousand 360-degree performance assessments conducted in recent years, we’ve found, by a wide margin, that the primary criticism men have about their female colleagues is that the women they work with seem to exhibit low self-confidence. Our gut says that this may partly be a perception issue — we’ve observed that men sometimes interpret (or misinterpret) an inclination in women to share credit or defer judgment as a lack of confidence. Still, perception or not, there is some research to suggest that women themselves feel less self-assured at work than men. A study released in 2011 by Europe’s Institute of Leadership and Management revealed that women report having lower confidence in regard to their careers: Men were more confident across all age groups, with 70% of males having high or very high levels of self-confidence, compared to 50% of the women surveyed. Half of women managers admitted to feelings of self-doubt about their performance and career, but only 31% of men reported the same. The study also found that this lack of confidence extends to a more cautious approach to applying for jobs and promotions: 20% of men said they would apply for a role despite only partially meeting its job description, compared to 14% of women. Read more http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/10/four_ways_women_stunt_their_careers.html?utm_source=pulsenews&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+harvardbusiness+%28HBR.org%29 

I was just reading an article about precisely this.

Four Ways Women Stunt Their Careers Unintentionally:

Having combed through more than a thousand 360-degree performance assessments conducted in recent years, we’ve found, by a wide margin, that the primary criticism men have about their female colleagues is that the women they work with seem to exhibit low self-confidence.

Our gut says that this may partly be a perception issue — we’ve observed that men sometimes interpret (or misinterpret) an inclination in women to share credit or defer judgment as a lack of confidence. Still, perception or not, there is some research to suggest that women themselves feel less self-assured at work than men. A study released in 2011 by Europe’s Institute of Leadership and Management revealed that women report having lower confidence in regard to their careers:

  • Men were more confident across all age groups, with 70% of males having high or very high levels of self-confidence, compared to 50% of the women surveyed.
  • Half of women managers admitted to feelings of self-doubt about their performance and career, but only 31% of men reported the same.
  • The study also found that this lack of confidence extends to a more cautious approach to applying for jobs and promotions: 20% of men said they would apply for a role despite only partially meeting its job description, compared to 14% of women.

    Read more

    http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/10/four_ways_women_stunt_their_careers.html?utm_source=pulsenews&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+harvardbusiness+%28HBR.org%29 

    (via poorlenore)

    Tags: sexism self-esteem self confidence rugrats