As I was doing some research in the area of female leaders including female entrepreneurs, I came across a blog post in the Mastering Entrepreneurship Blog from the University of Cambridge Judge Business School (https://masteringentrepreneurship.blog.jbs.cam.ac.uk/what-makes-women-entrepreneurs-start-their-business/ ) and there was one piece that really stood out for me. I’ve spent the last 6 months on an Applied Neuroscience course and in the last module, we spent some time discussing gender differences and the difficulties when it comes to gender equality. This excerpt sums it up:
It looks like women are struggling to reconcile what the world wants them to be and who they feel they truly are.
Bingbing describes the feeling of having disconnected images of herself: “On one hand, I want to be this attractive woman that’s looked after. It’s not that I want to be that person, but that I think it is expected of me. I found that these expectations stood in stark contrast to the hustling and determined woman I had become. In the business world, you always have to guard yourself. Being a woman has really helped me become an excellent negotiator throughout my career. To be noticed, you have to be extra vigilant, be attuned to other people, and read the room. I think women, for whatever reason, are better positioned for these skills than men. Generally speaking, tuning into emotions comes more naturally to women, and that is a powerful trait.”
Bingbing Chang, entrepreneur, and co-founder of Chantilly Assets
In this quote, Bingbing talks about societal and cultural expectations that have been with us through evolution – men due to their physiology were the hunter-gatherers, and women, due to theirs are the child bearers and carers. Although our physiology remains the same, our societies, in the main, have changed and we no longer need the physically stronger man to go out and hunt and protect their women. Our societies and our businesses now need a different model of leadership where “being attuned to other people” is key and perhaps as women we are perfectly placed to do this more easily.
But this brings up another point when discussing the difficulties of gender equality. Although our needs have evolved, our physiology hasn’t and this means that culturally there’s a long way to go still. If we had evolved physically – for example, both men and women to be able to have children!? – then it would be easier for our cultures and our systems to change.
Food for thought?
Initiatives like paternity leave, shared leave and others do help but in order to undo centuries of evolution is going to need a deliberate choice and plenty of action.
What needs to happen still for true gender equality to happen?
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Speak soon,
Sonia xx
