“How to be more confident Some people exude self-assurance, while others dread putting themselves forward. But is lack of confidence societal or genetic, and what tricks can we use to overcome it?”
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2017/oct/26/too-scared-to-speak-up-how-to-be-more-confident?CMP=share_windows_mail
Almost wasn’t going to read this article, based on the heading. However, I started reading, and found it more interesting than I was expecting.
Here’s a quote from a BBC journalist, Katty Kay, speaking about women and work, highlighting one of the perhaps more subtle impacts of a male-dominated society:
“Evidence of women underestimating their abilities is comprehensive and across the board,” she says. “It exists in sports, it exists in politics, it exists in business, it exists in the military.” It is quite the reverse for men. “One of the most reliable social studies you can do is to give men and women a scientific reasoning quiz,” she says. “Men tend to overestimate their abilities by more than 30%. Women routinely underestimate their abilities.” In reality, the quiz results reveal men and women tend to do about the same.
This, of course, has implications for both an individual’s career and the workplace in general. “Hewlett Packard has done work on promotions,” Kay continues. “Women will apply for promotions when they have 100% of the skill set, men will go for those same promotions with 60% of the skill set, because they figure they’re going to learn the rest when they get there – and they’re right, they will, and so could we…”
