I was listening to NPR today (surprise) and Facebook COO, Sheryl Sandberg was featured in an All Things Considered story "The Word Bossy Should be Banned". In a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, Sandberg called bossy "the other b-word". She explains in her interview the word bossy carries a strongly female and negative connotation. Research shows that by middle school, girls are much less likely to lead and that carriers on into adulthood. Sandberg believes this is because our society discourages girls and young women from speaking up by using words like "bossy". Using words like "bossy" undermines a young girl's confidence to speak up. Behind words like "bossy" lies deep-rooted stereotypes about gender. Boys are expected to be assertive, confident and opinionated, while girls should be kind, nurturing and compassionate.
Our research pointed to the "emergence gap" as well. A lot of the research talked about women feeling less qualified despite the opposite being true. Girls and women are leading in academics - outpacing boys and men in educational outcomes including advanced college degrees. Still, men are more likely to apply for jobs that are outside of their qualifications and talk about and inflate their successes, where women feel less confident to do so.
So what can be done? Sandberg says: CHANGE OUR LANGUAGE. She has partnered with Girl Scouts of America to do a public service campaign to ban the word "bossy"!
Our research pointed to the "emergence gap" as well. A lot of the research talked about women feeling less qualified despite the opposite being true. Girls and women are leading in academics - outpacing boys and men in educational outcomes including advanced college degrees. Still, men are more likely to apply for jobs that are outside of their qualifications and talk about and inflate their successes, where women feel less confident to do so.
So what can be done? Sandberg says: CHANGE OUR LANGUAGE. She has partnered with Girl Scouts of America to do a public service campaign to ban the word "bossy"!
Is the word bossy that bad? NPR listeners and readers think so! Check out this excerpt from their site today about a poll they are doing in response to the Sheryl Sandberg campaign:
"About 3,500 people had taken it by midafternoon on Monday. Of the respondents, 76 percent of women — who were much more likely to take the poll in the first place — thought 'bossy' was a bad word. On the other hand, 76 percent of men who chimed in said 'bossy' was not a bad word. Young men were also more likely than older men to say that 'bossy' is not a bad word."
Let us know what you think by adding a comment below. Are you hopping on the #banBossy bandwagon? What word do you think should be ban to encourage girls and women to lead?
"About 3,500 people had taken it by midafternoon on Monday. Of the respondents, 76 percent of women — who were much more likely to take the poll in the first place — thought 'bossy' was a bad word. On the other hand, 76 percent of men who chimed in said 'bossy' was not a bad word. Young men were also more likely than older men to say that 'bossy' is not a bad word."
Let us know what you think by adding a comment below. Are you hopping on the #banBossy bandwagon? What word do you think should be ban to encourage girls and women to lead?