Study: The Surprising Thing Holding Women Back

I worked for Burger King for about 18 months during and after high school. I quit at the end of the summer to go away to college. When I returned to my hometown following my freshman year of college, in need of a summer job, I didn’t even think of returning to Burger King. Why? I was terrified I hadn’t been a good enough employee and they wouldn’t want me back.

Retrospectively, that was a ridiculous fear. I’d never been late, never gotten in trouble, my drawer was always accurate, I was trained to both open and close, and I could work all the stations. I was an ideal employee.

But, instead, I went and got a job at Kmart. One day, my former Burger King manager came through my checkout line. “I didn’t know you were home! Why didn’t you come back to work for me?”

“You would hire me?” I asked, shocked.

“Of course! Can you come back?”

To keep reading, click here: Study: The Surprising Thing Holding Women Back

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8 thoughts on “Study: The Surprising Thing Holding Women Back

  1. Since discrimination against women is still “alive and well,” women recognize that they have to be twice as good as comparable men in order to compete. Thus, the need to feel more qualified before applying may well be the result of women being held back, rather than one of the causes.

  2. I have to be honest, when I first read the headline I thought that you were going to tell me that studying, or the lack thereof, was what was holding women back.

    [sigh] Going to be one of THOSE days…

  3. I agree with all of you. Not only do we feel we fall short, but that is often supported by a lack of appreciation and mentorship from management for our knowledge and capabilities.

  4. Women are more likely to receive criticism (especially non-actionable) and are less likely to receive praise. This will bias them into thinking they are less competent than their peers.

    1. Or to think that they need to be more competent, in order to compete under that double standard.

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