Recently, I downloaded a copy Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead, by Sheryl Sandberg. Released in March, this informative and sometimes autobiographical book discusses and evaluates the way both women and society hold women back in the workplace, while also emphasizing and inspiring women to become leaders in the workforce in order to drive much needed social change. Although the book is highly geared towards uplifting and motivating women to push for higher goals in their work lives, it also spends a good amount of time dealing with the reciprocal relationship that men have in the domestic sphere. As women are held back in the workforce, so are men held back in the home, and in the authors opinion, society would benefit from an increased presence of both women in leadership positions and men assisting in domestic work and child rearing.
In Sandberg’s opinion, two major things need to happen in order for true change and gender equality to occur. First, women must “lean in” and actively pursue more leadership positions instead of allowing their careers to take a backseat to domestic life (child care, home life, etc) and secondly, men need to take a more active role in the home so that their wive’s do not have to “do it all.” Yes, it is very difficult for women to balance a demanding professional career and take care of the vast majority of home care, child rearing, meal preparation, but that isn’t the ideal ends as Sandberg so rightly argues. The ideal would be for men to pick up half the domestic work especially when their highly educated wive’s are bringing in their fair share of the household income.
I highly suggest this book to anyone who is interested in the equalization of gender roles. I also suggest this book to anyone who manages women in the workplace because it includes many studies that demonstrate that certain gender stereotypes are present in the workplace and managers should be actively aware of this so that they can equalize the playing field for their female employees. Overall, for me, this book was highly inspiring and actually made me think much harder about how high I want to achieve within my own career. Women can have a thriving career and domestic life at the same time, as long as they have partners willing and able to take up their fair share of the chores and childcare, and I think Sandberg’s message is an inspiring one for the future of women’s leadership.