Survey Says: Women Are Leaning In, But Why Isn’t It Working?

Ever since the Lean In argument became a part of our cultural lives, pretty much every aspect of the debate has been discussed at length. While we have always been Sheryl Sandberg defenders, we did take issue with one little aspect of her approach — we feel like we are leaning in, and have been our whole lives. We've been standing up for ourselves and putting our career first, along with the rest of the women we know, and yet we women are still miles behind our male counterparts. And now, a new survey from the Center for American Progress and Elle is seeking to prove that women really have been leaning in this whole time.

According to the poll, women are frequently seeking promotions — and more than half the respondents reported speaking up in meetings on the regular. 53% of women don't make a habit of asking for a raise, but it turns out that the same goes for most men, too. And, women are standing up for each other, as the survey found overwhelming support for things like paid maternity leave. So, where's the hangup? It might be an age-old stereotype that still haunts us — 1 in 3 employees in leadership positions (regardless of gender) believe that women don't hold top jobs because they're not "tough enough." Seriously.

Despite ample evidence to the contrary, many people in the workplace still think of men as the aggressors and women as the more "polite" leaders. And, even worse, employees are comfortable expressing those feelings out loud. But, the survey did offer a few nuggets of positivity. For example, both men and women agreed that women are judged more unfairly in the office. And, the results say that despite our differences in attitude or approach, we're all looking for the same thing at the office: A job that lets us get out of the house, but that offers flexibility to work from home or tend to family issues. So, we ask: If men and women are all working towards the same goal, what's with all this he-said-she-said business? Maybe it's time that we all teamed up to work for workplace equality, instead of women going it alone. (The Daily Beast)