Description:
Over the course of the past three decades, the phrase "glass ceiling" has entered virtually every discussion on women in the professional workplace. The phrase has become entrenched in our vernacular as the barrier it refers to--lower salary levels for women than their male counterparts, a limit on their responsibilities, and fewer promotions to positions of real power--has proven to be a disappointingly prevalent aspect of corporate life. However, as Linda Austin convincingly demonstrates in What's Holding You Back?, it's nowhere near as career and life defining as the barrier women have unconsciously erected in their own minds.Austin points out more than half of all undergraduate and postgraduate degrees are granted to women, but notes men are still nine times more likely to reach the highest levels of professional achievement. In other words, the intelligence is obviously there, and the initial drive to do well is evident, but something slows women down on their way to the top. Tripped up by psychological blocks that have been reinforced by culture and society, many women are unable to see themselves as great achievers, Austin argues. Instead of nurturing ambition and pursuing greatness, they shy away from stepping outside the boundary of ingrained behavior patterns--patterns that compel them to "cooperate but not initiate; produce but not invent; participate but not lead; reflect but not create." Austin presents these patterns of behavior, which she identifies as eight distinct, psychological issues united by the feminine drive to affiliate with others, as the countless daily choices women make that radically affect their professional success. These behaviors include examining and fully understanding one's motivation; learning where and how to invest one's energy and focus one's intelligence; employing one's competitive drive productively and efficiently; managing relationships in order to support one's accomplishments and deal effectively with adversaries; and, of course, recognizing how best to channel one's preferred style of dealing in the universal currency of power. Austin's observations as a psychotherapist and medical professor are fascinating, as are the included findings of other renowned researchers and writers in the fields of psychology and psychiatry. She provides case studies of women in a wide range of occupations and offers explanations and encouragement in a tone that is never condescending, often eye opening, and always inspiring. A stimulating read. --S. Ketchum
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