Are you being ambitious?

“We are not going to close the achievement gap until we close the ambition gap” – Sheryl Sandberg. Sitting by the Thames river bank on a summer evening, a friend of mine complained about the lack of ambition in women. At that moment, we were aware that maybe we were judging too harshly. Every person makes his/her choice and we should respect the same. But, this seemed like a trend, something which plagued a larger part of the society. According to survey by Bain & Co. (2014), in the first few years, men and women aspire to the top management and are equally confident of achieving so. However, as time passes, women’s aspiration levels drop by more than 60% while remaining the same for men.

I remember being asked as a 24 year old in my first job – what are your short and long term goals? Like many others, I mumbled something about being successful at my job, and hard work and becoming an expert. I was pushed to answer – where do you see yourself in 15-20 years? Would you be content as a senior manager being comfortable in your job, or would you pushing hard for SVP or CEO position? To be absolutely honest, that was the first time I understood what ambition meant.

Unfortunately, I have also learnt society's expectations of ambition are different for men and women. Professional ambition is expected of men but is optional for women. Men do not pay a price when they express ambition at workplace. A Harvard Business Review survey confirms that the higher women climb the corporate ladder, the fewer children they have, whereas the reverse is true for men. For example, 49% of highly paid women were childless as compared to 19% of men. Women pay a price and that reflects in the choices they make. Which is why, even though Gloria Steinem said in 1970, “some of us are becoming the men we were raised to marry”, women do continue to marry men who have those careers.

Whether you are man or woman, early or late in your career, take the time to support a woman today – your daughter, niece, colleague, friend or even your partner. Ask her who she aspires to be, and challenge her to dream bigger!