52 pages • 1 hour read
Sheryl Sandberg, Nell ScovellLean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead
Sheryl Sandberg, Nell ScovellNonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2013A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
Gender Inequality and the Effects of Gender Norms in the Workplace
Sandberg is not shy about labeling herself or Lean In as feminist in approach, and her stated goal in writing the book is to combat gender inequality. That said, sexism is a complex and widespread phenomenon, and Sandberg does not attempt to address it in all its forms. Instead, she opts to focus largely on one particular problem—the relative absence of women in leadership positions—in the hopes that solving that imbalance will have a ripple effect on the rest of society. She further narrows her focus by spending less time on the structural or economic factors that keep women out of power (e.g., the wage gap) and more time on the social and psychological ones—most notably, stereotypes about gender and gender roles that affect both how women are perceived and how they perceive themselves. The latter, in particular, are the "internal barriers" to success that Sandberg hopes her book can help address (8).
Over the course of Lean In, Sandberg identifies several gender norms that conspire to hold women in the workforce back—for instance, the expectation that women be passive and agreeable, or the association between femininity and nurturing behavior. The majority of these stereotypes arise from a broader notion of "separate spheres"—an ideology that took root in Western society over the course of the 18th and 19th centuries, assigning each gender to a "sphere" of life and allocating character traits accordingly. Men, for instance, must be rational, individualistic, and tough-minded to succeed in the public world, whereas women must be sensitive, empathic, and selfless to care for their families. As Sandberg demonstrates throughout Lean In, these gender norms create a no-win situation for women in the modern workplace; a woman who conforms to the feminine ideal is, by definition, unlikely to succeed in a competitive environment, but a woman who adopts more "masculine" behaviors is seen as suspect. Men, meanwhile, face a parallel double bind in domestic settings, where they may come across either as incompetent (too "masculine") or as unmanly (too "feminine"). Ultimately, then, Sandberg's goal is not simply to achieve gender parity in leadership positions, but also to "work toward a world where [gendered] social norms no longer exist," and each person is fully free to pursue his or her own "passion, talents, and interests" (169).
Of course, the extent to which it is possible to eliminate gender norms is itself debatable. Although Sandberg seems to view these roles largely as a byproduct of culture (a position known as "gender constructionism"), she does concede that there may be innate gender differences ("gender essentialism"):
I also acknowledge that there are biological differences between men and women. I have breast-fed two children and noted, at times with great disappointment, that this was simply not something my husband was equipped to do. Are there characteristics inherent in sex differences that make women more nurturing and men more assertive? Quite possibly (18–19).
In general, however, Sandberg suggests that these differences can and should be minimized; she continues the above passage, for instance, by saying, "Still, in today's world, where we no longer have to hunt in the wild for our food, our desire for leadership is largely a culturally created and reinforced trait. How individuals view what they can and should accomplish is in large part formed by our societal expectations" (19). It is worth noting, however, that some schools of feminism do not share this view: "difference" feminists, for example, might argue that the goal of feminism should not be to eliminate gender norms, but to recast conventionally feminine norms in a more positive light.
The Power of Individual Women to Create Change
Different schools of feminist thought take different approaches toward achieving gender equality, and may even define equality itself in different terms. For the most part, Sandberg's arguments align with those of liberal feminism, which approaches gender equality from the perspective of individuals operating more or less independently of one another: the goal is to eliminate societal restraints on women's behavior so that they can make choices and take action as freely as men can. For Sandberg, this includes eliminating internalized messages about how women are supposed to behave—for instance, the idea that they should strive to be accommodating and likeable rather than assertive and accomplished. The emphasis, however, is on each individual woman's ability to dictate the terms of her own life—or, as Sandberg puts it, "to dream big, forge a path through the obstacles, and achieve [her] full potential" (171). And as this passage implies, Sandberg also suggests that a lot of the responsibility for creating change rests on women acting as individuals; her central contention in the book is that if each woman "leans in" more to her chosen career—negotiating for pay raises and promotions, and accepting challenging positions—collective change will follow.
Not all feminists agree that this individualistic approach to change is the right one, and Sandberg herself does temper her claims at various points in the book. For one thing, she acknowledges that many women currently lack meaningful choice because of economic factors: for many mothers, for instance, working outside the home is "not a choice, but a necessity" (122). In addition, she warns against completely divorcing personal choices from their context, since "We are all influenced by social conventions, peer pressure, and familial expectations" (100). Sandberg even hints at times that the individualistic ethos common to many workplaces should perhaps give way to something a bit more empathic and community-oriented; she speaks positively, for instance, of a Harvard Business School study that both boosted women's performance and "laid out a new, communal definition of leadership" (157).Finally, Sandberg hints at some of the tensions surrounding personal choice when she notes, "One of the conflicts inherent in having choice is that we all make different ones. There is always an opportunity cost, and I don't know any woman who feels comfortable with all her decisions. As a result, we inadvertently hold that discomfort against those who remind us of the path not taken" (166–167). Although Sandberg depicts the "cost" here as a personal one unique to each woman (rather than as, for example, a cost paid by women as a group), this passage does point to some of the limitations of thinking about feminism purely in terms of individual choice.
The Relationship between Our Personal and Professional Lives
As a result of traditional gender roles, the work-life balance has tended to be more of a problem for women than for men. Where it is seen as acceptable (or even admirable) for a working husband and father to spend little time with his family, a mother who works outside the home is liable to be labeled selfish or irresponsible. Furthermore, the longstanding belief that women should be the primary caregivers means that domestic work tends to default to them, even in relatively "progressive" relationships; Sandberg cites statistics that working mothers tend to do 40 percent more child care and 30 percent more housework than their male partners, and shares how, after the birth of her first child, she and her husband began to fall into this same pattern. As a result, women simply can't neatly separate their roles as wives and mothers from their roles as workers.
Not surprisingly, then, the relationship between our personal and professional lives is a central concern in Lean In. In addition to describing the particular difficulties women face in this respect, Sandberg recommends specific policy changes that would promote a healthier work-life balance: paid parental leave, telecommuting, and affordable child care among them. More broadly, however, Sandberg also suggests that there needs to be a shift in workplace attitudes toward employees' personal lives; she praises Facebook, for instance, for allowing her to bring her children with her to nighttime meetings, saying, "my children were in heaven, entranced by pizza, endless candy, and the huge pile of Legos that the engineers kindly share with young visitors" (138). Sandberg, then, ultimately seeks to challenge the core assumption that work and life exist in opposition to one another and therefore must conflict, suggesting that we would likely be happier if we approached work with "authenticity" and emotion: "Instead of putting on some kind of fake 'all-work persona,' I think we benefit from expressing our truth, talking about personal situations, and acknowledging that professional decisions are often emotionally driven" (89). What's more, the book itself puts these ideas into action, blending formal argumentation with anecdotes from Sandberg's personal life (it's telling that the first sentence in Lean In is, "I got pregnant with my first child in the summer of 2004") (3).
The Importance of Role Models
Although only one chapter in Lean In deals specifically with role models (Chapter Five, on mentorship), the topic surfaces repeatedly. It's an undercurrent, for instance, in many of Sandberg's discussions of family dynamics; because children tend to learn through imitation, Sandberg argues that boys and girls need to see their mothers working outside the home, and their fathers working within the home. In fact, Sandberg repeatedly traces the effects of positive parental role models across multiple generations, suggesting that gender equality can build on itself over time. Here, for instance, is her account of her husband Dave's family background:
Sadly, Dave's father, Mel, passed away before I had a chance to meet him, but he clearly was a man way ahead of his time. Mel's mother worked side by side with her husband running the family's small grocery store, so Mel grew up accepting women as equals, which was unusual in those days. As a single man, he became interested in the women's movement and read Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique. He was the one who introduced his wife (and Dave's mother), Paula, to this feminist wake-up call in the 1960s (119).
Role models outside the family are also important, in part because they may set off a similar kind of chain reaction. Sandberg notes, for instance, that initial hostility toward a female manager at Goldman Sachs started to die down once more women became managers, thus normalizing the idea of female leadership. Sandberg even suggests that media portrayals of women (including fictional ones) can provide inspiration to girls and women:
It may not be as dramatic or funny to make a movie about a woman who loves both her job and her family, but that would be a better reflection of reality. We need more portrayals of women as competent professionals and happy mothers—or even happy professionals and competent mothers. The current negative images may make us laugh, but they also make women unnecessarily fearful by presenting life's challenges as insurmountable(24).
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