Why Women Don't See as Much Career Success: Sandberg v.s. Slaughter

   By drodriguez  Jun 29, 2012
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When it comes to finding career success it is widely known that women still fall way behind men in making it all the way to the top. Two incredibly successful women who defy the career odds are also at odds with one another in a discussion about why women don’t see as much career success as men.

We recently highlighted the career success of Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer and number two head honcho next to Mark Zuckerberg. Sandberg has become well known for her no nonsense mentoring style bluntly telling women they need to take responsibility and realize women are the reason women are not as successful as men.

Some have found Sandberg’s message and mentoring style a little off the mark and now a recent article in the Atlantic written by Anne-Marie Slaughter, ex-senior adviser to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, is calling Sandberg out and questioning just how practical her career advice is for the average woman.

CNN’s Fortune blog discusses the current debate between the two successful women and the rest of the women joining in from across the internet.

Slaughter believes it is the companies that have to take responsibility and change in order for women to become top ranking employees, whereas Sandberg believes women need to adjust the same way men do to the higher demands of the top paying jobs. By enabling women to have more flexible work schedules and offering family-friendly programs, Sandberg believes more women would be holding positions of greater power in the business world.

Slaughter goes on to explain how Sandberg’s argument that women need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps is not realistic for most of the population. She tells CNN that Sandberg’s message, “isn't taking account of the full spectrum of women who are not superhuman and rich. Sheryl Sandberg is both superhuman and rich.”

What do you think of both Sandberg and Slaughter’s message?

Which argument do you think is more valid when it comes to helping women find career success?
 

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