The gaping work confidence chasm
In the most basic terms, “the confidence gap” refers to differences between women and men; that was from a 2014 story in The Atlantic. I also think it might be a book. I’m not going to discuss the confidence gap along gender lines, per se. Rather, I want to talk about the self-doubt that creeps into all corners of an organization. This is also called the “I am a failure” problem of work, or simply the fear of not being good enough.
The confidence gap is very real. It’s everywhere. And that’s pretty logical: people spend a lot of time at work. They derive self-worth from work. But “work” as a concept often doesn’t respect the individual back; you can call that “lack of reciprocity” or simply “chimp rape.” So you spend a good portion of the middle of your life at a place where maybe you don’t always feel competent or relevant. That’s, uh, not good.
Can we fix the confidence gap?
The confidence gap and MIT research
Long deep dive article on self-doubt here from MIT. You get a little ways down the article, and you find this chart:
