Why women benefit from extra encouragement

- Perhaps you've come across this statistic before. Men apply for a job when they meet only 60% of the qualifications, while women apply only once they've met 100% of them. It's a widely cited finding from a small internal Hewlett Packard report that's often used to make the case that women simply need to cultivate more confidence in themselves. But upon further investigation, studies with even larger sample sizes draw different conclusions to explain the same phenomenon. Women, more so than men, tend to value following the rules. So when a job description lists required qualifications, women who don't meet all those requirements are less likely than men to apply for the job because they don't want to waste their time or the interviewer's and women are simply more likely than men to report that they're just following the guidelines. This is part of the reason why clarifying the rules of the game when it comes to hiring, promotions, and doling out the best assignments is so critical. When the rules of engagement are spelled out clearly, women and men put themselves in the running in more equal numbers. So within our own organizations we can all advocate for clarifying the rules of the road. First, the pathway to promotion should be made clear so that anyone can put themselves in the running for advancement if they so choose. Second, we must push HR departments everywhere to ensure that job descriptions differentiate between the qualifications that are truly required and those that are simply preferred. And finally, especially if you work in a male dominated field, we need to be proactive about reaching out to women as part of regular recruitment strategies. And while we can advocate for these systemic changes, being a male ally may be as simple as encouraging the women you work with to go for it, to put their hat in the ring the next time a promotion opportunity arises, to apply for that job even though they might feel hesitant, and to ask for the plum assignment that they really want. And the next time a job description comes across your desk make sure you're passing it on to equal numbers of women and men. Or if you don't know women to pass it on to, just do a quick Google search for associations and organizations of women in your field. I guarantee you they're out there and they'd be happy to pass along the job description to their membership. Remember, it's not necessarily that women are less confident than men, but rather they want to know that they're not going to waste their time or run into roadblocks for breaking the rules. Your encouragement can go a long way in expanding opportunities to women who might otherwise be left out.