In Dialogue: Shani Orgad And Rosalind Gill On Women In The Workplace And Confidence Culture

There is an entire cottage industry around helping women feel confident. Confidence, the argument goes—and, full disclosure, I have in the past made this very argument—is a big key to success in a workplace still fundamentally built around men. And while the last two years have upended quite a bit of the traditional workplace, the presumed importance of confidence remains standard advice for women looking to get ahead. It’s easy to see why; we’re accustomed to men in powersuits power walking down the hall, leaning forward, all volume and strength. “Wow,” it’s natural to think, “I wish I had that kind of confidence. If I did, I’d get pushed around a lot less, and people would actually listen to my ideas.”