Closing the gender confidence gap

- You've probably heard of the wage gap, where women make less money than men. Maybe you've heard of the promotion gap, where women are less likely than men to be promoted to managerial roles. But have you heard of the confidence gap? This is the gap or difference between how confident women and men feel and their abilities to say, apply for a job, ask for a promotion, or even speak up during a meeting. If you're like many women, you've probably attributed your lack of confidence to your own personal shortcomings and insecurities. But this is an experience that impacts most if not all women, just because of their gender. And it's a gender barrier with significant consequences for your life and career. In this lesson, I'm going to explain why the confidence gap exists and teach you a simple rule that will help you bridge it. Confidence is your belief in your own ability to do something. You'll feel differing levels of confidence depending on what it is you're trying to do, whether that's nailing a job interview or baking a perfect chocolate soufflé. Now this may sound pretty obvious, but underneath your feelings of confidence, your belief in your abilities is a whole set of other beliefs that you've collected throughout your life. Let me give you an example. Let's say you want to apply for that dream job, but rather than submitting the application you worry about whether or not you're qualified enough, which decreases your confidence. You start to believe that because you don't feel confident about it, you shouldn't apply, so you don't. If this has ever happened to you, you are not alone. Women believe they need to meet 100% of the criteria before applying for a job, Men, 60%. This underlying belief and others like them make women feel less confident. In contrast, many men experience what is called authentic overconfidence. This is an inflated perception of their own abilities, and why not, as men, their experiences have been relatively more positive. So they've developed more positive beliefs about themselves. Even if they meet only 60% of the job qualification, they have the confidence to apply anyway. So what can you do? Apply the 60% confidence rule. The 60% confidence rule is pretty simple. When you feel like a lack of confidence is holding you back ask yourself, am I at least 60% confident that I can pull this off? If the answer is yes, then do it. Because as a woman, you are running at a confidence deficit. You are authentically underconfident, and this has nothing to do with your own abilities and everything to do with your gender. And in research about gender and confidence, that deficit is about 40%. So if you're 60% confident that you should apply for that dream job or ask for the promotion or even speak up during a meeting, you add the 40% and then make your decision. 60% plus 40% equals 100%. This may sound really simple and it is. It's also incredibly effective. When women use the 60% confidence rule and apply for the job, they are 100% more likely to get the job than if they hadn't applied at all. Think about where you can use the 60% confidence rule and test it out for yourself.