I recently looked up the number of women in Congress.
Fewer than one in five legislators are women.
At Fortune 500 companies, fewer than one in 20 CEO's are women.
And look at all the presidents of the United States, through Barack Obama.
Now, I know there was a long time when women couldn't be president, but if men and women had an equal.
Shot at the White House, the odds.
Of having 44 presidents in a row all be men, about one in 18 trillion.
What explains the dearth of women in top leadership positions?
Is it bias?
A lack of role models?
The all boys club?
Sure.
But it goes deeper than that.
Women are trapped in a catch 22, a paradox so deeply embedded in our culture that there are few means of escape.
And so it is really that very, very fine line between being a shrew on the one hand and a puppet on the other, that any woman in public life has to walk.
The puppet, the shrew and the double bind facing women who want to lead this week on hidden brain.
A few years ago, one of our listeners decided to switch careers.
So my name is Deborah Mehta, and I am a second year marketing student in an MBA program.
Deborah had been a successful teacher, but the business world appealed to her.
She thought she would be a good fit.