Should Women in the Supply Chain ‘Lean In’?

In every year since 1985 women have outnumbered men in graduating from college, with women dramatically expanding their advantage over men in receiving college diplomas to the 25 percent advantage they achieved in 2009.

Yet men still hold the vast majority of leadership positions in government and industry, especially in supply chain and logistics.

While some in the industry say this glass ceiling has shattered, I would say that we have made some significant cracks. In 2012, DC Velocity named it’s 2012 Rainmakers in logistics. Three of the 10 Rainmakers were women. Not bad, but not great.

Last year, 10 of the 28 Material Handling Education Foundation scholarship winners were women. And recently,  Supply & Demand Chain Executive highlighted the achievements and insights of 28 female supply chain executives in their first-ever “Top Female Leaders of the Supply Chain.” This is definite progress, but there is still much work to do.

In Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg advises women to “lean in” to their careers, embracing ambition and resisting the tendency to hold back due to actual and anticipated challenges in negotiating work-life balance.

She speaks about internalized sexism that holds women back from leadership positions. Women being criticized for being too direct — something that is not considered negative for a man. Women worrying more about be liked than being respected; they phrase assertions like questions and politely raise their hands while men grab the floor.

Some have criticized Sandberg for putting the burden on women to change, rather than challenging the institutional, cultural and psychological factors that present extra challenges for women. But, I applaud her for her efforts to encourage women to take control of their careers and their ambitions.

And I challenge both men and women in manufacturing and the supply chain to encourage and support women in leadership positions in our industry.

Click here to learn more about the Lean In effort.

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