Continuing the Conversation: Questioning the Who, What, and When of Leaning In.

Lean In has started a worldwide conversation about the representation of women in senior leadership roles. However, the conversation has focused on individual factors that could assist women in their leadership journeys. In this paper, we draw on research about gender stereotypes in three streams ("think manager—think male," the glass cliff, and childcare) to argue that the who, what, and when of leaning in as presented in this book are problematic. Our synthesis of the literature leads us to conclude that gender stereotypes form subtle systemic barriers to the advancement of significant numbers of women into these roles at the group level. To circumvent these stereotypes, increasing the representation of women in senior leadership roles is a necessary first step, not an eventual outcome. We illustrate our point with an example from the Canadian federal government. To change the numbers of women in top leadership roles, individuals in powerful positions in organizations (mainly men) need to make the proportional representation of women in senior leadership roles a priority—one that is enforced through measurement, tracking, and reinforcement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]