Is This What’s Holding Women Back in the Boardroom?

The women who faced the biggest challenges in senior-level positions had often been star pupils in school. They’d earned excellent grades, won numerous prizes and praise from their teachers, sought out one or more graduate degrees. Now the same behaviors that had been essential for academic success were holding them back in the boardroom. These “good student” behaviors—careful preparation, seeking outside knowledge, pleasing others, and adapting to authority—are also stereotypical “good girl” behaviors.