I am really struggling with this highly popular Huff Post blog.  Heidi Halvorson posits that women are less likely than men to persevere when things are tough for them and that this pattern starts very young.  Women seem to believe that our “smarts” are inherent and that they are fixed whereas men see things that are really hard as a challenge.  So where is the evidence for this?  A study in the 1980s by her mentor in grad school seems to be its basis.

It is always good to urge both men and women to persevere and meet challenges head on.  And, in my experiences, I can find some examples of men who persevere while women give up but I see no evidence that this is a broad pattern.  The danger is that this argument reinforces a stereotype that the problem of inequality is within us not in the social structure around us.  The thousands of women I have met who are successful are almost all real fighters.  They face obstacles in work and at home and find a way to knock them down. If this is not facing challenges, what is?

Fran

Read More Here: