Giving Notice: Why the Best and the Brightest Leave the Workplace and How You Can Help Them Stay

2.5. Self-Promotion

The relative importance of self-promotion in an organization has been well documented. That leaves most women and many cultural groups for which humility is highly valued at a gross disadvantage. Traditionally, men have been socialized to speak well of themselves to compete intrasexually for both economic resources and romantic attention from women. In contrast, women have been socialized to be communally oriented rather than self-centered.

Studies have found that too many individuals spend their careers trying to establish visibility, proving that they belong, and overcoming stereotyped ideas about their lives and work habits. The effort is exhausting and slowly takes its toll.

Two years after her review, Kristen recounted ...