You offer perspectives and problem-solving abilities elite colleagues often lack. A mentor or inner circle can help you leverage your resilience and work ethic honed through overcoming long odds. The playing field might not be even, but you have what it takes to succeed. Your experiences are assets, not obstacles.
The nagging self-doubt known as imposter syndrome is incredibly common among high-achievers from underrepresented backgrounds. Practice our 10 tips to transform imposter syndrome into earned confidence. You have every right to be in the spaces you’ve worked so hard to reach.
Rather than silently muddling through, connect with a mentor whose experiences mirror yours. They faced the same identity shifts, knowledge gaps, and economic pressures. Most importantly, they understand the isolation first-gen women contend with.
On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong took his historic “small step for man” onto the moon’s surface. Yet, what many might not know is that moments before this momentous event, it was Susan Finley, a NASA engineer, who rewrote the moon-landing code of Apollo 11’s troubled computer. Her swift actions averted what could have been a catastrophic crash landing.
One of the reasons for the mischaracterization (e.g., female photos labeled as male) was the lack of diversity in the datasets: the systems simply weren’t given enough Black and brown faces to learn how to understand what they look like. Even more troubling, those techniques were applied to other areas of pattern-recognition technology, like predictive analytics that determine things like hiring practices and loan evaluations — and are even used for criminal sentencing and policing.
The key to being perceived as a formidable leader? Juggle communal leadership styles with unwavering self-esteem and self-confidence. It’s a superpower that can empower you to navigate the complex world of leadership successfully.
Supporting female entrepreneurs isn’t just about boosting the global economy by $5 trillion. It’s about unleashing a wave of new ideas, services, and products that can redefine our future. Closing the gender gap in entrepreneurship is not only an economic opportunity but also a means to drive innovation and shape a more inclusive world.
. . . where we celebrate diversity and welcome your unique perspective.
Building your “inner circle” is not just a nice-to-have—it’s a career essential. It’s about leaning on your fellow professionals, sharing valuable information, and collaborating for mutual success.
We often assume machines are neutral, but they aren’t. Joy Buolamwini’s research uncovered large gender and racial biases in AI systems sold by tech giants like IBM, Microsoft, and Amazon. Given the task of guessing the gender of a face, all companies performed substantially better on male faces than female faces.
Kathryn Bigelow’s triumphs tore down the seemingly unbreakable glass ceiling in the American movie industry. For years, women who made and watched films had been underserved and ignored. Bigelow’s wins sent shockwaves through Hollywood, proving that women could excel in traditionally male-dominated categories.