Is there a confidence gap between men and women?

A recent article by Katty Kay, Anchor of BBC World News America, and Claire Shipman, Reporter for ABC News, dated April 14, 2014, explores evidence showing that women lack the confidence whereas men are more self-assured. This article can be found here.

The article details findings in studies where men overestimate their capabilities and conduct, while women underestimate them. However, the study found that the actual performances of each did not differ in quality. While the article suggests men may doubt themselves on occasion, it proposes that men do not let their doubts hold them back, whereas women often do. The authors persuade that understanding the confidence gap is important to closing it. And whether women see such evidence in their own professional settings, the message conveyed by the authors asks women to “stop thinking so much and just act.”

Submitted by Lucy Dollens, Frost Brown Todd LLC