Kaya Patel ‘22, Editor-in-Chief

Image Courtesy of the Philadelphia Magazine

Despite how prepared and qualified women are, they underestimate their skills significantly more than men. From the fear of taking risks in class to nervousness surrounding requesting a pay raise, this confidence gap is embedded in everyday life. Yet, because it’s not a measurable gender disparity like the wage gap, most people don’t acknowledge its impact on our society.

This underlying trend in confidence displays itself through many habits more common to women. For instance, women have been known to apologize much more than men or assume the blame for mistakes that aren’t even their fault. As a field hockey player, I began to notice instances of these small habits in practices and games: every time we mess up a hit or make a poor pass to a teammate, we instinctively apologize. Even in a supportive environment like the field hockey team, we’ve been trained to overcompensate for our small mistakes because of a foundational lack of confidence.

Other times, women undervalue themselves and what they deserve for their hard work. Linda Babcock, an economics professor at Carnegie Mellon University, conducted several studies with business school students and discovered that men negotiate their salary four times as much as women do, and even when women discuss their expected pay, they ask for 30% less money than their male counterparts. Additionally, the study showed that when women ask for a promotion or apply for a new job, they only do so when they know they meet 100% of the qualifications necessary. On the other hand, men began applying for similar positions with just 50% of the necessary qualifications. These studies highlight that women only feel confident in their abilities when they can assuredly predict the outcome or justify their qualifications to themselves. 

Another experiment conducted by psychologist Zachary Estes called “Confidence Mediates the Sex Difference in Mental Rotation Performance” used a series of 3D spatial puzzles to test the role that confidence plays in performance. When women were required to provide an answer to each puzzle, they produced identical results to the men in the experiment, but when they were asked to answer all the puzzles that they believed they could, the number of problems attempted decreased. As the result, their scores dropped significantly. This test adds to the trend that women are less likely to take risks and recognize their strengths without high levels of certainty. In a separate test, participants were asked to report their confidence in each answer before submitting it. This additional part of the test improved the scores of men but hindered the performance of women. While the women in the study were equally capable of solving these puzzles, their confidence was the greatest barrier to their success. 

One main contributor to the confidence gap is the criticism that women face for exuding confidence. Confident women, especially in the media, are often dismissed or judged when sharing their opinions. Even when their behavior is identical to their male counterparts, women are more likely to be called “controlling” or “out of line”. Thus, the societal expectation for women to be calm and respectful deters them from taking risks and speaking up for what they deserve. 

The question remains, what can we do to shrink the confidence gap in our own school community? Regardless of gender, it is important to reaffirm our strengths and build up the confidence of others when we see them doubt themselves. This article examines the gender confidence gap, but there are many intersections and identifiers that could also contribute to confidence. As a community, we must continue to foster a space where all students feel that their voice and opinions are valued, even if they are unsure of their ideas and answers. The confidence gap may apply to women, but closing the gap is our collective responsibility as a community and society.