One of the most crucial factors for whether you reach your career goal is whether you can identify with the position or position you are striving for.
Try, for example, thinking about different positions in working life. Then think about what identity is associated with these positions – and what is the basis for the identity that you yourself assign to the position.
The American researcher Karen Ashcraft deals with precisely these thoughts when she describes The Glass Slipper Effect. The Glass Slipper Effect is women’s ability to match their own identity with their own perception of which identity is associated with a top management position. Karen Ashcraft claims that all types of jobs and positions have their own identity attached – but that the identity is largely determined by the person or persons placed in the position.
A big problem for women
With the idea of the Glass Slipper Effect in mind, a problem can quickly occur for women in particular. Too many leadership positions are filled by men – and these positions are therefor quickly assigned a masculine identity.
Because of this, it can be difficult for women to identify with the job that are often occupied by men.
Karen Ashcraft is American. But this does not mean that the Glass Slipper Effect does not also prevail among Danish women.
In a report, the Danish researcher Sabrina Spangsdorf has investigated precisely this issue. And even though we in Denmark have far greater equality between the sexes than in the USA, the Glass Slipper Effect still exists to a large extent among Danish women when they set their goals for their careers.
This means that Danish women, in their working life, are far more reluctant to pursue managerial positions, because they attach a particularly masculine identity to precisely these types of positions.
My perspective on the Glass Slipper Effect
For me as a coach, these are some very interesting considerations. Because it is exactly your identity I work a lot with in the courses I plan. Here you should not change your identity – you must instead be able to see you own identity in the career you want. Through a course in career coaching, we work very purposefully so that you can see yourself with your own identity in the goals you set for your career.
An example …
A client had been promoted and unfortunately experienced a mismatch between her identity and the identity she attached to the role of leader. The result was stress and dissatisfaction in the department. But after four months, she had learned that her identity was just right for the role of leader. At the same time, both the well-being of the department and the results had improved – and key employees had been persuaded to stay in the department.
My client has now been offered another promotion, but has once again come in doubt about the identity of the role. We continue the work…