Why women don't get their dream jobs

Women are only half as likely to achieve their career ambitions as men. By the time they retire, men are twice as likely to be in their dream job. A new study claims that a lack of confidence plays a major part in holding women back, while previous studies have laid the blame firmly elsewhere. So what is the real reason?

The study, by Futurelearn, found that one in three women blamed a lack of confidence for their failure to go for their dream job - with over a third saying they would like to learn a new skill but they are held back by their lack of confidence.
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Dr Simon Moore, a Chartered Psychologist explained: "There is something more fundamental at work than a simple case of women 'lacking confidence'. Women are designed (biologically) to actually be more sensitive and mindful to risk and threat. The anterior cingulate cortex, the part of the brain that deals with threat is physically larger in women than in men. So we could say that women (in general) are biologically programmed to think much more carefully about their decisions and actions, which means while it might look like lack of confidence it is actually 'threat consideration' or the need for greater control in terms of a decision." He added: "Girls are conditioned from an early age that they are to be good and perfect. So there is this legacy of perceiving to be judged by society at all times which women are mindful of."

These findings are backed up by a separate study by Time Magazine, which found that 44% of women in their 20s blamed a lack of confidence or fear of failure for their lack of progress at work.

Is that it?

However, there's a gap in this logic. When you look at women and men at the beginning of their career, there's very little to put between them in terms of ambition. The Time study showed that 48% of women in their 20s consider themselves very ambitious or extremely ambitious (compared to 51% of men overall).

As they get older, however, this percentage drops drastically, so that 26% of women over the age of 60 consider themselves ambitious. Author and academic Anne-Marie Slaughter says the gap opens when women have caring responsibilities. They may need to work flexibly or go part-time to care for older family members, or children.

Claudia Goldin, an academic who specialises in gender economics recently told the Freakonomics radio programme that this influences the kinds of jobs women take - because they prioritise the roles that offer flexibility.

Women are therefore culturally conditioned to take on a number of different responsibilities, which alters their priorities, and pushes dream jobs down the to-do list. In their 20s they may have steely-eyed ambition, but along the way other responsibilities take priority.

Of course, there are also plenty of people who would argue that discrimination is key, and that women are held back from getting their dream jobs by men who refuse to promote them.

But what do you think? Are women really being held back from their dreams? And what's standing in their way? Let us know in the comments.