The idea that women do not do (whatever) simply because we are afraid is ignoring the fact that we will likely experience sexual violence before age 25, that we are likely to be sexually harassed at work, that we will experience bias at work, that we won’t get startup funding — this list could go on and on. Why wouldn’t a woman be afraid?
Sure, maybe somewhere in the long list of ways women could be more successful is a snippet about being less afraid, but that is definitely not the biggest problem.
Women should follow their dreams! Yes! But, we must do that with greater risk of failure since the deck is stacked against us. Hedging against such a high probability of failure requires more calculation, more of a safety net. And, that might look like more caution. It is. It needs to be.
