Negotiating Your Public Identity: Women's Path to Power

Abstract

The authors use the extraordinary 2008 phenomenon of female presidential and vice-presidential candidates in both of the main U.S. political parties to examine what obstacles remain for women, as they seek to negotiate access to the highest roles in society – and not just governmental roles. After detailing how Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin fell foul of one or the other of a matched pair of "gotchas" in how people evaluate ambitious women, they outline a strategy for negotiating gender that is relevant for all female professionals advancing in their careers.

Keywords: women, gender, female professionals, roles

JEL Classification: K4, K40