And this is because in most cases, a man who is in senior management will assume that another man will have the skills to do the job. A woman has an unknown quality about her (to a man) that poses a risk. So he will hire a man over a woman. Or he will hire a woman who behaves like a man as a second choice. So that woman who behaves like a man gets hired, and so what she teaches the women she mentors is that to get ahead, THEY have to behave like men. And so the vicious cycle continues. I've had ringside seats all my working life.

It takes women who get into senior positions to change their mindset, because it starts with them. They should put value on the skills of the women under them and promote that. That's the missing piece at the moment. And the conversation that needs to keep taking place so it does eventually change. Which is why I'm so glad you posted this.