Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead

Sheryl Sandberg's argument that women hold themselves back professionally through internal barriers — and that the path to gender equality includes women leaning into ambition and leadership.

The 'lean in' argument: women systematically undermine their own careers through risk-aversion, deference, and premature disengagement from professional ambition — and changing this is as important as changing external structures. The internal vs. external barriers distinction. Sparked a major debate about whether focusing on individual women's behavior distracts from structural feminist analysis.