Anne-Marie Slaughter's July 2012 Atlantic article, "Why Women Still Can't Have it
All" stirred up the coals in the ever-simmering firestorm
regarding working women. Further fueled by the March 2013
publication of Sheryl Sandberg's book "Lean In:
Women, Work, and the Will to Lead", it seemed everyone had
a word of criticism to offer.
The abundant criticism often missed the larger point - the
conversation is important, and these two women should be applauded
for spurring it. Lean In contains illustrative stories about what
holds women back in career and life, and offers encouragement for
overcoming them. Sandberg, a Harvard graduate, mom of two, and wife
to David Goldberg, CEO of SurveyMonkey, has had a storied career.
The current COO of Facebook, she began her career as a research
assistant to Lawrence Summers at the World Bank and later she
served as a management consultant at McKinsey. She then became the
chief of staff to Summers at the Treasury Department and spent
