Women need to Lean In

**Before hopping on my soap box, I would like to take a moment to inform you that these views are only my own. They do not represent where I work or groups that I am involved in. We good? Okay, hopping on the soap box.**

Along with the majority of women my age, I just finished reading Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg. If you happen to not have heard the buzz surrounding this book and new way of thinking, I implore you to drop everything and buy this book, and to check out LeanIn.org.

The premise of this book is that "It is up to us to end the belief that 'Women can't do this, women can't be that.' Throwing up our hands and saying 'it can't be done' ensures that it will never be done." She encourages women to find where their true passions lie, and to Lean In.

This especially speaks to me right now as I observe the nine-month political marathon (or is it a sprint?) which is taking place as politicians jockey for who will become the next Mayor of Boston. As was noted in the Boston Globe this week, there is something seriously missing in this race - thus far there is not one woman. This is not my way of criticizing any of the current candidates - I think that a great field is taking place and that voters have excellent options, to the point that I am going to stay as far out of this race as possible. All I'm saying is that, thus far, all of the candidates are male.

The research of Dr. Jennifer Lawless of the Women and Politics Institute at American University gives us some clues on why this may be the case - women, even in the highest tiers of professional accomplishment, are substantially less likely than men to demonstrate ambition to seek elective office. Women are less likely to even think that they are qualified for office, are less likely to be recruited, and the gap between men and women's interest in running for the office has stayed stagnant for the past ten years, even as we have more Female Elected Role Models.

However understanding why there aren't more female candidates is different than accepting it. Programs such as Emerge Massachusetts and the UMass Boston program for Women in Politics and Public Policy are working diligently to change this, and more women are running.

But time is ticking, signatures to be on the ballot for Mayor are coming out soon, and I am anxiously awaiting a qualified woman to Lean In and take the leap, because we Boston women are waiting for you.