Facebook Chief Sandburg: Women Still Face Stereotypes in Business

Discussing her new book Lean In during a recent visit to Switzerland, Facebook’s Chief Operating Officer, Sheryl Sandberg, told an audience that powerful women are mostly disliked in the business world.

Appearing at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Sandberg launched a broadside against the stereotypes that she claims hold women back in business in the United States.

At one point, the Facebook chief disparaged T-Shirts for boys she had seen in the U.S. that said “Smart Like Daddy” and those for girls that said “Pretty like Mommy.”

“I would love to say that was 1951, but it was last year,” Sandberg said of the shirts. “As a woman becomes more successful, she is less liked, and as a man becomes more successful, he is more liked, and that starts with those T-Shirts.”

Sandberg went on to attack men who say women are “too aggressive” in business, saying, “They say this with no understanding that this is the penalty women face because of gender stereotypes.”

Sandberg also claimed that women still have “two jobs,” one taking care of the family and a second for her business career. “Women still have two jobs in the most developed countries around the world; men have one,” she said.

Also on the panel was European Commissioner for Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship, Viviane Reding, who made a name for herself pushing legislation mandating that women be included on the boards of European corporations.

“There’s not a rigid quota. No one will get a job because she’s a woman, but no one will be denied a job because she’s a woman,” Reding said.