tightroping (v.)™

In order to fix a problem we need to understand the cause. Chapter one details the societal context in which women find themselves and how it leads to tightroping. Chapter two offers examples from academic research of the (many) ways women are told tightroping at work is necessary. Chapter three explains our psychological inner-workings and how they can contribute to tightroping. Chapter four showcases the ways in which we engage in tightroping at work. Chapter five explains what happens to us physically and mentally as a result of our tightroping.

The places we work tell us how they want us to behave in explicit and implicit ways. Chapter six explains how and why corporate cultures serve to control employee behavior (for better or worse). Chapter seven breaks down the ways discrimination creeps into organizational culture. Chapter eight highlights the impacts our tightroping has on companies that go beyond losing earnings and talent.

Eliminating tightroping requires a multi-party solution. Chapter nine considers how women can shift their own behavior no matter what their position at work. Chapter ten offers solutions for organizations that want to change their culture and eliminate the need to tightrope. Chapter eleven summarizes the content of Tightroping and offers personal stories of women who have successfully dismounted their tightropes.