There’s good reason why strong female role models deter other women from aiming for the top

theguardian.com:

I was interested to see Rain Newton-Smith’s sudden promotion to boss of the Confederation of British Industry – so “toxic” with “unchecked misogyny” that both main parties have broken off contact and there is some doubt it will survive at all – celebrated in various quarters as a victory for women.

This particular route to female promotion is, after all, rather common, and I always feel it could be better represented in film: the captain of the flooding submarine, busted bank or exploding Death Star announcing chivalrously over the Tannoy that some “brilliantly qualified” woman will now be taking charge; he has “every confidence” she is up to the “steep climb ahead of her”. (Cue stirring ambition in the hearts of young female maintenance droids throughout the ship, for its final few moments.)

Does every appointment of a female leader need to be a “breakthrough moment” for women? We hear this story endlessly – Jacinda Ardern, prime minister of New Zealand until last January; Sanna Marin, the outgoing prime minister of Finland; and Natalia Gavrilița, prime minister of Moldova until last February, were all profiled as pathbreakers who would herald a new generation of female politicians. Yet, as women – including British female MPs – limp away from office, demoralised by abuse and succeeded by men, one wonders just how much inspiration their stories offer to younger people. In the past two decades, the number of women in global politics has risen dramatically. Now growth is plateauing. Meanwhile, women are flooding out of tech, just as they flooded in a few years ago.

There’s an unexamined assumption – or perhaps a mantra – at the heart of this: the idea that representation is everything when it comes to female advancement. If