Rachel Simmons
The Cofounder of National Nonprofit, Girls Leadership and Leadership Development Specialist at the Wurtele Center for Leadership at Smith College
Enough As She Is: How to Help Girls Move Beyond Impossible Standards of Success to Live Healthy, Happy, and Fulfilling Lives
For many girls today, the drive to achieve is fueled by brutal self- criticism and an acute fear of failure. Though young women have never been more “successful” – outpacing boys in GPAs and college enrollment – they have also never struggled more. On the surface, girls may seem exceptional, but in reality, they are anxious and overwhelmed, feeling that, no matter how hard they try, they will never be smart enough, successful enough, pretty enough, thin enough, popular enough, or sexy enough.
Rachel Simmons has been researching young women for two decades, and her research plainly shows that girl competence does not equal girl confidence – nor does it equal happiness, resilience, or self-worth. Ms. Simmons warns that we have raised a generation of young women so focused on achieving that they avoid healthy risks, overthink setbacks, and suffer from imposter syndrome, believing they are frauds. In her latest book, Enough as She Is, she argues that young women can do more than just survive adolescence – they can thrive.
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- New Trier Parents’ Association
- Regina Dominican College Preparatory High School
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Upcoming Events
Determined: A Science of Life without Free Will
Robert Sapolsky, Ph.D.
John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn Professor of Biology, Neurology, and Neurosurgery at Stanford University
Oliver Burkeman
New York TImes bestselling author and former columnist for The Guardian
ON ZOOM
Inspire: The Universal Path for Leading Yourself and Others
Adam Galinsky, Ph.D.
Paul Calello Professor of Leadership and Ethics at Columbia Business School
Amy C. Edmondson, Ph.D.
Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School
ON ZOOM
99% Perspiration: A New Working History of the American Way of Life
Adam Chandler
Journalist and author
Kathy Gilsinan
Author and a senior editor at Puck News
ON ZOOM