Self-Confidence: The Invisible Force Behind the Gender Gap

Abstract: The global underrepresentation of women in the workplace is an ongoing issue. As a connection between self-confidence and career development has emerged, the topic of self-confidence has received growing attention over previous years. A gap between male and female self-confidence has been discovered and is consequently a likely cause and impact for the global gender gap, especially in high positioned jobs. This thesis analyzes the existence of a gender gap in a group of prospective managers: the Master in Management (MiM) class of 2020. To investigate the research questions, data was collected through both questionnaires and interviews. This research discovered a gender gap in self-confidence in the class. Additionally, the results confirm the hypothesis that including self-developing elements in an academic program has the ability to empower students. This study emphasizes the need for self-development in academia in order to boost the students -especially the women’s- self-confidence.