Nearly all Americans agree that women are as qualified as men to lead businesses. But it’s been harder for women to get a chance to do so, according to a 2017 survey by the Rockefeller Foundation.

We like to think of ourselves as unbiased and objective in our employment decisions, but with two equal candidates, who are you going to promote? Someone who is described in their performance evaluations as analytical or someone who is described as compassionate? On the other end of the employment spectrum, if you’re downsizing and have to fire someone and the two people in jeopardy are very similar, who are you going to fire? Someone perceived as arrogant or someone perceived as inept? Leadership attributions in performance evaluations are powerful.

The Facebook chief operating officer and founder of LeanIn.Org says the first step to closing the gender gap is ensuring that hiring and promotions are fair from the start

As a career coach, writer and speaker, I work in the space of helping women advance in business. That’s my keen focus, passion, and mission in my work.  But throughout my 18-year corporate career and my 10 years as a therapist and a coach, I’ve also worked with countless men, and have coached male leaders, entrepreneurs, business owners and executives.

A few years ago, I conducted research in the United States, Europe and Canada to see how gender differences in communication were displayed in the workplace. The first thing I found was that both men and women identified the same sets of strengths and weaknesses in themselves and each other.