The Ambition Penalty

For women disillusioned by the failed promises of girl power, a data-driven guide that reveals the hidden forces still fueling gender inequality at work 

We spoke up. We took charge. We asked for more. But where has it actually left us? Not only are generations of women more burned-out than ever, but the gender pay gap has barely budged in decades. 

In The Ambition Penalty, journalist Stefanie O’Connell presents a deeply researched and sometimes shocking look at the ways women remain passed over and excluded, not for a lack of ambition but because of it. She calls it “the ambition penalty”—the sum of the financial, personal, and professional costs women face for daring to want more. 

The Ambition Penalty dismantles the myth that women are less ambitious than their male peers and debunks common claims—like women aren’t confident enough and don’t negotiate enough—used to justify stubborn gender gaps in power. This book reveals why decades of educational gains and empowerment messages have not translated into corresponding advances for women at work or at home. 

The Ambition Penalty gives women the talking points they can use to call out these biases and lays out proven practices for leaders and allies committed to cultivating environments where women’s ambitions are supported, rewarded, and celebrated.

• “For far too long, society has defined women by their roles as partners and parents first—with our professional ambitions constrained by these caretaking roles. In The Ambition Penalty, O’Connell throws out these patriarchal lessons and gives women a new playbook for reclaiming our ambition, our time, and our values.” 
  Eve Rodsky, author of New York Times bestseller Fair Play
• “The book offers ambitious women a bold new framework—not by asking them to change who they are or what they want, but by working together to challenge the systems that punish them for it. The Ambition Penalty is not a self-help book, it is a cultural reckoning and an urgent call to action.” 
  Tiffany Aliche, author of New York Times bestseller Get Good with Money
• “Every woman I know is paying the ambition penalty right now. Most of us just don’t know it. This book is going to change, even save, lives.” 
  Emma Pattee, author of USA Today bestseller Tilt
• “A testament to what’s possible when women are liberated from keeping themselves small to make other people comfortable.” 
  Farnoosh Torabi, author of You’re So Money, and host of the So Money podcast
• “The Ambition Penalty is the book women have been waiting for. If you’re tired of hustle culture and done feeling like your ambition is the problem, this book will set you free. It breaks down the real reasons women are still getting held back, at work and at home, and reveals what it really takes to overcome them. Every woman should read this, and honestly, every manager and leader should too.” 
  Jamila Souffrant, author of Your Journey to Financial Freedom, and host of the Journey to Launch podcast