Katie Couric pressed Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg on the Me Too movement: 'Do you think 'Lean In' might have put too much of the onus on women to change?'
- Katie Couric interviewed Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg on Tuesday at the Vanity Fair New Establishment summit.
- Couric pressed Sandberg on how her book, "Lean In," might have put the onus on women to solve corporate sexism.
- They also talked about the Me Too movement and systemic factors limiting women's ability to succeed.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Katie Couric questioned Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg about her best-selling book, "Lean In," and the Me Too movement Tuesday at the Vanity Fair New Establishment summit in Beverly Hills.
Toward the end of the 40-minute interview, Couric turned the conversation to Sandberg's book and asked what we should do about men's reluctance to mentor women in the workplace. "Lean In" was Sandberg's popular 2013 book that argued women may hold themselves back in their careers and should be more assertive and demand raises, much like men. The book has since been frequently criticized as a an ineffective solution that offers an individual answer to a systemic problem.
Sandberg answered by first referring to the Me Too movement, saying "women have faced harassment for far too long." She said that while she thinks things are in a better place, we're still "not protecting everyone we should."
However, Sandberg also noted that she is worried about unintended consequences of Me Too, and cited a study saying that as many as 60% of male managers are nervous about meeting alone with a woman.
"If you cannot get a meeting, you cannot get a promotion," she said. "What we really need to tell men is, if you're not gonna have dinner with women, don't have dinner with men."
Read more: Katie Couric grilled Sheryl Sandberg on Facebook's decision not to fact-check political ads
Couric saved a tough question for the end of the interview.
"Given the very real revelations that have surfaced as a result of the Me Too movement, do you think 'Lean In' might have put too much of the onus on women to change, instead of getting a lot of these screwed up companies to change?" she asked.
Sandberg responded that "it has to be both," and said that her foundation pushes for companies and cultures to change and make it okay for women to be ambitious.
You can watch the full interview between Couric and Sandberg on Vanity Fair's website.