Anne-Cécile Sarfati has been a lawyer. She quitted the bar to become a journalist (Le Point, Le Nouvel Observateur, etc.). She is now Grand Reporter and the associate editor-in-chief of French Elle. She is the co-author (with Hervé Gattegno) of Femmes au pouvoir, récits et confidences and(with the psychologist Christine Brunet) of Petits tracas et gros soucis de 1 à 7 ans and Petit tracas et gros soucis de 8 à 12 ans, which have become reference works on bringing up children.


Although women graduates now obtain as many higher degrees as men, very few end up in those top-paying, higher-echelon jobs that are still largely a male preserve. The professional world, created by and for men, still functions according to male codes, of which women are often ignorant, and it has not adapted sufficiently to women, on whose shoulders family responsibilities weigh heavily and unequally.
Yet despite the obstacles, numerous strategies are available for women who wish to succeed. The goal of this book is to offer official and not-so-official recommendations on how to overcome prejudice, use the right language and adopt the most effective attitude in any given situation (how to get a raise, how to assert yourself in a male universe, how to market yourself and create your own professional network). Issues concerning women’s personal lives are not neglected (informing your boss and colleagues that you are pregnant, organising yourself when you have young children, overcoming guilt).

• A practical tool offering concrete advice to women who may sometimes feel discouraged and disillusioned in the course of their professional lives.
• Psychotherapists, life coaches, sociologists, directors of human resources — nearly one hundred experts were consulted in researching this book.