Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg's Graduation Speech for the Ages

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It's college graduation season, which makes this a happy time in the Boston area. Lots of families are congregating here to celebrate the education achievements of one of their own. I have nothing but good memories of my two graduation days; one at MIT, the other at Harvard.
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Sandberg gets unpredictable, and compelling, when she diagnoses the root cause of this condition and offers remedies. She places the responsibility largely on the young women themselves, rather than on external forces such as sexism and unequal burdens. She acknowledges that these exist, but spends less than 500 words on them in a speech of nearly 3,000.
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She spends much more of her time encouraging young women to be ambitious and self-confident, and to "lean in" to their careers, especially before important life choices loom:

Women almost never make one decision to leave the workforce. It doesn't happen that way. They make small little decisions along the way that eventually lead them there. Maybe it's the last year of med school when they say, I'll take a slightly less interesting specialty because I'm going to want more balance one day. Maybe it's the fifth year in a law firm when they say, I'm not even sure I should go for partner, because I know I'm going to want kids eventually. These women don't even have relationships, and already they're finding balance, balance for responsibilities they don't yet have. And from that moment, they start quietly leaning back... So, my heartfelt message to all of you is, and start thinking about this now, do not leave before you leave. Do not lean back; lean in. Put your foot on that gas pedal and keep it there until the day you have to make a decision, and then make a decision. That's the only way, when that day comes, you'll even have a decision to make.
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http://blogs.hbr.org/hbr/mcafee/2011/06/sheryl-sandbergs-graduation-sp.html