Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - Deputy Minister for Higher Education,\nScience, and Technology, Stella Christie, delivered a message to all\nwomen at the pinnacle of leadership to refrain from being a \u201cnice girl\u201d.\nThis term implies that women must stop trying to please everyone around\nthem.<\/p>\n
\u201cStop being a nice girl. I am serious; this is my message. These are\nnot foreign words to me. They come from a woman I greatly admire, Maya\nAngelou, a writer,\u201d Stella stated at the Top Women Fest 2026 on\nWednesday (29\/4\/2026).<\/p>\n
Stella continued that women generally tend to apologise in every\nsituation. This is largely influenced by women\u2019s nature of avoiding\nconflict with anyone.<\/p>\n
For example, women often face the fear of expressing disagreement or\nsaying no when reluctant to do something. However, expressing refusal\nultimately becomes difficult for women.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut do not misunderstand; when we only want to please the people\naround us to be nice. We only want to avoid conflict so that we feel\nlike good people. We will lose our voice, we will lose direction on what\nis truly right and what we actually need to accomplish,\u201d she\nexplained.<\/p>\n
Then, Stella added, such an attitude will instead erase the voices of\nthose who truly need to be fought for but may not be present at that\nmoment.<\/p>\n
At the end of her message, Stella reaffirmed the quote from writer\nMaya Angelou. At that time, she said, \u201cStop being a nice girl. When you\nare always agreeable, always polite, and always cautious not to upset\nanyone. To avoid conflict, you avoid conflict at the cost of clarity and\ntruth.\u201d<\/p>\n
From there, Stella advised all women who aspire to be leaders to be\nthemselves and never become someone who is overly accommodating to\nothers.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo if we want to be leaders, stop being a nice girl and be who you\nare,\u201d she emphasised.<\/p>\n
Thanks to her dedication in the field of education, Stella\nsuccessfully received the Top Woman Advancing Research & Innovation\naward at the Top Women Fest 2026. Stella is a cognitive science\nacademician and an alumna of two world-renowned universities, Harvard\nUniversity and Northwestern University.<\/p>\n
Not only pursuing knowledge from the world\u2019s best universities,\nStella Christie also joined scientific organisations such as the\nCognitive Science Society and produced numerous scientific research\nworks on cognitive science, which form part of her contributions to\nIndonesia and globally.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/deputy-minister-stellas-message-to-women-stop-being-a-nice-girl-1777521283", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }