Guest post by Kate Jakubowski In Finnish, the word sisu is a word denoting that someone has the bravery and strength to persevere—they have literal guts to achieve a goal. [1] Throughout the past century, there have been many gutsy women: Elizabeth Warren, a Democratic Senator from Massachusetts; Mary McLeod Bethune, an advisor to FDR who played a key role in the demographic transition of the Democratic party; and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a Supreme Court Justice. But I would argue that these women didn’t just have guts—they had grit. Facing gender, race, or even pregnancy discrimination, these women overcame obstacles to become trailblazers, advocates, and icons, and have inspired the next generation of ambitious young girls. Popularized by psychologist Angela Duckworth in a TED talk and explored further in her book with the same name, grit is “passion and perseverance for long term goals.” [2] She divides grit into four key traits: interest, practice, purpose, and hope. [3] The wom...