Women in positions of power

Women in positions of power are women who hold an occupation that gives them

great authority, influence, and/orresponsibility. Historically, power has been distributed among

the sexes disparately. Power and powerful positions have most often been associated with men as

opposed to women. As gender equality increases, women hold more and more powerful

positions, due to policy and social reform.

Accurate and proportional representation of women in social systems has been shown to be

important to long-lasting success of the system. Additionally, a study shows that absence is not

merely a sign of disadvantage and disenfranchisement, but the exclusion of women from

positions of power also compounds gender stereotypes and retards the pace of equalization".

Position of power

Occupational power refers to power over coworkers in the field. Positions of power can exist in

almost any setting, from small scale, unofficial groups or clubs, all the way to the obvious

leaders of nations or CEOs of companies. These more official situations are found in many areas,

such as government, industry and business, science and academia, the media, and many other

sectors.

Gender as a factor

Positions of power and gender are very intertwined. As one study pointed out, Power

differences frequently underlie what appear to be gender differences in behavior; as society is

currently configured, power and gender are never independent".[4] As such, gender relates to

power in the different ways power is acquired, used, and manifested. A 1988 journal article
summarizes this relation between gender and power: "the idea that women and men differ in

power motivation is reinforced by history and culture. In the history of the west, certainly,

women have had less access to most forms of power than have men. Many people believe that

men are interested in power and getting power while women are not. Others hold that men and

women differ in the ways that they establish, maintain and express power".[5] Additionally,

studies have shown that increasing womens participation in leadership positions decreases

corruption, as women are less involved in bribery, and are less likely to condone bribe

taking.[6] A study on gender and corruption from 2000 also found that cross-country data show

that corruption is less severe where women hold a larger share of parliamentary seats and senior

positions in the government bureaucracy, and comprise a larger share of the labor force.[6]

Other factors

In addition to the male-female split in the distribution of positions of power, many other factors

play a role in who has power. Race, class, sexuality, age, and other factors all play a significant

part in who is in control. These factors play in especially when coupled with the gender

difference: research from the Journal of the National Association of Social Workers has found

that the double burden of racism and sexism exacts a toll on their mental health and restricts

their opportunities. Additionally, according to another study, "the degree to which a system

successfully includes women can indicate a propensity for the system to include other

disenfranchised minorities".

Traditional roles and stereotypes

Traditional roles for men and women in most cultures have relegated women to working in the

home primarily. This traditional role of fostering and nurturing others ensued from various
sources, but the results are a decrease in the value of work done by women and a decreased

ability to work outside the home. This is paired with the societal expectation of the woman to

take care of the home and family, and with that the lack of male support in the caretaking of the

home. This all leads to the expectation that women have responsibilities in the home and often

plays a part in occupational sexism.

Other traditional views of women relegate them to certain occupations. The view of women as

caretakers of the family extends beyond the familial unit to others. Women have traditionally

been seen as caretakers, of both people and other beings and things However, this caretaker

occupation has most often been a subordinate one, under the direction of a superior, usually a

man. The example of the vastly female-dominated nurse occupation, 95% women as of the

2000s, reflects this, as it is the doctors that ultimately are in charge and have the power in the

nurse-doctor relationship.

Traditional stereotypes of women make them out to be much more emotional and irrational than

men, and thus less suited for many important jobs. However, it has been found that while there is

some basis to the stereotype, it does not hold true universally under statistical scrutiny. One

survey based in South Africa found that "over 30 per cent ... are of the opinion that women are

too emotional to be able to handle high level leadership positions"; evidently, stereotypes persist

and still take effect.

Studies show that "it is common for stereotypical ideas about women's abilities to perform well

in leadership positions to inform people's perceptions about women leaders".

Government
For many years and in most regions of the globe, politics had not allowed women to play a

significant role in government. Even in the early 1900s, politics were viewed almost exclusively

as the domain of men.[17] However, womens movements and culture-changing events such as

World War II gradually increased womens rights and roles in politics.[17] Many factors go into

the degree of female participation in governments across the world. One 1999 study found: "[the]

electoral system structure, left party government, the timing of women's suffrage, the share of

women in professional occupations, and cultural attitudes toward the role of women in politics

each play a role in accounting for variation in the degree of gender inequality in political

representation around the world. Even still, there are many other factors that play a serious role

in female participation in government. There is a significant perceived liability to a party of

having a female candidate for office, according to a 2005 study.[19] Even today, no country in the

world has 50% or higher female participation in a national legislature, and 73% of countries have

less than 20% female participation.

There are multiple levels of power positions in the government from the local level to the

national level. Accordingly, there are different degrees to which women partake in these

different levels. For example, studies have found in India that "large scale membership of

women in local councils" can be more effective in exerting influence, such as over crime rates,

than "their presence in higher level leadership positions".[20] However, it is important to have

women at all levels of government to ensure the representation as well as enacting of women's

interests.

Voting

Women were deprived of exercising political power in every country until granted the right to

vote. After earning the right to vote, it often took decades for women to turn out to the polls in
numbers proportional to their male counterparts.[21] In the U.S. today, women are statistically

more likely to vote than men,[21] a pattern that occurs in certain countries, such as Scandinavian

countries, while the opposite occurs in others, such as India. Scandinavian countries are also

some of the countries with greatest female representation in government positions. Exercising

the right to vote is a reflection of the power women feel they have in their political systems.

Today, women are enfranchised in all countries with a legislature other than Saudi Arabia. A

2006 study demonstrated that although women have the legal right to vote and stand for

elections in almost every country of the world, cultural barriers to womens use of their political

rights, including family resistance and illiteracy, remain. In the U.S. today, women are

statistically more likely to vote than men.

Quotas

Many countries have instituted quotas dictating a minimum number of women to be given

elected positions in governments. In general, the quota system has acted as a fast-track to

incorporating greater female representation into the governing systems. [22] Several countries,

such as Rwanda, which have established quota systems successfully have even recently

surpassed traditionally highly gender representative countries based on the quota

requirements. However, there are still flaws to quota systems and there is some controversy over

the effectiveness of representation, as some studies have found actual policy change to be

limited.

International organizations

International bodies such as the UN have established goals for female representation in

governing bodies. Thirty percent of elected position seats was recommended as the critical mass
necessary to gain effective policy from female representation. However, even these international

bodies that promote female empowerment on many scales themselves lack proportional gender

representation. On Wikipedias List of current Permanent Representatives to the United Nations,

of the 192 representatives, only 32 are women, which is only 16.67% female, barely over half of

what they recommend for governing bodies. Additionally, of these 32 countries represented by

women, only three, the United States, Singapore, and Luxembourg, are considered core

countries, making women-represented core countries only an even smaller percentage.

Industry and business

Most top and high-power positions in businesses and companies are held by men Women

currently hold 4.4 percent of Fortune 500 CEO roles and 4.4 percent of Fortune 1000 CEO

roles. Research has shown a consistent difference favoring men in accessibility to, and utility

of, resources for power. Thus, business and industry worldwide still sees a harsh split between

the genders in terms of who has control.

However, having women in leadership positions in can be in the companys best interests.

Studies have found that gender diversity in top-level boards means broader perspectives and

opinions, which result in more comprehensive outcomes. A study on firms in Denmark found

that the proportion of women in top management jobs tends to have positive effects on firm

performance, even after controlling for numerous characteristics of the firm and direction of

causality. Additionally, a 2004 study from Bottom Line found that: Companies with the

highest representation of women on their top management teams experienced better financial

performance than companies with the lowest womens representation.

In order to try to achieve greater gender equality in workplace leadership positions, the European

Union established a goal to have 40% women in non-executive board-member positions in

publicly listed companies by 2020.

During the 1980s, many pushed for pay equality for women. Unfortunately, this did not lead to

greater employment of women in higher roles. New tactics need to be enacted in order to give

employers incentives to hire more women, specifically for management and executive

roles.[32] Women make up less than 5% of CEOs at Fortune 500 companies, hold less than 25%

of management roles, and just less than 19% of board roles globally. While CEOs of companies

are working toward creating more female employees as leaders, the root of the problem is often

not addressed. Discrepancies often occur between qualities of leaders and qualities of women as

leaders. Once women are respected and given credibility in the workplace, they will have the

ability to occupy higher positions. A significant body of research shows that for women, the

subtle gender bias that persists in organizations and in society disrupts the learning cycle at the

heart of becoming a leader. Once this bias is rectified, women will be able to gain leadership

positions in their companies and/or organizations.

The glass ceiling

In the workplace, both in the public and private sector, the opportunities available to women are

trumped by a glass ceiling. The glass ceiling is a phenomenon in which women in the workplace,

climb the corporate ladder through with qualifications equal to those of their male counterparts

only to find that they cannot proceed past a certain point due to gender stereotypes and their

implications.[34] These gender stereotypes create barriers for women trying to reach positions of

power which is responsible for creating and influencing the glass ceiling effect. The glass ceiling

most directly affects those women who spend many years working in an industry to build up
achievements and a status of credibility in order to be considered for positions of power within

the company or industry. Yet despite their competence, women are not offered top CEO

positions because of their sex and existing stereotypes that say that women are not cut out to

head such big responsibilities. However, when these women's achievements are ignored and their

success halted because of ignorant stereotypes, they are not the only ones affected. Many young

women entering the workforce often look up to these driven women and aspire to achieve many

of the same dreams. Yet when these young women witness their mentors and idols failing to

achieve their dreams because of gender inequality, a culture begins to develop amongst women

where they do not feel worthy of power and struggle with self empowerment.[36] This is an

immense reason why a lot of women do not chase after positions of power because of a lack of

self-worth brought on by gender stereotypes and inequalities.

The glass ceiling is continuing to effect women today, but with forced attention on gender

equality, women will be able to break though this invisible ceiling and effect change in the

corporate world. While companies are shifting toward greater gender diversity in the workplace,

it is still necessary to identify and rectify why women are not gaining leadership positions, even

though equal pay for equal work exists. Evidence shows that organizations who play an active

management role in diversity in the workplace have positive results. Active management in

diversity has led to pay equity, more flexible schedules, and equal access to advancement

opportunity. Using innovation in the workplace and installing unconventional programs has

landed success in employing more women.

Academia In academia as well, much remains to be accomplished in terms of gender equality.

Many departments, especially those in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

(STEM) fields, are heavily male-dominated.

Women achieve disproportionately less prestige and success in academia than their male

counterparts. They are less likely to be tenured and to receive promotions to more influential or

powerful positions. Women in academia also earn a lower income, on average, than their male

counterparts, even when adjusted. While hiring of women in academic fields has been on a slight

rise, it is mainly in entry-level occupations and not for high-level positions where women are

most lacking.[38] Integrating women more thoroughly into academia is important to developing

future gender equality as well as greater research outcomes. These high disproportions in fields

that are seen as being male fields are the consequences of gender socialization that funnel

women into specific fields, otherwise known as "care" fields, such as teaching.

Example of success

According to the Pew Research Center, after extensive research, the key barrier for why women

either are not advancing in their careers or are not being viewed as competitors for top positions

in companies is because there are many interruptions related to motherhood that may make it

harder for women. Forbes provides scenarios that even if women have full-time jobs, they are

still the one responsible for any family dilemmas rather than men.[41] David White argues that

men during the 1960s, as implemented in his study, being the sole provider for the family gave

men a significant amount of power in their homes and contributed to feelings of male

superiority.[42] Economics research states that culture can transmit values and norms that last

for centuries and even millennia and they have nothing to substantiate them except handed-

down beliefs.[43] This research indicates that one reason women are not advancing in top

positions in businesses is because of gender norms that have perpetuated into the 20th century.

Contemporary examples
Africa

Most countries in Africa leave women without easy avenues to powerful positions in any area.

However, there are some exceptions, such as Rwanda. Rwanda, with their new constitution after

the conclusion of the Rwandan Civil War, it was written in that 30% of policy-making positions

must be allocated to women. In 2003 with the first election of the new constitution, Rwanda

surpassed Sweden to be the country with the highest percentage of women in its parliament with

48.8%.[17]

Latin America

The prime example of integration of women into powerful positions in Latin America is

Argentina, the first country in the world to adopt a quota system, requiring 15% female

participation in the electoral system in 1990.[17] Additionally, Chiles current president is a

woman, Michelle Bachelet.

India

One of the highly significant things and provisions introduced by the new Companies Act of

India, is the mandatory inclusion of at least one woman director to the Board of every prescribed

class of companies in India. This provision can be considered as revolutionary initiation by the

Government of India, for the purposes of empowerment of the women in the Indian Corporate

world thereby strengthening and promoting contributions of women to the economic progress of

the country.