Women and Leadership

Objective statistics on women in leadership positions in politics, finance or business, and statistics on the gender pay gap show that the pecking order of power positions white men first, followed by men of colour, then white women, and, finally, women of colour. Women make up less than 10 per cent of national leaders, and behind this lies a pattern of unequal access to power. The World Economic Forum has calculated that at the current rate of improvement, it will take ninety-five years to close the global gender gap in political representation. Using published findings as a starting point, the authors form questions and hypotheses, then test them on the lived experiences of women leaders such as Jacinda Ardern, Hillary Clinton and Theresa May, among others. These women talk about having their ideas stolen by male colleagues, about what it's like to be called fat or a slut in the media, and about the things they wish they’d done differently. Their stories reveal how gender and sexism affect perceptions of women as leaders, the trajectories of their leaderships, and the circumstances in which they come to an end. In examining their journeys, the book analyses whether their experiences are in line with or different from what research predicts, thus endeavouring to identify obstacles holding women back and how best these hurdles can be cleared for them to become leaders. The lessons learned from these women leaders provide a road map of essential knowledge in a manner useful to women everywhere, as well as an action agenda for change that allows women to take control, address prejudices and combat gender bias.