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Women are not new to leadership; think of Cleopatra or Queen Elizabeth. Think of the women who led the civil rights and education reform movements. But women are still outnumbered by men in the most prestigious positions, from Capitol Hill to the board room. Barriers and Bias: The Status of Women in Leadership examines the causes of women's underrepresentation in leadership roles in business, politics, and education and suggests what we can do to change the status quo.

Join the conversation by using hashtag #leadHERship

What Is the Gender Leadership Gap?

In short, women are much less likely than men to be in leadership positions. In universities, businesses, courts, unions, and religious institutions, male leaders outnumber female leaders by wide margins. Our elected state representatives, for example, are far more likely to be men than women:

The gender leadership crisis is even worse in the U.S. Congress, where women make up only 19 percent of our elected officials. And it's plain dismal among governors, only six of whom are women.

For women of color, leadership opportunities are particularly elusive. Asian, black, and Hispanic women make up 17 percent of workers in Standard and Poor's 500 companies but fewer than 4 percent of executive officials and managers. The further you move up the ladder, the fewer women are there.

Why Is There a Gap?

There is no lack of qualified women to fill leadership roles. Women earn the majority of university degrees at every level except for professional degrees, and more women are in the workforce today than ever before. There must be something inherent in the system that's working against them.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reports that 30,000 cases of sex discrimination in the last five years were settled or decided in favor of the person who filed the charge. But blatant sex discrimination isn't the only barrier; hostile work environments, negative stereotypes about women in leadership, and bias also keep women out of the top spots.

One key obstacle to women's leadership is unconscious or implicit bias, which can cloud judgment in ways people are not fully aware of. To help better understand the power of hidden bias and how to mitigate its effects, AAUW created an online test in collaboration with Harvard University and Project Implicit.

*Desktop or laptop computer required. Not compatible on mobile or tablet devices.

Why Should We Care about Women Leaders?

Having gender equality at the top benefits everyone. It's good for both men and women to shift stereotypical ideas around gender roles - just as the status quo is holding women back from leadership roles, it is holding men back from embracing caretaking and support roles. It's good for families, whether they rely on women as the sole breadwinners or share a two-earner income. It's good for business to draw on the creativity of a diverse staff and recognize the purchasing power of women. It's good for the country, because the more diverse the pool, the more talented our leaders will be.

From the Experts

Watch the AAUW researchers talk about the importance of women in leadership.

What Can I Do to Close It?

The leadership gender gap is persistent and pervasive but solvable. There are many steps we can take as individuals, employers, and policy makers to create significant change.

Individuals

Learn about your own subconscious biases by taking our brief online test.

Employers

Employers should create an equitable workplace culture, with flexibility and fair expectations for both men and women, and they should enforce fair policies through tools like diversity training and blind résumé screening.

Policy makers

There are many proposed pieces of legislation and regulations that would promote women leaders through pay equity (the Paycheck Fairness Act), family support (the Family and Medical Insurance Leave Act), and salary transparency.

Read more about the AAUW recommendations.
Solutions from AAUW programs

AAUW's Start Smart and Work Smart workshops empower women with the tools they need to successfully negotiate their salaries.

Our annual National Conference for College Women Student Leaders brings together 1,000 women for workshops, speakers, and professional development.

Stories from Women Leaders

Check out these AAUW stars who are proving that women can be powerful leaders on campus and beyond. Read more "

The world needs to value women's contributions as much as men's - our economic opportunity, peace, and security are on the line. Read more "

Thanks to deeply ingrained stereotypes, time and again women leaders are labeled as bossy, cold, aggressive, and worse. Read more "

When it comes to civic participation and mobilization (online and on the ground), black women are leaders. But they remain severely underrepresented in electoral politics. Read more "

Barriers and Bias is made possible by the generosity of AAUW's Mooneen Lecce Giving Circle and the AAUW members whose gifts help support AAUW research.

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Barriers and Bias: The Status of Women in Leadership

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Why do men still vastly outnumber women in leadership positions? There is no lack of qualified women to fill leadership roles. Women earn the majority of university degrees at every level except for professional degrees, and more women are in the workforce today than ever before.

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Pew Research Center's Social & Demographic Trends Project

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Majorities of Americans see men and women as equally capable when it comes to some of the key qualities and behaviors that are essential for top leaders in politics and business. Yet women still make up a small share of top leadership jobs in both of these realms. Our 2018 report explores Americans' views about women leaders, the barriers they face and prospects for the future. Below, we've charted the most up-to-date data on the share of women in top U.S. political and business roles over time.

There are 25 women serving in the U.S. Senate, a historic high. Of these, 17 are Democrats and eight are Republicans. The first woman in the Senate was Rebecca Felton (D-Ga.), who was appointed to the seat as a political maneuver in 1922 and served just one day. Nancy Kassebaum (R-Kan.), who served in the Senate from 1978 to 1997, was the first female senator who was not initially elected to fill an unexpired congressional term.

There are 102 women serving as voting members of the House of Representatives currently in the 116th Congress, comprising 23.4% of House members. Of these, 89 are Democrats and 13 are Republicans. In addition, four women serve as nonvoting delegates to Congress, representing American Samoa, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Jeannette Rankin (R-Mont.) was the first woman to be elected to Congress, taking office in 1917. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is the only woman to have served as speaker of the House. She was speaker from 2007 to 2011, served as the House minority leader in the Republican-controlled house from 2011 to 2019 and was elected speaker again in 2019. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), chair of the Republican Conference, is the highest ranking Republican woman in the House.

Women make up 25.5% of state senate seats and 29.7% of state house or assembly seats. Thirteen women serve in one of the top leadership posts in state senates, and an additional six are speakers of state houses. In 2019, Nevada became the first state with a majority-women state legislature at 50.8%. West Virginia has the smallest share, at 14.2%. The first women to serve in a state legislature were three Republicans elected to the Colorado House of Representatives in 1984.

To date, 44 women have served as governors in 30 states. In 2019, six Democratic and three Republican women are serving as governors. Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming, a Democrat, was the first female governor; she was elected in a special election in 1924 to succeed her deceased husband. Ella Grasso, a Connecticut Democrat, was the first female governor elected in her own right, in 1975.

The share of women concurrently serving in Cabinet-level positions peaked during President Bill Clinton's second term, at 40.9%. During President Trump's administration so far, the maximum share of women serving at one time has been 26.1%. Now, following Nikki Haley's resignation as UN ambassador, the share stands at 21.7%. The first woman in a Cabinet-level position was Frances Perkins, appointed as secretary of labor by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933. To date, seven women have served as labor secretary, more than in any other Cabinet or Cabinet-level position. Gina Haspel, appointed by President Donald Trump in 2018, is the first female director of the Central Intelligence Agency, a Cabinet-level position.

The share of female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies reached an all-time high of 6.4% in 2017, with 32 women heading major firms. But the share fell to 4.8% in 2018 after several high-profile women left their posts, including Denise Morrison of Campbell Soup Co. and Meg Whitman of Hewlett Packard Enterprise. The late Katherine Graham, of The Washington Post Co., was the first female CEO to make the Fortune 500 list, in 1972. As recently as 1995, there were no female CEOs on the Fortune 500 list.

The share of women sitting on the boards of Fortune 500 companies has more than doubled, from 9.6% in 1995 to 22.2% in 2017.

Pew Research Center

In 2016, 30.1% of university presidents were women, triple the share in 1986. Frances Elizabeth Willard became the first female college president in 1871, heading the Evanston College for Ladies in Illinois, which later merged with Northwestern University. In 1975, Lorene L. Rogers was the first woman to lead a major research university (University of Texas), and Judith Rodin in 1994 became the first permanent female president of an Ivy League institution (University of Pennsylvania).
Note: This interactive was originally published in January 2015. It was updated in January 2019 to reflect more recent data.

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Majorities of Americans see men and women as equally capable when it comes to some of the key qualities and behaviors that are essential for top leaders in politics and business. Yet women still make up a small share of top leadership jobs in both of these realms. Our 2018 report explores Americans' views about women leaders, the barriers they face and prospects for the future.

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Data Reveals How the Percentage of Women in Leadership Has Changed Over the Past 15 Years

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Here's a stat you've probably heard: less than 6% of CEOs in the S&P 500 are women, despite the fact that women make up about half of the American workforce. Today, in celebration of International Women's Day, LinkedIn is going beyond that often cited stat to take a closer look at the gender leadership gap-the difference between overall representation and representation in leadership roles.

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Marie Curie, 1867-1934

Marie Curie changed the world not once but twice. She founded the new science of radioactivity - even the word was invented by her - and her discoveries launched effective cures for cancer.

"Curie boasts an extraordinary array of achievements," says Patricia Fara, president of the British Society for the History of Science, who nominated the Polish-born French scientist. "She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, first female professor at the University of Paris, and the first person - note the use of person there, not woman - to win a second Nobel Prize."

Born in Warsaw, Curie studied physics at university in Paris where she met her future research collaborator and husband, Pierre. Together they identified two new elements: radium and polonium, named after her native Poland. After he died, she raised a small fortune in the US and Europe to fund laboratories and to develop cancer treatments.

Marie Curie was a woman of action as well as enormous intellect. During the First World War, she helped to equip ambulances with x-ray equipment, and often drove them to the front line herself.

"The odds were always stacked against her," says Fara. "In Poland her patriotic family suffered under a Russian regime. In France she was regarded with suspicion as a foreigner - and of course, wherever she went, she was discriminated against as a woman."

Despite becoming ill from the radioactive materials she constantly handled, Curie never lost her determination to excel in the scientific career that she loved. Her memory is preserved by the cancer society that bears her name and continues to help terminally ill patients all over the world.

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Rosa Parks, 1913-2005

In 1955, Rosa Parks, an African American living in Montgomery, Alabama, challenged the race segregation that existed in parts of the US by refusing to give up her seat on a bus so that a white person could sit down. Her protest was supported by many other African Americans and sparked the civil rights movement which, in the 1960s, eventually won equal rights. Four years after her death in 2005, Barack Obama became the first African-American US president.

Emmeline Pankhurst, 1858-1928

In 1903, the social reformer Emmeline Pankhurst founded the Women's Social and Political Union to campaign for the parliamentary vote for women in Edwardian Britain, 'Deeds, not words' being its motto. A charismatic leader and powerful orator, Pankhurst roused thousands of women to demand, rather than ask politely, for their democratic right in a mass movement that has been unparalleled in British history. Always in the thick of the struggle, she endured 13 imprisonments, her name and cause becoming known throughout the world.

Ada Lovelace, 1815-52

A gifted mathematician, Ada Lovelace is considered to be the first computer programmer, an industry that has since transformed business, our lives and the world. In an industry still dominated by men, it's particularly striking that the first programmer was a woman.

Rosalind Franklin, 1920-58

When the double helix structure of DNA was discovered, scientists claimed that they had unravelled the secret of life itself. The crucial piece of evidence was provided by the expert crystallographer Rosalind Franklin - the famous photograph 51, an X-ray picture showing a dark cross of dots, the signature image of a concealed molecular spiral. The life-changing innovations that followed - mapping the human genome, test-tube babies, genetic engineering - all depend on understanding the chemical foundations of heredity.

Margaret Thatcher, 1925-2013

Britain's first female prime minister came to power at an unsettled time in the country's history, as it faced political disharmony and economic recession. Further trials, including the 1982 Falklands War and the conflict in Northern Ireland, helped to define her influential career.

Angela Burdett-Coutts, 1814-1906

The first woman to have been made a peer, Burdett-Coutts was made a baroness by Queen Victoria for her work on behalf of the poor. Prevented from working at Coutts Bank despite inheriting her grandfather Thomas Coutts' shares and fortune, Burdett-Couttsinstead devoted her time - working with a Coutts client Charles Dickens - to philanthropy. She was a pioneer in social housing, building homes for the poor, and financed numerous projects, including the redevelopment of East London.

Mary Wollstonecraft, 1759-97

An English writer and philosopher, Mary Wollstonecraft championed education and liberation for women. Her book, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, was published in 1792 and is seen as one of the foundational texts of modern feminism. Written against the backdrop of the French Revolution, it argued for the equality of women to men.

Florence Nightingale, 1820-1910

Florence Nightingale led the first official team of British military nurses to Turkey during the Crimean War, fought between Britain and Russia (1853-56). More soldiers died from disease than wounds in this conflict and Nightingale - as well as tending the sick - reported back to the army medical services on how to reduce avoidable deaths. Nicknamed 'the Lady with the Lamp' for the night rounds she made tending to the wounded and sick, Nightingale continued in her work after the war and was instrumental in establishing a permanent military nursing service and implementing improvements to the army medical services.

Marie Stopes, 1880-1958

Marie Stopes, advocate of birth control and sex educator, was born in Edinburgh but studied for a science degree at University College, London. In 1918, she published the highly popular Married Love, a second book titled Wise Parenthood - which dealt explicitly with contraception - appearing shortly after. A controversial figure, especially for her views on eugenics, Stopes nonetheless was a key figure in publicising her cause (a first birth control clinic was set up in a poor working-class area of north London in 1921) and in bringing to women worldwide the opportunity of planned pregnancies.

Eleanor of Aquitaine, 1122-1204

One of the wealthiest women of the Middle Ages - and one of its most eligible brides - Eleanor of Aquitaine married Louis VII of France and then, following their divorce, the future Henry II of England. As such, she occupies a singularly important position in the medieval histories of both countries.

Virgin Mary, 1st-century BC-1st-century AD

The mother of Jesus, Mary is venerated by both Christians and Muslims, and is probably the most famous woman in history. The actual details of her life are veiled as much as they are elucidated by the New Testament.

Jane Austen, 1775-1817

One of the most famous figures in British history, Austen's novels have gone on to become literary sensations. Often lacing plots exploring marriage, status and social sensibility with a distinctive irony, her works have been adapted many times in plays, films and TV series.

Boudicca, c30-61

Queen of the Iceni tribe during the Roman occupation of Britain. In either 60 or 61 AD Boudicca united different tribes in a Celtic revolt against Roman rule. Leading an army of around 100,000 she succeeded in driving the Romans out of modern-day Colchester (then capital of Roman Britain), London and Verulamium (St Albans). Her success led Roman emperor Nero to consider withdrawing from Britain entirely, until the Roman governor, Paullinus finally defeated her in a battle in the West Midlands. Shortly afterwards Boudicca died, probably either by suicide or through illness.

Diana, Princess of Wales, 1961-97

In 1981, Diana Spencer became the first wife of the heir apparent to the British throne, Charles, Prince of Wales. Their wedding reached a global television audience of more than 700m people and she continued to attract much media attention, even after her divorce in 1996. Princess Diana became well known internationally for her charity work for sick children, the banning of landmines and for raising awareness about those affected by cancer, HIV/AIDS and mental illness.

Amelia Earhart, 1897-c1937

Earhart took up aviation in 1921, aged 24, and went on to break the women's altitude record the following year when she rose to 14,000 feet. In 1932 she became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic and over the next five years continued to break speed and flying records. In June 1937 she began a flight around the world, becoming the first person to fly from the Red Sea to India - she was reported missing on 2 July near Howland Island in the Pacific. Earhart's disappearance is one of history's unsolved mysteries and she was declared dead in absentia in 1939.

Queen Victoria, 1819-1901

Victoria remains one of the UK's most iconic monarchs, more than a century after her death, portrayed in countless films and TV series. Crowned in 1837, she oversaw the nation and its empire throughout a remarkable period of social, technological and economic change.

Josephine Butler, 1828-1906

Josephine Butler brought into open discussion in Victorian Britain the double sexual standard that existed in a male-dominated society. She campaigned successfully for the repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts which provided for the compulsory and regular medical examination of women believed to be prostitutes, but not their male clients. In later life she campaigned against child prostitution and international sex trafficking.

Mary Seacole, 1805-81

In her late forties, Mary travelled from her home in Jamaica to Britain to offer her services as a nurse during the Crimean War (1853-56). Despite being turned down Seacole refused to give up: a woman of mixed-race with a Jamaican mother and Scottish father, she had dealt with prejudice and impediments her whole life. Funding her own passage to the Crimea Mary established the British Hotel near Balaclava. Nineteenth-century soldiers had no welfare support and Seacole's hotel provided a comfortable retreat away from battle with accommodation for convalescents and the sick. In addition, Mary nursed wounded soldiers on the battlefield earning the title Mother Seacole.

Mother Teresa, 1910-97

Mother Teresa, born in Albania, was a Roman Catholic nun who lived in India for most of her life. In 1950 she founded the Missionaries of Charity which attracted many sisters who took vows of chastity, poverty, obedience and free service to the poorest of the poor. The work that the order undertook, in over 130 countries, included managing homes for people who were dying, soup kitchens, orphanages and schools. Although criticised for her opposition to abortion, her charitable work changed the lives of many of the most vulnerable people in the world.

Mary Shelley, 1797-1851 Novelist

Born to political philosopher William Godwin and feminist activist Mary Wollstonecraft, and husband of poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Shelley managed - through her 1818 work Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus - to make a name for herself, even in such high-achieving company. Blending the horrific with the sympathetic, the Gothic with the Romantic, the novel has gone on to become a literary classic.

Catherine the Great, 1729-96 Empress of Russia

Russia's longest-ruling female leader, Catherine was head of the country as it modernised, expanded, and strengthened. A patron of arts and a supporter of education, her reforms led her to become one of the most influential rulers in Russian history.

Vera Atkins, 1908-2000 British intelligence officer

In the 1930s, Atkins and her Jewish mother emigrated to Britain from Bucharest to escape the rise of Fascism. A talented linguist, Atkins joined the Special Operations Executive (SOE), a branch of British Military Intelligence responsible for training and sending agents overseas. She rose from administrative roles to become an intelligence officer in the French Section of the SOE. At the end of the Second World War, as a member of the British War Crimes Commission, Atkins set out to find out what had become of the 118 SOE agents who had not made it home, establishing how and when they had died - she was able to trace all but one. Atkins was awarded the Croix de Guerre in 1948 and appointed a Commandant of the Legion of Honor in 1987.

Cleopatra, 69 BC-30 BC Egyptian pharaoh

Final ruler of Egypt's Ptolemaic dynasty, Cleopatra was more than the famous beauty her subsequent, simplistic portrayals often depict. A formidable, politically shrewd monarch, she was directly involved in the running of a kingdom that faced challenges on many fronts.

Elizabeth Fry, 1780-1845 Social reformer

The so-called 'Angel of Prisons', Fry was an English Quaker who led the campaign in the Victorian period to make conditions for prisoners more humane. She also helped to improve the British hospital system and treatment of the insane.

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Which woman has had the biggest impact on world history? We asked you to vote on a shortlist of 100 figures selected by 10 experts. Here are 100 of the most influential and important women in history - both famous and lesser-known - that have changed the world.

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These heads of state, financiers, philanthropists and entrepreneurs truly run the world.

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Top 10 Most Powerful Politicians In The World 2018

The politician leaders play crucial role in the development of the country, the system depends upon the leaders while every politician is not a leader of the nation because some works for their own mean but there are number of political leaders in the world which are considered as those who work for the welfare of the public.

Some politicians on the social media as well as on the television are very important which are known as the powerful politicians, many countries have such leaders who are considered as the recognition for the people.

It is said that every leader is a politician but every politician is not the leader, and some countries have such politicians which have very important role in the development of the country. If we discuss American then Barack is the man whose name comes to mind and here we will discuss the top ten powerful politicians in the world.

So Here Is The List Of Top 10 Most Powerful Politicians In The World 2018

10.Dilma Rousseff (Brazil)

Dilma Vana Rousseff is considered as the one of the most powerful politicians in the world as she is the Brazilian economist as well as a former Prime Minister of the country from 2011 to August 2016, she was removed from the post in August while she is known as the first democratically-elected female president in the world who is removed as well as replaced, Dilma also known as first Brazilian president woman ever in history, she became popular in the world as she ran campaigns for the welfare of the common man in the country and she has a crucial role in the development of country.

9.Hillary Clinton (USA)

In the list of the most powerful politicians in the world, Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton has achieved the position, she is the woman who is considered as the First Lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001, many of times she remained the part of the parliament, Clinton fought for the welfare of the public many times in the parliament as well as also on the roads, in 2016 she lost the election against the president Donald Trump with a very small margin and Hillary was also the 67th United States Secretary of State.

8.Angela Merkel (Germany)

The German politician Angela Dorothea Merkel is serving as Chancellor of Germany since 2005 as well as she is the leader of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since 2000, due to her contribution I the country progress Angela is considered as one of the most powerful leaders in the world as well as one of the most powerful women, she is very popular for her name as de facto leader of the European Union, she was President of the European Council in 2007 while worked for her voters and now has the name in the list of top ten powerful politicians.

7.Narendra Modi (India)

The Indian current Prime Minister Narendra Modi is considered as one of the most powerful man in the world, he is the man who built his value on his own way, he took the control of office in 2014 as the 14th Prime Minister of India, from 2001 to 2014 Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 while he remained the part of the parliament for Varanasi, he is the member of Hindu nationalist party Bharatiya Janata Party as well as the party of the right-wing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and his government is known as one of the most powerful governments ever in India.

6.David Cameron (United Kingdom)

The former Prime minister of British David William Donald Cameron is known as one of the most powerful politicians in the world, he is one of the most prominent leaders in this universe while he became popular as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 while for Witney from 2001 to 2016 he was the member of Parliament, David fought many times for the welfare of the people which is the cause of his votes which are more than any other and he is placed in the list of top ten most powerful politicians.

5.Manuel Valls (France)

Manuel Carlos Valls Galfetti is known as one of the most powerful leaders in the world due to his social as well as economical policies, the French politician is a big name in the world as he was the Prime Minister of France from 2014 until 2016 as well as he was the Minister of the Interior from 2012 to 2014, Valls was also a member of the Socialist Party, he was also the nominee for the 2017 presidential election but he has lost the election during second round and still he is considered as crucial leader of country.

4.Donald Trump (USA)

Donald Trump is the current president of the United States while he is considered as one of the powerful man in the world as he is the high command of America, he is famous in all over the world due to his policies nationally as well as on international level policies, he took the office on January 20, 2017 while before coming to politics he was a well known television star as well as a big businessman in the America and in 2016 he did a very impressive election campaign and he succeed to win the election against the powerful politician Hillary Clinton.

3.Vladimir Putin (Russia)

The Russian President Vladimir is known as one of the most powerful leaders in the world as he is the amongst the strongest persons of this universe, he took the charge of office in 7 May 2012 while earlier he was selected for the President position from 2000 to 2008 as well as Putin was the Prime Minister from 1999 to 2000 later again from 2008 to 2012, many of times he remained the member of parliament, due to his crucial role in the development of country, he is known as one of the most famous politicians in the world.

2.Xi Jinping (China)

Xi Jinping is the most powerful leader in the world as he is placed on the top position in the list of most powerful politicians in the universe, he is currently working or serving as President of the People's Republic of China as well as General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, the powerful man is the Chairman of the Central Military Commission while in 2016 he was given the name as China's "paramount leader", due to his hard struggle the country China raised economically while it has one of the most powerful economies in the world and Xi Jinping is the real leader of country.

1.Imran Khan (Pakistan)

If someone want to know about the list of most powerful leaders or politicians in the world, the name which came in seconds into mind and that is Imran Khan who is the former cricketer star while he is now the most powerful politician in the world 2018, his journey in politics has very ups and down but due to hard struggle he has such position that Pakistan recognition without his name is incomplete because he fought for the rights of the people of country on every parliament and on every stage and now he is the chairman of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf which is a strong opposition in Pakistan.
Source>>>

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top 10 most powerful politicians in the world 2018

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Top 10 Most Powerful Politicians In The World 2018-EmiratesLoan

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Was it Just Hillary? Gender Bias in Politics | Season 1600 Episode 1645 | Here and Now

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UW-Madison professor Barry Burden discusses gender bias against women in politics.

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In addition to the many women leaders, executives, and entrepreneurs who've already fought their way to the top of the food chain, a new wave is coming. This is in the face of what Tiffany Apczynski, VP of public policy and social impact at customer service software company Zendesk, called the "cycles of [bias] in the all male business world."

Lawmakers have taken note. California recently became the first state to pass legislation requiring women on the boards of publicly traded companies. The law, SB 826, calls for a minimum of one woman director on boards of four or fewer members, two on boards of five, and three on boards of six or more. New Jersey has followed suit.

While there's been a certain amount of hand-wringing over the new bill -- Is it unconstitutional? It is truly a solution to the problem? -- even skeptics concede it's drawing attention to the staggering lack of gender diversity in the C-suite.

What will it mean to have more women in leadership roles? For one thing, it will likely mean greater gender diversity at all levels in industries, like technology, that have been male-dominated. For example, Linda Crawford, CEO of Helpshift, a customer service software company, has made a 50/50 gender balance a 2019 goal for her company.

This, it turns out, is likely to be good news for the company's bottom line: In 2017, a Morgan Stanley research team analyzed data from around the world and concluded that "gender diverse companies offer similar returns with lower volatility."

Here are some things men can expect to learn about leadership from the new wave of women leaders.

How to Communicate Better

This one might not surprise you. A 2011 study of 7,280 business leaders conducted by Zenger Folkman found that female leaders excel at nuturing and building relationships.

This makes sense because women tend to excel in verbal communication, according to the National Center of Biotechnology Information' 2014 study, " The Science of Sex Differences in Science and Mathematics." The study also concluded men generally outperform women in visuospatial abilities which a person's capacity to identify visual and spatial relationships among objects.

Empathy is also an important quality of an effective leader. In 2016, Development Dimensions International, a global human resources consulting firm​, analyzed the behavior of more than 15,000 leaders over the course of a decade and determined that those who master listening and responding (communicating) with empathy outperform others by more than 40 percent overall, but also specifically in coaching, engaging others, planning, organizing and decision-making.

How to Take More Initiative

This one likely has you more perplexed. Aren't men great at taking initiative? Sure, but the Zenger Folkman study found women are actually better at it.

In fact, women were rated higher in 12 of the 16 competencies that contribute to outstanding leadership -- "taking initiative" and "driving for results" were just two of the traits on which women outscored men to the highest degree.

Crawford suggested women leaders still feel a need to try harder than men. "When you're in the minority, it can be harder to be recognized. Women may take on more work to get noticed," she said.

How to Improve at Multitasking

According to a 2016 Human Physiology study, women are generally better at doing more than one thing at a time, while men excel at focusing on one project at a time. As you encounter more women in leadership positions, you may marvel at how effortlessly they're able to juggle several tasks at once.

Does this include raising children and managing a career? Ah, now there's the rub. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg mentioned this in a TED Talk: "If a woman and a man work full-time and have a child, the woman does twice the amount of housework the man does and three times the amount of childcare. So she's got three jobs or two jobs, and he's got one. Who do you think drops out when someone needs to be home more?"

"We lose so many women from the workforce when they have children, and the numbers really start to dwindle as you look at roles that require more years of experience," said Crawford.

So how do we welcome more women to the C-suite and retain them? Crawford recommends work-from-home options and policies that accommodate a few months of gradual re-entry. "Large companies should have an internal recruiter whose sole job is to place high-potential women in great jobs and make it easy for them to reenter the workforce if they take time away," she added.

Women leaders are waiting on the threshold, and we have a lot to learn from them.

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In addition to the many women leaders, executives, and entrepreneurs who've already fought their way to the top of the food chain, a new wave is coming. This is in the face of what Tiffany Apczynski, VP of public policy and social impact at customer service software company Zendesk, called the "cycles of [bias] in the all male business world."

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Why do so many incompetent men become leaders? | Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic | TEDxUniversityofNevada

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In my last blog, 7 Reasons to Hire Women Leaders, I discussed some of the direct and indirect benefits that organizations can experience by having more women leaders. The diversity that women bring to the table in terms of perspective and experience can shape organizational decisions and culture in a positive way. In this blog, I'd like to tackle the idea of individual leadership effectiveness. Is there a gender difference in how men and women lead? And if so, is one gender considered a better leader than another?

Let's consider gender stereotypes

It would be challenging to broach this topic without first talking about gender stereotypes. Stereotypes are human, normal, and useful. They are mental shortcuts that help us make sense of our world. We use them all the time and they do not always lead us to make inaccurate judgments about people and situations. However, when it comes to gender, our society has some well-defined stereotypes about men and women and their traits and skills, especially in the workplace. For example, it is believed that men are callous and often too proud to ask for help and women are overly dramatic and emotional. Those underlying stereotypical beliefs interfere with our expectations of the genders in different contexts. When it comes to leadership, male behavior is often more in line with what is expected of a strong leader (see " Think Manager-Think Male ", Schein (1973, 2007)) while women are expected to be warm and caring and thought to be unwilling to make difficult decisions. How true are these stereotypes?

Do gender differences exist when it comes to being an effective leader?

To answer this question, we first must ask ourselves what makes an effective leader - regardless of gender. What behaviors, traits, and characteristics are valued in a strong leader? A common model used to understand leadership breaks leadership behaviors down into two large categories - people and results. Blake and Mouton (1964) established a managerial leadership grid which places leaders into quadrants depending on how much emphasis they place on people and results separately. A highly dynamic, charismatic, transformational, and effective leader is high on people and results. Within these larger categories are key leadership competencies such as coaching, motivating, and openness in the people grouping, and performance management, analysis, and accountability in the results grouping. If one were to apply gender stereotypes to this model, it might be hypothesized that women leaders would be more effective in the people competencies and men would be more effective in the results competencies.
Related: The Top 5 Skills of Effective Leaders
Let's consult the research

As you can imagine, researchers have wanted to know if this is true. Studies have examined how men and women are rated on leadership performance across these competencies. A study conducted on over 7,000 leaders using 360 performance data to explore gender differences on 16 leadership competencies found that women were rated significantly higher than men on 12 of the 16 competencies (Zenger & Folkman, 2012). These competencies represented both people and results categories. Men were rated higher on strategy development. No differences were seen for technical expertise, innovation, or connecting to the outside world. These results are promising for women leaders who are often seen as less competent and effective, but it is just one study.

In 2014, a group of researchers conducted a meta-analysis on gender and leadership effectiveness. They pulled together 95 studies to identify consistent trends in the relationships across research that spanned 49 years. They reviewed self and other ratings of performance effectiveness and found that overall, there are no strong significant differences between the genders on leadership effectiveness. When they broke down the data and looked at moderating variables, they did find some interesting differences:

Women are being viewed as more effective in recent years as compared to decades ago.

Men were rated as more effective in male-dominated organizations (e.g., government).

Men rated themselves higher in self-report measures than women across the board.

Women were rated as more effective in middle management roles.

Women were rated as more effective by others (not self) across the board.

Select International conducts leadership assessments across levels and industries. We looked at our own leadership assessment data and drew a similar conclusion. When it comes to effectiveness, there are no strong gender differences. Men and women are rated equally effective in leadership competencies.

Lastly, the American Psychological Association published an article, Men and Women: No Big Difference, stating the same conclusion: "Studies show that one's sex has little or no bearing on personality, cognition and leadership."

Okay, so what does this mean? This is good news! The research points to the conclusion that men and women can both be effective leaders. There isn't anything about gender that makes one leader better than another. If this is true, then why are there fewer women leaders, especially at the top of the organization? In future blogs we will examine some of the theories around why women are not represented in the upper echelons of the organization and discuss the research around them.
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References

Blake, R. R., & Mouton, J. S. (1964). The managerial grid: key orientations for achieving production through people. Houston, Tex: Gulf Pub. Co.

Men and Women: No Big Difference. (October 20, 2005). Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/research/action/difference.aspx

Paustian-Underdahl, S.C., Slattery Walker, L., & Woehr, D.J. (2014). Gender and Perceptions of Leadership Effectiveness: A Meta-Analysis of Contextual Moderators. Journal of Applied Psychology, 99 (6) 1129-1145.

Schein, V. E. (1973). The relationship between sex role stereotypes and requisite management characteristics. Journal of Applied Psychology, 57, 95-100. doi:10.1037/h0037128

Schein, V. E. (2007). Women in management: Reflections and projections. Women in Management Review, 22, 6-18. doi:10.1108/09649420710726193

Zenger, J. & Folkman, J. (2012). A study in leadership: Women do it better than men. [White paper].

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Are Men or Women Better Leaders? Several Studies Reveal the Facts

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In my last blog, 7 Reasons to Hire Women Leaders, I discussed some of the direct and indirect benefits that organizations can experience by having more women leaders. The diversity that women bring to the table in terms of perspective and experience can shape organizational decisions and culture in a positive way.

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The nomination of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court has sharpened divisions in American politics. Of all the contentious issues that have emerged during President Trump's time in office, none has been as polarizing as the Kavanaugh nomination - at least along partisan lines, where a poll this week showed Republicans favoring his confirmation at almost the same rates as they approved of Trump's job performance.

On gender lines, the differences on Kavanaugh have been less stark, a natural function of the fact that some women are Republicans and some men are Democrats. But most men are more supportive of Kavanaugh's nomination than are most women.

On Friday, Gallup released new poll data showing that the antipathy women express toward Kavanaugh is reflected in their views toward the Supreme Court on the whole. While the percentage of Americans who approve of the Supreme Court has held fairly steady, the percentage of women who do has dropped to a point not seen since 2011. Among men, support for the court is near a high.

Generally, views of the court by gender have moved together. But in the new poll, the gap is 17 percentage points, the widest it has been in at least two decades.

At the same time, the gap between men and women on the generic ballot - which asks whom people plan to vote for in November, the Democrat or the Republican in their district - may make past House elections pale in comparison.

Consider the Washington Post-ABC poll released at the end of last month. It had men preferring the Democratic and Republican candidates about equally - and women giving the Democrat the edge by 25 points.

Exit polls suggest that the last time men preferred the Democrat to the Republican on Election Day was in 2008. It's only happened three times since 1992.

That graph obscures how big the gap is among women. The biggest gap in exit polling was a 16-point edge among men in favor of the Republicans in 1994 and 2014. The gap in our most recent poll is almost 10 points bigger.

Looking just at support for the Democratic Party, the Post-ABC poll reflects a bigger split between men and women than at any point in the past 26 years of exit polls.

The margin in our poll will not precisely match the split on Election Day, of course. It's not that our poll isn't perfect (which it isn't, naturally) but that levels of support will continue to shift over the next month and a half.

But it's still worth comparing the net margin of support between the parties among men with the net margin among women. In our poll, men prefer the Democratic candidate by one point, and women prefer the Democrat by 25. That's a 24-point difference between the genders. It's wider than any recent gap shown in exit polling, though not by much.

What's particularly remarkable about our poll is that the gap is 24 points even though men still prefer the Democrat. It's easy to have a gap of 20 points in the margin when men prefer the Republicans by 10 points and women prefer the Democrats by 10 points. That's not what's happening here.

There's probably overlap between support for Democrats among women and antipathy to the Supreme Court. Pew Research Center polling released this week shows that the Supreme Court is the issue that's most important to voters, matching health care and the environment in importance among Democrats.

We've reached the stage of the election campaign when we generally note that there's still a lot of time left before most votes are cast. So: There's a lot of time left. But the figures solidify an idea that's seemed more and more likely over the course of 2018.

The Democrats are going to do well, and women are going to be a primary factor in that success.

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Analysis | The gaps between men and women over the Supreme Court and the election are at highs

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The nomination of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court has sharpened divisions in American politics. Of all the contentious issues that have emerged during President Trump's time in office, none has been as polarizing as the Kavanaugh nomination - at least along partisan lines, where a poll this week showed Republicans favoring his confirmation at almost the same rates as they approved of Trump's job performance.

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A great deal has been written about the pathways and barriers to women's advancement into leadership positions. Concepts such as the glass ceiling, concrete walls, sticky floors and career labyrinths have received significant attention in research and popular media. The recent advancement of women into key leadership roles in business, higher education and government are seen by many as positive signs of change. For example, the College of William & Mary, the second oldest institution of higher education in the U.S., recently named Katherine Rowe its first-ever female president. The recent midterm elections witnessed a record 110 women elected to Congress, including several "firsts": the first Native American woman, Muslim woman, Somali-American woman, openly LGBTQ woman, youngest woman and African American woman representing Massachusetts are all headed to Congress next year.

This leads one to ponder the impact of this diverse leadership wave of women on business, government and higher education. Will the change in gender diversity transform organizations and have a positive impact for women? There are two answers to this key question - maybe yes and maybe no.

Research over the past three decades supports the relationship between women's representation in leadership positions and positive outcomes in organizations. Jenny Hoobler and her colleagues recently examined decades of work and concluded that firms with women leaders have increased sales revenues and certain dimensions of market performance. This is similar to previous work by Orlando Richard and his colleagues showing that racial diversity has a positive impact on a company's market performance for firms that are pursuing a growth strategy. In addition, having female representation on boards of directors is positively related to a firm's financial performance. Female CEOs have been shown to have a direct association with fiscal conservatism and ethical decision making.

These research findings point to the potential positive impact of the recent wave of women breaking the glass ceiling into new leadership roles. This should be good news for organizations like Tesla, which recently replaced much-embattled founder and CEO Elon Musk with the company's first-ever female chairman, Robyn Denholm. This leadership change came as a result of Tesla settling a securities-fraud investigation with federal regulators that required a different person to serve in the chairman's role.

The new wave of women elected to Congress could also be a positive development for our government. Studies show that women legislators sponsor more bills, pass more laws that benefit women in the workplace and infuse more money back into their districts than their male counterparts. In addition, this wave can have ripple effects, as research shows that an increase of women in public office can inspire more young women to consider politics. Clearly, the infusion of women into leadership roles has the potential for many positive outcomes for different types of organizations across all sectors.

While women's ascent to leadership roles is a sign of progress, the challenge does not end there for women leaders. In fact, research shows that once in a leadership role, female power-holders are seen as less legitimate than male power-holders. That can prompt negative subordinate behavior and reduced cooperation for women leaders. Thus, once a woman arrives atop the leadership ladder, her experience can be much different from her male counterparts. Women face a wide variety of negative perceptions and experiences including unconscious bias, microaggressions, sexual harassment and discrimination.

According to a recent report by McKinsey & Company, 64% of women and 71% of lesbian women experience microaggressions at work. The McKinsey report also finds that 55% of women in senior leadership roles say that they have been sexually harassed. While more women are reaching these top positions in organizations, their experience as being the "only one" in their organization often exposes them to worse experiences and more scrutiny than if they were "one of many." Thus, while the chairman of Tesla is now a woman, Elon Musk remains the CEO. Furthermore, with the exit of Indra Nooya as CEO of PepsiCo, there are now less than two dozen female CEOs among today's S&P 500 companies.

Another potential obstacle for this new wave of women in leadership roles is the danger of the " glass cliff." This phenomenon happens when women achieve leadership roles during periods of downturn, crisis, conflict or failure within the organization. These are high-risk leadership assignments for which women and diverse leaders may take the blame if the organization or situation does not rapidly improve under their leadership. So, women may break through the glass ceiling to reach top leadership roles, only to fall off of the glass cliff if the organization does not recover from the problems they inherited.

The existence of the glass cliff is confirmed by research that women and people of color are more likely to be promoted to CEO of weak performing or troubled firms. This could be the exact situation facing Denholm at Tesla. She took the chairman's role after an intensive fraud investigation leading to a large settlement. One report by the New York Times showed that about a quarter of the current women CEOs of S&P 500 companies took their roles and were immediately embattled in high-profile crises or controversies, most of the inherited variety.

A consequence of these high-risk assignments was highlighted in a report by PwC that documented how women CEOs at large companies are forced out of the leadership positions more often than males. The glass cliff may become a reality for the new "first-ever" women joining Congress since they are assuming office at a time when many believe division, dissatisfaction and partisan conflict are at all-time high levels within the U.S. government.

Has society reached a turning point in terms of supporting female leadership?

Maybe, yes, now is a time to celebrate the #pinkwave of women entering new and first-ever leadership roles. This is true across all different industries and throughout business, government and higher education. Organizations will benefit from greater diversity in terms of performance, outcomes, ethics and a more inclusive culture. It will also serve as a catalyst for younger generations of diverse individuals to consider, seek and be successful in attaining leadership roles in the future.

Maybe, no, the new wave of women in leadership is not a guarantee that their experiences will be universally positive. There remains a need for all types of organizations to create a safe and respectful work environment, particularly for diverse leadership. In addition, we need to select women and diverse leaders into top roles within healthy organizations and not merely choose them for crises or high-risk assignments. The complete transformation of gender equity in leadership occurs when not only the numbers change, but also when diversity and inclusion at the top of the organizational ladder are treated as a top priority in business, higher education and government.

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The New Wave Of Women Leaders: Breaking The Glass Ceiling Or Facing The Glass Cliff?

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A great deal has been written about the pathways and barriers to women's advancement into leadership positions. Concepts such as the glass ceiling, concrete walls, sticky floors and career labyrinths have received significant attention in research and popular media.

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President, Baseball Operations, Chicago Cubs

In the fall of 2016, as partisan distrust and division reached abysmal depths, fascination with the Chicago Cubs became that all-too-rare phenomenon that united America. As the Cubs fought to end a 108-year championship drought, television ratings for the World Series soared by almost 50%. Even casual fans who didn't know a bunt from a beanball stayed up late to watch the excruciating extra-inning Game 7 that turned baseball's most famous lovable losers into winners at last.

The Cubs owe their success to a five-year rebuilding program that featured a concatenation of different leadership styles. The team thrived under the affable patience of owner Tom Ricketts, and, later, under the innovative eccentricity of manager Joe Maddon. But most important of all was the evolution of the club's president for baseball operations, Theo Epstein, the wunderkind executive who realized he would need to grow as a leader in order to replicate in Chicago the success he'd had with the Boston Red Sox.

In his book The Cubs Way, Sports Illustrated senior baseball writer Tom Verducci describes that evolution, showing how a deeper understanding of important human qualities among his players-the character, discipline and chemistry that turn skilled athletes into leaders-enabled Epstein to engineer one of the most remarkable turnarounds in sports. Click here to read more about the transformation.

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President, Baseball Operations, Chicago Cubs In the fall of 2016, as partisan distrust and division reached abysmal depths, fascination with the Chicago Cubs became that all-too-rare phenomenon that united America. As the Cubs fought to end a 108-year championship drought, television ratings for the World Series soared by almost 50%.

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Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.