A ground-breaking research paper from the Westminster Foundation for Democracy and the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership has analysed over 500 pieces of research into the impacts of women leaders. The results are a stunning reflection of the role women leaders can play in improving the lives not only of women and girls but also boys and men.
Key findings from the research include:
- Women focus on better outcomes for all their constituents
- Women politicians work harder than men at representing their constituents
- Increased female representation helps counteract corruption in politics
- Women are less likely to commit to a war
- Women are less likely to commit human rights abuses
- Women prioritise healthcare, education, and welfare.
The report is remarkably timely given our experience of the COVID-19 pandemic. Women leaders have brought a more collaborative and inclusive leadership to their parliaments around the world.
Women appear more capable of understanding the gendered nature of politics at its best, when leadership and decision making have never had a higher priority than at present.
Professor Rosie Campbell, Director of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College in London says, “this is a unique and important piece of work that makes an unequivocal case for the multitude of ways that politics, governance, economies and societies thrive when women take their place as leaders.”
As COVID-19 hopefully recedes in the next few months it is clear that ‘understanding the gendered nature of political leadership and decision making is more important than ever as we collectively rebuild, moving towards a more sustainable, resilient and inclusive future’(O’Connell, 2020).
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Ref: Madeline Hislop. Women’s Agenda.
