Women's Leadership

Kathy Hochul will take Andrew M. Cuomo’s place as governor of New York State once his resignation goes into effect in 14 days.

Ms. Hochul, New York State’s lieutenant governor, will become the first woman to lead New York State.

“I agree with Governor Cuomo’s decision to step down,’’ Ms. Hochul said in a statement. “It is the right thing to do and in the best interest of New Yorkers. As someone who has served at all levels of government and is next in the line of succession, I am prepared to lead as New York State’s 57th Governor.”

Though she has served on Mr. Cuomo’s team since the 2014 election, Ms. Hochul has largely been cut off from his inner circle. She and Mr. Cuomo have not spoken since February, a senior official told The New York Times earlier this week.

Nevertheless, on Tuesday, Mr. Cuomo expressed confidence in Ms. Hochul’s ability to govern as the state shoulders through the ongoing repercussions of the pandemic.

Click here to read the full article published by The New York Times on 10 August 2021.

When journalist Mary Ann Sieghart set out to document the ways that women are held back by a cultural presumption of their inferiority, she found reams of data to support her case – and heard stories of how it affects even the most successful women in the world. She explains why the authority gap persists, and asks what we can do about it.

From the very beginning of her career as a journalist in the 1980s, Mary Ann Sieghart found herself pushing against a set of assumptions which accorded her less authority than her male peers – and and led to her being viewed as bigheaded if she showed the same ambition and confidence as they did. When she came to write a book about how experiences such as hers still shape women’s lives, she found a huge range of empirical evidence that confirmed the existence of those prejudices. And when she asked some of the most accomplished women in the world – from Bernardine Evaristo to Hillary Clinton – she learned that they had all experienced the same “authority gap”, no matter how remarkable their CVs.

Click here to read listen to he podcast published The Guardian on 26 July 2021.  

Why does the gender balance among politicians vary so substantially across different locations? Drawing on a new study, Moa Frödin Gruneau illustrates that the historical persistence of traditional family structures has a clear relationship with the number of women in politics today.

Despite numerous attempts over the years to increase the share of women among politicians, politics more often than not remains a man’s game. But why is the gender imbalance in political assemblies across the world so difficult to change?

Previous research has suggested numerous reasons for the underrepresentation of women in politics. These include that women have less ambition than men, that voters prefer male candidates, and that women face larger structural constraints, such as having to combine a career with homemaking. However, it remains an open question as to why we see variation in the level of constraints women face, and why the demand from voters for women in politics varies across time and place.

History matters

In a new study, I focus on the historical persistence of traditional family structures. The reasons to do so are threefold. First, history matters for present day gender roles. Second, gender-traditional norms and family structures put constraints on women’s careers. Third, attitudes toward gender roles are transmitted across generations.

Click here to read the full article published by LSE on 21 July 2021.

Abstract

Throughout history, most positions of political power have been held by men, and despite numerous laws and regulations aimed at increasing gender equality in society and politics, the majority of democratic assemblies remain predominantly composed of men. What makes this gender composition persistent over time? Using data from Swedish population registers from 1982 to 2014 and demographic statistics from 1749 to 1859, I study how historical social norms shape the present-day gender balance in local politics. The results show that where family formation was more traditional in the past, there are fewer women in local politics today. The analysis also shows that family formation is a likely mechanism for the transmission of social norms across generations. The findings contribute to our understanding of the historical persistence of social structures and the reasons why gender balance in politics is not easily achieved.

Click here to access the article.

MOGADISHU, SOMALIA - Somalia's top leaders, all men, have struggled for years to tame the Horn of Africa nation's insecurity and corruption. Lawmaker Fawzia Yusuf Haji Adam says it's time for a woman's touch and on Tuesday announced her candidacy for president. But getting enough support from Somalia's lawmakers, the vast majority of them men, will be a challenge.

Fawzia says she will bring a new lease on life to the country, if elected, by prioritizing security, economic empowerment and education.  Her male counterparts, she says, have failed to do so. 

"We have been waiting for men for so long to sort out the problems of Somalia but till today we see there are no solutions so I have decided to stand for president and I have no doubt I will do a much better job than men," Fawzia said. "Islam does not stop women from going to politics or becoming head of state or in higher positions. If you go to Bangladesh, for the last 50 years almost there are women leaders replacing each other and it is the most conservative country in the Muslim world. The most populous country is Indonesia, there was a lady who was in charge, in Pakistan, we have so many other Muslim women [in charge] including Tanzania and Singapore,” she added.

Click here to read the full article published by VOA News on 14 July 2021.

The Socialist leader hopes the changes will help focus on the economic recovery and smooth thorny issues such as Catalan independence before Spaniards vote in the next election.

Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has carried out a sweeping Cabinet reshuffle, replacing some of his most important ministers, boosting the representation of women and reducing the average age of his team.

Sánchez unveiled the changes on Saturday, saying that the new government will focus on Spain’s economic recovery and holding up his new team as a global example of gender equality. The new appointments also “represent a generational renewal, with an average age of 50.”

In a brief news conference without questions, Sánchez talked about “a new period” that is opening up to reactivate “the social, green, digital and feminist agenda.” But the two major goals of the new governing team will be to receive and manage millions of euros in EU funds to facilitate the post-coronavirus recovery, and to reduce political and social tension over the issue of Catalan independence.

Click here to read the full article published by El Pais on 12 July 2021.