advancing women in government

8/2/2019 Advancing Women in Government

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Paths to power

Advancing women in government

Global Public Sector


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Authors

Greg PellegrinoGlobal Public Sector Industry Leader, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu

Sally DAmatoPrincipal, Deloitte United States Federal

Anne WeisbergDirector, Talent, Deloitte Services LP

Foreword by:James H. Wall Chief Diversity Officer, Global Managing Director, TalentDeloitte Touche Tohmatsu


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Executive summary

When it comes to womens advancement, few achieve-ments can compare with the rising role of women ingovernment. The move to achieving full gender paritymay be slow and uneven, but women are increasinglybeing elected and appointed to positions of power. Thisgovernmental evolution has the potential to pave the wayfor women to make further gains in the public and privatesectors, helping to bring their voice and talent to the issuesthat shape national economies and societies.

Deloitte developed this report to gain a deeper under-standing of how women advance in government and toexplore the growing impactand importanceof womenin senior, decision-making roles in the public sector.

Among the key findings of this report are:

Women are a critical national resource for economicgrowthIf talent is the most important natural resource a nationcan possess, then continuing to nurture and advance themost worthy, diverse talentincluding high-potentialwomento upper-echelon, decision-making levels can

have a significant impact on the economy. This is critical tostaying competitive. In the 21st century economy, knowl-edge is the most valuable currency, and in many parts ofthe world, women are rapidly matching or overtaking menin terms of education. This report spotlights the criticalneed to harness and continue to mine the wealth of globalfemale talent, both in the public and private sectors, to en-sure continued growth and success. Not tapping into thisresource means both wasting a wellspring of knowledge,competence, and unique perspectives and forgoing thereturn on investment that comes from the fact that womenreinvest their wealth in their families and communities.

Progress in the public sector serves as a model for theprivate sector

Women in government set the stage for the advancementof women in the public and private sectors, and ultimatelyfor women as a force in the economy. Countries where ef-forts to include women at the highest levels of governmenthave been most successful have reaped rewards in theprivate sector as well. The public sector has been quicker torecognize and reward talented women; in fact, the privatesector may have much to learn from governments aroundthe world about attracting and retaining female talent.

A critical mass of women in leadership begets morewomen in leadershipSimply put, without women in charge, there wont bemore women in charge. Evidence suggests that once fe-male representation reaches critical masscommonly citedfigures hover around one-third as the tipping pointtheirshared interests as women emerge.1 This critical massalso paves the way for still more women to ascend to the

highest levels of the public sector, as they assuage lingeringcultural and institutional concerns about womens com-petency and provide valuable mentorship and networkingopportunities for newer female talent.

Women in leadership pursue different paths to powerIn the process of writing this report, senior women aroundthe world who have made their careers in the public sectorwere invited to share their stories and perspectives. Eachof these women was chosen for her unique achievementsand significant societal contributions. And each pursueda different path to powerwhether serving in an electedcapacity, appointed to a ministerial position, working onesway up the ladder through a career in the public sector,scaling the ranks of the military or affecting policy change

via a role outside of formal government. The diverse careerpaths of these accomplished women demonstrate themany ways womens talent can be harnessed in the publicsector, but also demonstrate that, despite the differencesin their experience, the leadership qualities that enabledthem to lead successful careers translates across bordersand governments.

Cultural and organizational change accelerates theretention and advancement of womenDeveloping countries are currently seeing a brain drainwhere the educated women are emigrating at alarmingrates in search of advancement and fulfilling work. Notonly does this deprive those societies of their talent, it alsosquanders the significant investment made in these women

in terms of publicly financed education and training. Insti-tutions in the developed world are experiencing a similarflight of talent when opportunities are lacking. In both cir-cumstances, an organization-wide culture shift is requiredto nurture an environment that is friendly to women andencourages their advancement. Those organizations thathave taken a systemic approach to the issue have reapedthe rewards in greater growth and higher returns.


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Debates on the values of diversity and the empowermentand advancement of women have raged for decades. Themove to gender equality and representation of womenat the leadership levels of business and government hassparked protests, litigation, legislation, and ultimatelyfar-reaching change. The work that began in the late 20thcentury to push back against the male-dominated modelfor career success and to ensure no employee has tochoose between a family and career advancement led tochanges that benefited women, men, and their public andprivate sector employers.

The Paths to Power point of view suggests the greaterthe number of women in leadership the more substantiveand beneficial those changesincluding greater financialrewards for those organizations with at least three womenon their boards. A look at the employers recognized asbest places to work also shows this to be a case in point.Deloitte has seen the benefits of advancing women toleadership since 1993, when the United States memberfirm launched its Initiative for the Retention and Advance-ment of Women and member firms around the globefollowed with initiatives for greater inclusion.

Efforts to promote the retention and advancement ofwomen leveled the playing field on the development,succession planning, and partner admission processes. Fre-

quently Deloitte crossed paths with women in governmentand the public sector as we held ourselves accountablefor progress toward the proportionate representation ofwomen at the top of the organization. Lynn Martin, formerSecretary of the U.S. Department of Labor from 1991-1993, for example, chaired the Deloitte U.S. Council for theAdvancement of Women.

As women moved into leadership positions, the nextgeneration of women found role models and saw therewas more than one path to success. More womens voiceswere heard. Networking and mentoring events supportedefforts to empower girls and women in the communitiesin which Deloitte does business and helped women tobuild the skills and gain the resources neededfrom an

interview suit to interview skillsto find employment. Asmore women moved into decision-making roles, the wayDeloitte worked changed. Women and men opened up

about the challenges of managing a high-performanceworkplace and a personal life. This new focus on the needto integrate work and life led to the introduction of formaland informal flexible work options, and ultimately the roll-out of the Mass Career Customization (MCC) frameworkfor career-life fit.

In 2007, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu leadership formed theGlobal Retention of Women (GROW) Council to drive aworldwide effort to increase the representation of womenin leadership positions as a first step toward creating amore inclusive workplace. Today, 108 of the 140 countries

in the Deloitte organization have formal and informaldiversity and inclusion initiatives, and Deloitte is invitedto discusswith business, civil society, academic, labor,government, and entertainment luminariesstrategiesfor empowering women worldwide. As signatories to theUN Global Compact, Deloitte is called upon for insightson economic equity for and preventing violence againstwomen and contributed to the crafting of UNIFEMsand the UN Global Compacts Womens EmpowermentPrinciples - Equality Means Business. In roundtables atthe World Economic Forum, our perspectives are soughton diversity, sustainability, and outlawing the trafficking inwomen and children, among other pressing economic andhuman rights issues.

When the advancement of women became a businessimperative for Deloitte, governments were no longer justour clients, they became our partners in addressing thebarriers to true gender equality. The empowerment and ad-vancement of women, ensuring they are represented andtheir voices heard when corporate and economic policiesare shaped is as much a human rights issue as a workplaceissue, and businesses and governments are obligated towork together to create positive change.

Foreword

James H. WallChief Diversity OfficerGlobal Managing Director, TalentDeloitte Touche Tohmatsu


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Public sector leading the wayWomen in government set the stage for the advance-ment of women in both the public and private sectors,and ultimately for women as a force in the economy andsociety. Countries where efforts to include women at thehighest levels of government have been most successfulhave reaped rewards in the private sector as well. Often,advancement in the public sector leads the way, serving asa model or precursor to growth in the private sphere.

The public sector has been more open to women. Ithink it has led the way and the private sector has laggedbehind, said Diane Rath, former chairperson and commis-sioner of the Texas Workforce Commission in the U.S. Youneed to have women represented to understand the worldat large. The inclusion of women in the workforce is criti-cally important to the economy. Research has shown thatif you have women in leadership in a company, it performsmuch better and the companies reap economic rewards.The same is true for the public sector.4

This past decade, recruitment and retention are issuesacross the board, agreed Ruby DeMesme, former assistantsecretary, U.S. Air Force, current Director of Human CapitalMarket Innovative Strategy, Deloitte Consulting LLP United

States. Companies and government discuss that in orderto compete, they need to increase diversity.5

Women overall have fared better in the public sector.Almost 10% of the members of the United Nations havefemale heads of state, compared to the 3% of the top1000 multinational companies that have a woman presi-dent or CEO.6 Women comprise nearly 20% of parliamentary seats worldwide-a proportion still significantly shy ofequality, yet account for only 13.5% of women executiveofficers of the top 500 U.S. companies.7

When it comes to gender equality, few achievements cancompare with the rising role of women in government. Fullgender parity may still be elusive, but women are increas-ingly being elected and appointed to positions of power,whether as heads of state, ministers and cabinet members,or legislators. This governmental evolution has the poten-tial to pave the way for women to make further gains inthe public and private sectors, helping to bring their voiceand talent to the issues that shape national economies.

While parity has been achieved in some countriestheNordic nations, for examplethere is still a long marchahead in much of the world. Yet even while progress hasbeen slow and somewhat uneven, women around theworld are building to a critical mass in the public sectorthat can help them affect change in places where a decadeor two ago they were never even represented.2

Consider what happened in Kenya. Ambassador AminaChawahir Mohamed, the permanent secretary and chiefexecutive officer, Ministry of Justice, National Cohesion andConstitutional Affairs of the Republic of Kenya, remem-bered a particularly powerful example of women in Kenyasgovernment coming together to affect real change.

Ten women won parliamentary seats. Before that, withissues related to combating domestic violence or sexualassault, you wouldnt see much support in years past. Butnow, with ten women, we were able to push legislationthrough, Ambassador Mohamed said. I can tell you forsure it wouldnt have happened without that critical mass.Ten women were able to convince and lobby 200 menin parliament to support and pass a law we wanted toprotect women.3

Women and infuence:

social benets, economic rewards


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Its about talentThe struggle of women to reach senior levels cannot beseen as simply a womens issue, but rather one of talent;womens progress has vital implications for the healthand growth of governments, companies, and nations. AsNicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn document in Halfthe Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for WomenWorldwide, investing in womens advancement resultsin economic and social improvement for entire familiesand communities. In 2008, former U.S Secretary of State,Condoleeza Rice said, If I could focus on one thing indeveloping countries it would be the empowerment ofwomen.8, 9 And current U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clin-

ton has created a position- ambassador at large for globalwomens issues to do just that.

Already, in many parts of the world women are rapidlymatching or overtaking men in terms of education. Andwith knowledge being the most valuable currency in the21st century economy, not tapping into this resourcemeans both wasting a wellspring of knowledge, compe-tence, and unique perspectives, and forgoing the return oninvestment that comes from the fact that women reinvesttheir wealth in their families and communities. If talent isthe most important natural resource a nation can possess,then continuing to nurture and advance the most worthy,diverse talentincluding high-potential womento up-per-echelon, decision-making levels can have a significant

impact on the economy.

When we look at states in the U.S. that are growing, itsthe states that embrace diversity, said Rath. You have tohave all parts of the population involved, and you have tohave a dynamic and d iverse workforce. Its absolutely criti-cal to the future of a community and a state.10

Put simply, utilizing the best and brightest remainsimpossible if a country isnt tapping into half of its popula-tion. Even in societies where women are gaining moreeducationgenerally at publicly financed institutions thisinvestment is often lost without opportunities in theworkplace, whether public or private. In Africa alone,27.1% of females with tertiary educations emigrate10%

more than men.11 This scenario is playing out the worldover: with the exception of North America, women witheducation are emigrating in greater numbers than men.(UNIFEM). And as the world grows ever more intercon-nected, talent is becoming increasingly mobile. Those whofail to draw on the talents of women may fall behind.

In government, the economic and social benefits ofenabling women to achieve parity are vast. Norway, whichhas been perhaps the most successful in attaining femalerepresentation at the highest levels of government and thepublic sector, has repeatedly been ranked year after yearby the United Nations as the best place in the world to live.Following the success of policies regarding its public sector,Norway also mandated in 2002 that 40% of all corporateboards of companies listed on the Oslo stock exchangehad to be held by women, bringing the private sector up toparity as well. It should be noted that Norway has weath-ered the economic crisis fairly well.

In the private sector as well, participation by women insenior roles has been shown to translate into greater finan-cial rewards: the top 500 multinational firms who had atleast three women on their boards saw a 16.7% return onequity; average companies saw just 11.5%. The greater thenumber of women, the greater the difference; those withthe greatest number of women on their boards had 53%greater return on equity than those with the fewest.12

The more you are successul, the more latitude you have to succeed. But to exploit that latitude you cant always pursue

a linear career progression - you have to go o into let eld, take some risks and see where it takes you.

Heather Hancock, Lead Partner for London 2012 and Managing Partner for Innovation & Brand at Deloitte United Kingdom, former Private Secretary tothree Home Secretaries and former member of the Senior Civil Service

Women at the very topHeads of State

As of July 2009, 16 female presidents, prime ministers and chancellors cur-rently serve as heads of state, constituting 8% of the of the nations thatare members of U.N.13

In February 2010, Costa Rica elected a woman president.

Ministers and Cabinet Members

Seventeen countries have reached at least 30% representation in ministe-rial posts, while 93 have 15% or lower; 13 of those nations have nowomen in ministerial positions.14

Top countries remain the Nordics.

- Finland and Norway comprise two of the three countries in whichwomen hold more than half of ministerial appointments.

- All but one of the Nordic countries rank in the top 10 for gross

national income per capita.15

Other countries achieving parity in the cabinet include Grenada, France,South Africa, Spain, Switzerland and Chile, all of which report femalerepresentation at the ministerial level of at least 40%. France, Spain andSwitzerland also boast top-25 GDPs.16


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Incubating womens entrepreneurial spirit

All fledgling ideas need room and space to grow. When Her Excellency Maha Khatib beganwork as the National Program Director of UNIFEM in 1994, she worked to ensure thatwomen who were starting their own businesses had that space as well as access to thebasic resources that are so crucial to a ventures success, but often just out of reach forentrepreneurs.

At UNIFEM, she worked to develop and establish business incubators centers wheremicro-business owners could have access to computers, phones, fax machines, accountingand networking services and opportunities, small business consulting and secretarial ser-vices, graphic design equipment and other essential business resources. Intended to provideservices micro-business owners could often ill-afford, these incubators represented a simpleelegant solution to a common problem: the lack of business resources available to womenThe incubators also included the added benefit of providing unemployed women the infor-mation and experience necessary to start a business.

Womens businesses face different issues than those owned by men. Through the busi-ness incubators, we enabled them to reach more women and to reach new markets, saidHE Maha Khatib. It is a simple model. It can be designed in a very local manner. Jordanwas the first country in the Arab world to establish an incubator for womens small andmicro-enterprises. The whole concept was not familiar. And now our programs have beenreplicated throughout the Arab world.

Having women in high levels o government is important,

but whats more important is having women who can makea dierence.

Her Excellency

Maha KhatibMinister of Tourism and Antiquities for the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

At a glance:

Director General of the Jordan River Foundation, aJordanian non-profit, non-governmental organiza-tion chaired by Her Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah(2000-2007)

Director and Partner of the Management and Devel-opment Group

Director of the Public Sector Reform Program

National Program Director of the United NationsDevelopment Fund for Women (UNIFEM)

National Project Manager for the Women in Develop-ment Project of the German Technical CooperationAgency


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6

Female heads of state and percentage of representat

4 of the top 10 nationsaccording to the Gender Gap Indexhave female heads of state

Country w

Country w

Country currently has a female head of state

Country previously had a female head of state

Country w

Regional averages of women in parliament by region, lo

22%

Americas

21.1%

Europe

18%Sub-Saharan

Africa

North AmericaMore than one-fifth of Canadaslower house of parliament iscomprised of women.

EuropeWomen hold about 35% ofseats in the European Parlia-ment, a significant achieve-ment in comparison to the30% proportion held duringthe 1999-2004 term, but stillnot achieving the 40% goal set

by the Member States of theCouncil of Europe. (EWL 50/50Campaign for Democracy, 2009)

Latin AmericaLatin America has been a particular brightspot. Women currently fill an average of14% of ministerial positions in countriesin that region compared with 9% tenyears ago, and 13% of senatorial posi-tions, up five percentage points a decade

earlier. Within the last three years, threeLatin American countries elected femalepresidents: Cristina Fernandez de Kirchnerin Argentina, Michelle Bachelet in Chileand, in February 2010, Laura Chinchilla inCosta Rica.

Middle EastWomen hold fein ten (9%) parlin the Middle Ealeadership, Tzipvice prime minisof foreign affair

March 2009.

AfricaAfrica reheads ofof LiberiaMozamband womparliame


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In 1975, proclaiming it the Decade of Women the United Na-tions held the first world congress devoted to improving the statusof women. But 20 years later, little progress had been made. From1975 to 1995, the proportion of women in national parliamentshad increased less than half a percentage point from 10.9% to11.3%17. Eight women served as either an elected or appointedhead of state or government in 1995, up from three in 1975.

In response to this lack of significant progress for women, attend-ees at 1995s Fourth World Conference for Women developed acomprehensive action plan for advancing the status of womenworldwide. Dubbed the Beijing Platform for Action, the watershedprogram featured a sweeping, 12-pronged platform identifyingcritical areas of concern for improving the conditions of womenaround the globe, including their role in government. The politi-cal prong, Women in Power and Decision-Making, focused onensuring women equal access toand participation indecisionmaking, and increasing their opportunities to become leaders. Theprogram set a goal for women to achieve paritydefined as atleast 40% representationby 2025.

The efforts of the Beijing Platform have made some impact.Womens participation (via election, career advancement or ap-pointment) in national government has nearly doubled since 1995.By 2005, the proportion of women members of upper and lowerhouses of parliament worldwide hit 16.3%18; by 2008, that figureclimbed to 18.4%.19 Between 1995 and 2009, 35 women wereelected or appointed heads of government. The most recent addi-tions include Laura Chinchilla President of Costa Rica, Jadranka Ko-sor, Johanna Siguroardottir and Hasina Wazed, serve as prime min-isters in Croatia, Iceland and Bangladesh, respectively. Yet a reportpublished by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europein advance of March 2010s Beijing +15 notes that Improvementsin womens access to power have generally been rather slow anduneven and women continue to be strongly underrepresented in allareas of decision-making in most countries.20

Women in leadership: evolving rom then to now

Quality as well as quantityOver the years, there have been numerous initiatives and commitmentsto improving womens participation at all levels of government. Sustan-tial efforts- including quota systems, training programs, and other initia-tives have allowed for noteworthy advancement. Women now holdroles of significant importance in dozens of nations around the world.Moreover, women are making some headway in the lower houses ofparliamentthanks in large part to quota systemswith the Nordiccountries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) seating thehighest percentage of females.

But what looks like progress may actually be deceptive. This increasedfemale participation in the lower houses of government does notnecessarily translate into more women in decision making roles. Inmany cases, women are relegated to simply filling positions on thelower rungs of government, where there may be little opportunity toadvance, affect change, or influence policy. For example, while womenfill more than half of Rwandas parliamentary seats, ranking it first in theworld, it ties for 36th in number of ministerial posts filled by women.In Afghanistan, quotas mandate that one-third of parliament membersmust be women, but they have little influence and are clearly excludedfrom the decision-making process.21 In other words, in many situationspromising numbers mask continued marginalization.

The fact remains that today, womens roles remain disproportionatelysmall in all areas of the political sphere, in almost every country in theworld. They continue to face substantial hurdles to participation and inmany areas of the world still have little or no control over the decisionsthat affect most aspects of their daily lives. The challenge today is toaccelerate both quantative and qualitative progress so that women arefull participants in the public and private sectors around the world.

29%Of the 30 CIOC Departments/Agencies tracked on

www.cio.gov, 15 of 60CIOs/DCIOs/CTOs

-- or 25% -- are female.

Of the 26 CFOC Departments/Agencies tracked on www.cfo.gov,15 of 52 CFOs/DCFOsor 29%are female.


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Personal condence is extremely important. As soon as you get a star by your name you start to suer rom the imposter

theory- the worry that Im not good enough.

Dame Sue Street DCB, the former Permanent Secretary at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, U.K and Strategic Advisor to Deloitte

The barriers to power

Women at the uppermost echelons of government oftenfind themselves alone, and may still encounter resistancefrom other global leaders who may hold a more patriarchalmindset. In our countryits no big deal, having a womando the job, said U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ina recent profile in American Vogue. But in much of therest of the world there is a strong message. You can go tosome countries and theres not a woman in the room.22

But its not just women at the top facing this issue. Thereare many entry barriers for women when it comes toparticipating in all areasand levelsof the public and

private sector. These include a full menu of cultural andfinancial concerns, such as a lingering prejudice towardwomen, cultural perceptions of gender roles in society, lackof education and support networks, a dearth of female rolemodels already in office, and a lack of time and financialresources.

Lack of female role modelsOften it is the presence of other females that shows wom-en that a position in government as a possibilities. Whenwomen dont see other women, they think its somethingthat they cant do, or that they dont understand, saidMarie Wilson, founder and president of The White HouseProject, an American organization dedicated to advanc-ing womens leadership in the U.S. through training and

recruitment.23

Decades ago, when womens role in the workplace waseven less accepted, fewer women were able to build ca-reers in the public sector. The ripple effects of that are stillbeing felt today. There are a lot of skill sets that womenhave that are not being tapped into, but I believe thatspartly a reflection of how long it takes to get to the topof your field, and how relatively few women there werea few decades ago going into these areas, said HeatherHancock, Lead Partner for London 2012 and ManagingPartner for Innovation & Brand at Deloitte United K ingdomIn some areas, there is simply not yet the population tohave made that transformational shift.24

Cultural pressuresIn many regions around the world the most vulnerable ofwomen face a double challenge: being female and beingpart of a lower caste or social rung, making it even moredifficult for them to have a voice. They also carry a dispro-portionately high burden of poverty,25 and not just in thematerial sense, but in the ephemeral as well. They oftenfind themselves politically and culturally marginalized, leav-ing them few avenues to influence political, economic orcultural processes. Absence of education, low literacy andlifelong unequal status also diminish confidence in onesability to seek and hold public office.


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Its not trying to t into some role o what you think peo-

ple want to see. Its just being knowledgeable about the is-

sues and how to approach them.

Myths about women, talent, and elected office

Its true that barriers exist for women seeking elected office or hoping to climb the ladder inthe public sector. But its possible that those barriers are not as high as many assume, or maynot even exist at all. There are a lot of myths about women running for office, said Crit Lual-len, currently the only female elected state official in Kentucky.

One of those myths is that women cant raise money successfully. But if you are confidentand present a clear message for why people should support you, and can articulate that welland ask confidently for a donation, people will support you financially no matter what yourgender is. Its very hard to do. Its a full-time job. But you can do it.

Another myth is the very basic one, that women arent strong enough, they dont have thestrength to lead and deal with challenges. Every time a woman successfully leads, it helps tobreak down that barrier.

The third myth is that women cant give their full attention to public policy matters due to althe other demands on their time.

Luallen pointed to another experience all too commonand detrimentalto women seekingpublic office. Rather than allowing the candidates qualifications, competency, and talent toshine, women often find themselves shoehorned into a male version of themselves. Manyadvisers surrounding a female candidate will spend their time trying to have her look like a maninstead of talking substantively about real issues. I think as I watch women in leadership now,what I see women doing todayI think weve gotten over the trying to look like a man, soundlike a man, talk like a man, and instead were talking competently about the real issues.

Because of the myths that women arent tough enough, you have to really work hard todevelop more competence. I dont ever want to take lightly that I am the only elected womanin the statewide office. For every speaking engagement, for every panel, for every forum orinterview I have, I prepare extensively. I feel like I have a responsibility to other women to

have something of substance to say and to be the smartest person at the table. If I dont dothat, I feel like Ive let other women downthe women coming up behind me, the womenwho elected me. To be able to speak competently about any issue with thoughtfulness andcomplexity is important.

Crit LuallenAuditor of public accounts for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, U.S.

At a glance:

Secretary of the Executive Cabinet, chief operatingofficer of Kentucky

State Budget Director

Secretary of the Finance and Administration Cabinet

Secretary of the Kentucky Tourism Cabinet

Commissioner of the Kentucky Department of theArts

Special Assistant to the Governor

Named a Public Official of the Year by GoverningMagazine, 2009

Recipient of the National Excellence in LeadershipAward by Women Executives in State Government,

2001

Photo courtesy of Governing Magazine


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Overcoming nancial challengesOrganizations around the world arehelping women surmount the financialhurdles that may prevent them from run-ning for office. These include not only

grassroots organizations, but politicalparties seeking to increase representa-tion by female membership as well.

Grassroots: Founded in the U.S.in 1985, EMILYs List takes its namefrom the acronym Early Money isLike Yeast, because it helps to raisethe dough. The group has out-posts in Australia and the U.K., andraises money for female candidateswho fit the groups ideology.

A male-centric systemInherent in many government-related institutions is a defacto discrimination against women. As female participa-tion in government is a relatively new phenomenon inmany areas of the world, most governments are designedin a way that suits male participants best. They fail toaccommodate the many challenges women often facein terms of their roles within the family and the home.Women who want to seek a role in government lack acces-sible childcare or other support networks.

Financial challengesIn many areas of the world women simply have less accessto moneyeither they are not allowed to have or keep anyof their own, or have no means of earning it. In the strict-est sense, money prevents women from exerting any effecton the political sphere. Without funding, they cannot runfor office, and many do not know how to fundraise oreven, in many cases, that they may be entitled to publicfunding. While countries such as the U.S. offer publicfunding to candidates, women in other nations must findother ways outside of the establishment to obtain money,through their own fundraising or other grassroots efforts.

The demands of dual rolesFrequently, women shoulder domestic and caregiving du-ties along with the responsibility of being a breadwinner,making it difficult for them to find the time to take on arole in the public sphere as well.

There are so many issues related to the double role thatwomen play, especially when they are mothers and wives.They have too many responsibilities, too many things theyneed to do. The opportunities that women have are differ-ent than men, especially in the Arab world where there arestrict gender roles, said Her Excellency Maha Khatib, min-ister of tourism and antiquities for the Hashemite Kingdomof Jordan. Its the same in politics and in business. We talkabout womens low participation rate, but the fact is thatthey cant take part in government to the same degree. Its

just not practical. Women simply do not have enough time,neither for business nor for politics. Its not a matter ofcapacity. Its time. Its all about time.26

At the same time, when women and men feel theycan make a difference, they are more willing to invest theirtime. In the United States, voting rates among African-Americans have been low, but they came out in recordnumbers often waiting for hours in long lines, to vote forPresident Obama.

The marginalization factorEven when women make it into government, when itcomes to political appointments, women frequently fillroles seen as possessing feminine characteristics. Femaleminister and cabinet members are heavily concentrated insocial and cultural areas of responsibility, while men gener-ally dominate more quantitative or conflict-laden roles.

A 2008 survey by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) foundthat the top portfolios for female ministers were socialaffairs (91), family/children/youth/elderly/disabled (84),womens affairs and gender equality (72) and education(70). At the bottom of the list were defense (6), humanrights (15) and finance (17).27

However, this is beginning to change. Women do end upgoing into portfolios that have historically been seen as

womens issues, said Laura Liswood, secretary general ofthe Council of Women World Leaders. But I think werestarting to see a little bit of stretch as governments committo having 50% men and 50% women in their cabinets. Youstart to see women moving into other areas: immigration,economics, finance. Not as much as youd like to see, but itis happening.28

One such example is Spain, where in 2008 Prime MinisterJose Luis Rodriguez Zapateros government made genderequality a top priority and assembled a cabinet that includ-ed eight men and nine women, including Carme Chacn,the first female Minister of Defense in the countrys his-torywho happened to be seven-months pregnant at thetime of her appointment.

The other side of this coin is to elevate the importance ofthe traditionally female portfolios given the importance ofwomens issues to the country as a whole.

Political Parties: During recentelections in Nigeria, the PeoplesDemocratic Party offered women theopportunity to fill out a nomination

form free of charge; typically, fillingout the paperwork to seek the nomi-nation for party primary electionscame with a high fee. By waiving thecosts, many women who otherwisecould not have afforded the entrycosts were able to secure a slot onthe ballot for the primaries.


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Turning the tide: where talent trumps bias

The mindset about womens ability to serve and lead ap-

pears to be changing, even in areas of the world that arethe most traditionally patriarchaland plenty of efforts arein place to involve more women in the political process,from quotas to initiatives by political parties. In reality, themost significant barriers to entry into government may notbe bias against female candidates vs. their male counter-parts in an election, but rather overcoming all the financialand cultural hurdles to get women to run for office in thefirst place.

EuropeEurope remains the global leader in moving toward genderequality in government. Once women have made it ontothe ballot in the European Union, evidence suggests thatthey have as much of a chance of winning as men. Just 5%

of female voters in the European Union say that gender isthe most important factor in deciding whom to vote for;3% of men say the same.29

The United StatesNearly all Americans94%are comfortable with afemale serving as a member of Congress, while 92% saythe same about having a female secretary of state, and89% support having a female speaker of the house. Three-quarters of Americans feel comfortable with having awoman president.30 The markedly higher levels of comfortfor women filling positions they have already successfullyexecuted suggests that once the barrier to a new positionis broken for the first time, it becomes far easier for otherwomen to attain that role.

Africa

Ambassador Mohamed noted a similar effect in Kenya,where women who blazed a trail by running for electedoffice had made the process easier for those who followedin their wake. There was a time in this country where, ifa woman was running for office against four or five men,often she would be beaten up or even sexually assaulted,she noted. But now there are enough women in officethat you dont see that so much anymore.31

Latin AmericaDespite its reputation for a machismo culture, three LatinAmerican countriesChile, Costa Rica and Argentinaelected women as heads of state in the last three years.Besides these two leaders, six other women have beenheads of state in the region since 1980. Polling by Gallup

in nine Latin American countries suggests a significant leveof comfort with female leadersand, in fact, a higherregard for female leaders than for their male counterparts.Fully 61% of women agreed with the statement Womenin politics have done a better job than men; nearly half ofmen (47%) said the same.32

In Chile, conditions for women have improved markedlyunder President Bachelet, who enacted numerous socialprograms to address childrens education and supportfor mothers and currently enjoys a 70% approval rat-ing, largely due to her focus on women. Experts in thecountry note that Bachelets tenure in office has galvanizedwomen, who feel that her successful presidency proveswomens capability.33

I took on assignments that other people didnt each one helped me move to the next level.

JoAnn Boutelle, Partner, Deloitte United States (Deloitte & Touche LLP), Lead Client Service Partner for the US Department oDefense (DoD) accounts and Former Deputy CFO of the U.S. Department of Defense


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Middle EastTraditionally the home to patriarchal cultures, the MiddleEast holds some surprises. A 2007 Gallup poll of Iraniancitizens found that 77% of respondents86% of womenand 68% of menbelieved that women should be allowedto hold leadership positions in the cabinet and nationalcouncil, a view that differed little between urban and ruralrespondents.34

Likewise, two-thirds of Saudi Arabian women and morethan half of men (52%) believed that women should beable to hold leadership positions in the cabinet and na-tional council. Given Saudi Arabias conservative stance onwomenand the fact that women will obtain suffrage forthe first time in 2010these findings suggest a buildingsupport for equality in government.35 In December 2009Noor Al-Fayez became the first woman appointed to thecouncil of ministers, where she serves as the deputy minis-ter for womens education.

In Egypt, 68% of women support womens right to holdhigh-level government positions, while just 44% of mensay the same.36 These results are particularly interesting inlight of a 2006 fatwa issued by the Grand Mufti of Egyptaffirming womens right to become heads of state underIslamic law; even with this support, women face significantchallenges overcoming deeply-entrenched cultural norms.

The changing mindsets in many areas of the world wherewomen most traditionally find themselves marginalizedsuggest that women may be poised to attain unprec-edented influence in the decision-making process. At thesame time, women still have a long road ahead of them inachieving true parity. The threats and intimidation womenstill face around the world when choosing to stand for of-fice are not to be overlooked, and still occur even in areaswhere female representation is high. For example, duringthe 2007 Kenyan general elections, some female candi-dates were subject to brutal violence, even as the numberof women running soared to record levels.

You have to be comortable sometimes being the lone voice. You cannot be araid to speak up.

Mary Corrado, former Chief Financial Officer of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and a Director in the Department of Defense/Intelligence Practice at Deloitte

Migration rates of people with tertiary education

NorthAmerica

Male

Female

Latin America& Caribbean

Oceania

Africa

Asia

Europe

4.1

3.5

6.1

7.3

10.4

17.9

21.1

16.5

23.8

17.1

27.7

10 20 300

9.9

Migration rates of people with tertiary education, UNIFEM


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I you educate a woman, you educate a community.

The importance of education

I was very, very lucky to get educated, to have access to education, said AmbassadorAmina Chawahir Mohamed. I grew up very disadvantaged. I was one of nine children. Mymother took us through school. She did not have a formal education, but that was neveran excuse. She was very achievement-focused, and I wanted to make her proud.

Ambassador Mohameds commitment to womens educationand her belief in educationas a key ingredient for womens success in any sphereis borne out in her own impressive,23-year career.

As the only girl in her community in Kenya to go on to a university, Ambassador Mo-hameds educational path took her around the world, from the Center for InternationalRelations, International Law and International Trade Law of Kiev State University in Ukraine,and the University of Oxford in the U.K., to the U.S., where she was an International LawFellow at the UNITAR. Her background prepared her for her varied experiences in the public

sector, where she has worked extensively and in multiple capacities with the World TradeOrganization, the United Nations and the Kenyan Parliament and solidified her belief inthe importance of education in not only helping women rise to the highest levels of publicand private sector professions, but helping countries improve their economies.

Education is really the key to rising out of this trap of poverty, to engaging with others, toparticipating in life in the three key areas: politically, economically and socially, said Ambas-sador Mohamed, noting that the number of women enrolled in schools in Kenya continuesto grow, and that there are more women taking degrees at the University of Nairobi thanmen. Education is key to being able to communicate better, and it allows you to make useof facilities, and of technology to improve the lives of others around you.

Indeed, Ambassador Mohamed voiced the firm conviction that educating just one womanhas a ripple effect, improving not only her life, but the lives of those around her as well.

If you educate a man, she said, you educate an individual. If you educate a woman, youeducate a community.

Ambassador Amina

Chawahir MohamedPermanent Secretary and Chief Executive Officer, Ministry of Justice, NationalCohesion and Constitutional Affairs of the Republic of Kenya

At a glance:

Ambassador and Permanent Representative of theRepublic of Kenya to the World Trade Organizationand the United Nations (2000-2006)

Ambassador to the Conference on Disarmament,where she held the rotating Presidency of the Confer-ence on Disarmament

Chairman of The General Council of the World TradeOrganization (2005-2006)*

Chairman of the Dispute Settlement Body of the WTO(2004)*

Chairman of the Trade Policy Review Body of the WTO(2003)

Chairman of the Council for the International Organi-

zation for Migration (2002)*

*First woman to be elected to this roleFirst African to be elected to this role


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Support or women:

A rising tide lits all boatsAbove it all, the one thing that is most important for ensur-ing continuedand increasedinvolvement of women inthe decision-making process now and in the future is num-bers. The more women in office, the more women who can

ascend in the public sphere in the future. Continued effortsto get them there and keep them there is crucial.

Building a baseWithout women participating and taking leadership rolesin government, there is little hope for future growth in thisarea. Simply put, without women in charge, there wontbe more women in charge. Without women spearheadingand influencing policy decisions that help other women, itis simply less likely that other women will ever be able toovercome the barriers around them and stand for elections,leaving societal inequalities unchallenged.37

A lack of presence in the political sphere perpetuates thecycle; once elected to office, women have been shown

to concentrate overwhelmingly on affecting change andenacting policy around womens interests and promoteequality of women, keeping womens concerns on the frontburner of policy decisions for all government decision-mak-ers not just the females.

Evidence suggests that once female representation goesbeyond just a few or token women in the room, theirshared interests as women emerge. For example, in theU.K., when womens representation increased to more than18%, womens issues became much more prevalent in thepolitical dialogue.38

You just cannot do it on your own. You need a group ofwomen who can support each other. In 2007, there were

four women in the cabinet together. Three of us were ableto join together and push women-sensitive issues, said HEMaha Khatib. We were able to stop all decisions taken bygovernment related to pardoning of prisoners and vacatingsentences for those serving time for honor killings. Wemade it a rule that we would not pardon a single person ac-cused of this. The first time it was very difficult to convincethe men of this, but after that they stopped even consider-ing pardoning these prisoners.39

Strength in numbers rules the day; with just one or twofemales present, women are much less likely to lobby forwomens issues. If youre the only O in a room full of Xs,

its going to be really hard, said Liswood of the Council ofWomen World Leaders who was referencing an asser-tion by Harvard Business School Professor Rosabeth MossKanter. The O is going to try to shift and adapt its identity

to become more like an X.40

DeMesme agreed. Society used to feel that if we had onewoman at the table that was enough to show we wereopen to women. But now they recognize that women havedifferent opinions and views, and having just one womandoes not mean they are all represented.41

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet has made strengtheningwomens rights a key part of her agenda and her focus onwomens issues has translated into provisions for increasedchildcare for low-income women, and other policiesimproving gender equality in Chile. Likewise, in Rwanda,the Forum of Rwandan Women Parliamentarians provides away for female legislators in that country to unite, network

and reach across party lines to other women, fosteringmore cooperation and collaboration within government.In South Africa, the multiparty Parliamentary WomensCaucus, launched in 2008, serves a similar role.

NetworkingAsk any woman whos managed to climb to the top of herprofession, either in the private or the public sphere, onekey ingredient to their success, and the answer she givesalways includes networking. Whether its connecting withother women in their field or senior-level men who areimportant to know, women at the upper echelons cast thenet far and wide. This is particularly important in the publicsector, where politics play a crucial factor in promotionsand appointments even in non-elected positions. To that

end, many women join organized groups or are simply veryproactive about reaching out to people they may not know.

It is critically important to build your network, bothinternally and externally, said Mary Corrado, former chieffinancial officer of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agencyand current director in Deloittes Department of DefenseIntelligence Practice. Politics are often more importantthan what you know or could do. There are a lot of smartpeople. What differentiates those who make it to the topis that they had a network of people to champion them. Iftheres a pool of people and they are all equally qualified,youre going to gravitate toward the person you know.42


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Mentorship and cross-mentorshipThe importance of female mentors to help fellow womennavigate the difficult waters of government and the publicsector is well documented. As more women filter intogovernment and fill decision-making roles, they seek outnetworks of other women, as well as senior-level femalementors, to share experiences, seek refuge from the d ifficul-ties of the job, learn the ropes, get advice and strategize.

But the relative dearth of women in senior-level political po-sitions makes it difficult for these individuals to develop one-on-one relationships with all the women who need them. Ifyoure one of the few women at the uppermost level, yourebeing asked to do a tremendous amount of things, notedLiswood. Mentorship isnt always possible.43

Thus, the inclusion of men is essential to guiding up-and-coming women through the beginning of their govern-ment careers. In part, its a numbers game; more men holdsenior-level government positions, so there are simply moreexpert mentors to go around. If you are in a male-domi-nated area, your mentor is male, said DeMesme. Becausehes where you want to be.44

But at the same time, cross-mentoring brings a variety ofadvantages. It allows women just beginning their govern-ment careers access to a network they otherwise might nothave had. And involving men in the process also preventsthem from viewing the situation as a womens problem,separate from them and their own interests. In this way,they begin to see the involvement of women in governmentas very much a shared, societal issue.

Cross-mentorship also provides the added benefit of help-ing men see the value of greater gender equality in politics.As men in government develop professional bonds with up-and-coming women, they can see a womans competencyfirsthand and offer their own perspective, as well as build apersonal interest in the mentees continued growth ensur-ing that they continue to offer support, advice and help asthe womans career advances.

Its important for men to mentor women. Its essential,because both are experiencing the world differently and canprovide valuable lessons. And with mentoring and cross-mentoring, the mentor feels a connection to the menteeand wants to bring them along, said Liswood.

In fact, many successful senior women leaders in govern-ment credit male mentors with helping them grow theircareers. I was very lucky to join government at such anexciting time, and while my superiors were all men they allgave me the chance to go off and do things, said Hancock.The meritocracy is alive and well, and it is an empoweringplace to be. If you have an idea and youre willing to pursueit, there are no limits to what you can do.45

Involving the menIncreasing womens participation in government is not justabout supporting and educating women. Involving men inthe process of gender equality in government is crucial. Ifwomen are to succeed in the political sphere and achieveparity in the long-term, mens views need to be taken intoaccount, and men need to have a vested interest in seeingwomen succeed. As the Catalyst report on Engaging Menin Gender Initiatives states, [w]ithout the avid supportof men, who are arguably the most powerful stakeholdergroup in most large corporations, significant progresstoward ending gender disparities is unlikely.46

Unfortunately, gaining male support for increasing womensrole in government remains a challenge in many areas, justas it remains a challenge for men in many cultures to acceptgender equality in general. The Shriver Report, publishedin October 2009, points to the perception of a zero-sumgame if women gain some measure of progress, menmust lose some; any victory for women is seen as a loss formen.47 Demonstrating to men that an increase in the pres-ence of women in government will not result in a loss ofinfluence, but may even result in improved equality for all, isan important priority.

Yes, its true that women cant be themselves in govern-ment. But neither can men until there are more women atthe table, said Wilson. Sitting alongside each other at thetable, we all have something to learn.48

40% of the workforce is women


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Setting a career course through cross-mentorship

Diane Rath has seen firsthand how women can attain senior leadership roles in both thepublic and private sectors. In her twelve years as chairperson and commissioner of the TexasWorkforce Commission, Rath also became known as a national leader in workforce develop-ment, overseeing complex projects such as the consolidation of 28 programs from ten differ-ent state agencies into one federal body. This $1.1 billion entity maintained responsibility forservices involving federal programs from the U.S. Departments of Labor and Human Servicesand four other federal agencies. The successful completion of the project represented to Raththe key qualities for leadership: open communication, swift action, and being decisive.

But its quite possible that none of these accomplishments would have been possible withoutcross-mentorship. When Rath began her career in the public sector, she found that men atthe senior-most levels of leadership were the most welcoming. I had men who were veryopen and very responsive to teaching me what I could do, she said. To see how inclusivethey were and to see the opportunities were tremendously important.

Indeed, by seeking out only other women as mentors, women may be limiting themselvesand forgoing a valuable network. In addition to professional advice, cross-mentorship canalso be instrumental in helping women find out about opportunities that may exist, opportu-nities that may not be apparent without a more senior mentor showing the way.

A major barrier is women not having an awareness of opportunities that are out there, saidRath. Mentorship is very important in terms of helping to educate women as to the choices andopportunities that are out there. You really set the course for your work-life by how you start.

The inclusion o women in the workorce is critically im-

portant to the economy. Research has shown that i you have

women in leadership in a company, it perorms better. The

same is true or the public sector.

Diane RathFormer Chairperson and Commissioner, Texas Workforce Commission

At a glance:

Senior Vice President, ResCare Domestic WorkforceServices

Senior Vice President of Arbor Education & Training;Chief Operations Officer, Eastern Division (2008-2009)

Chairperson and commissioner of the Texas Work-force Commission, U.S. (1996-2008)

Chair of the Texas Workforce and Economic Competi-tiveness Council

Senior Director of Public Affairs for Kinetic ConceptsInc.


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More than one path to the top

Focusing solely on women in the top echelons of govern-

ment belies the progress they are making elsewhere inthe political sphere. There are more ways to participate indecision making and affect change than just seeking na-tional office, such as voting, serving in a local capacity andinvolving oneself with NGOs and grassroots organizations-- and women are using those tools to affect change andsignificantly impact policy.

Voting and local involvmentOne of the most potent tools women have is the mostelemental: their vote. Almost every country currently allowswomen to vote; just six nations deny women universalsuffrage. One of these holdouts, the United Arab Emirates,plans to extend voting rights to women in 2010; however,women can run for public office there and several did so in

the 2006 elections.

Women are often seen as a single voting bloc, and they

tend to vote along ideological lines. These ideologiesare hardly consistentin the U.S. women have a higherpropensity for left-leaning candidates by 7-10 percentagepoints, while in Australia, women tend to favor more con-servative issues and candidates. Women also exercise theirvoting privileges more than men. In the U.S., the numberof women voting outnumbers the number of men, and thegap has increased every year since 1980.49

These tendencies create the perception of a womensvote, a powerful bargaining chip that candidates mustappeal to in order to win and remain in office. As a result,political parties develop platforms embracing issues ofinterest to women, and, in many cases, increased femalemembership and leadership. In this way, women exercisetheir power to influence policy and gender parity simplythrough their vote.

Women can also exercise influence on the local level,where their presence in local politics often mirrors nationalproportions. But women are finding lower barriers to entryand local efforts allow them to enact changes that directlyaffect their everyday lives more quickly and directly. As a result, in many cases organizations focus on training womenfor leadership roles encourage them to participate on thelocal level. In India, panchayats (local village councils) havestrong female representation due to quotas; women therehave been instrumental in affecting change that impactstheir daily lives, from getting roads paved to increasing ac-cess to plumbing and clean drinking water.

Appointments and career positionsWomen can build a career in government without placingtheir name on a ballot or winning an election and in theprocess, can often find themselves with more opportunitiesto achieve a seat at the decision-making table. We stillhave very low levels of women running for public office inour state, said Crit Luallen, auditor of public accounts forthe Commonwealth of Kentucky in the U.S. We still arenot seeing a lot of women having success in this area. Butin appointed and career positions, we are seeing a lot ofwomen. Ive seen tremendous changes in my career. Thedoor is really open.50

QuotasOne of the most effective and widelyemployed methods for improving femalerepresentation in the political sphere is thequota. Quotas can be legally mandated bythe constitution or can be voluntary, andset aside a certain percentage of parlia-mentary seats or a certain percentage ofslots on the ballot during an election for

women. Political parties may also havequotas to encourage greater participationby female members.

Countries with the highest proportions offemale elected officials overwhelminglyowe their status to the employment ofquotas. As of 2008, 18 of the 22 countriesthat had reached the 30% threshold forwomen in national parliament used quotaof some type.51 (UNIFEM website) Currently,46 countries use some form of quota man-dated by constitutional or electoral law;average female representation is 21.9%,

compared with 15.3% of those who donot use quotas.52 (UNIFEM, 2008)

While quotas arent perfect, withoutthem the picture for women would lookmuch bleaker. UNIFEM estimates thatcountries that use quotas to improvefemale representation will likely reachparity in 18 to 22 years compared with

72 years for governments that do notuse these tactics.53 (UNIFEM website)

Interestingly, women in some regionsappear ambivalent about quotas,preferring that the path to parity occurorganically. Just 10% of Europeanwomen believe that mandatory quotasare the best way to increase the propor-tion of women members of EuropeanParliament; 53% believe the best wayis simply to encourage more women toparticipate in politics.54 (Gallup Hungary,2009)


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91 Social affairs

72 Womens affairs /Gender equality

70 Education

56 Environment / Natural resources / Energy

49 Foreign affairs

15 Human rights

9 Information / Media

6 Defence and veteran affairs

5 Population

Working ones way up the ladder in career government canalso allow women more access to other roles tradition-ally seen as masculine, such as finance, taxation anddefense roles that women in ministerial positions are lesslikely to fill than their male counterparts. It also provides awider variety of government opportunities in the fields ofhealth care, science, agriculture, education, public welfare,technology and other areas. The first female generalwas appointed in 1970, noted U.S. Army Major General(Retired) Marilyn Quagliotti. This was way ahead of thecorporate world. 55

Portfolios held by women ministers(1022 portfolios, for 185 countries)

Women in Politics 2008, Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)

In the U.S., both the Central Intelligence Agency and theDepartment of Defense have had women serving as CFOand Deputy CFO, respectively, and the CIO and CFO at theOffice of the Director for National Intelligence are bothwomen. The CIA has also made other efforts to increasethe number of women at the top in recent years, while theBritish intelligence agency MI-5 fielded the first female di-rector of an intelligence agency.56 In the U.S., 25% of CIOsand 29% of CFOs in public sector agencies are female, asignificantly larger proportion than in the private sector,where less than 14% of c-level executives at the top 500companies are women.57, 58, 59

Around the world women are becoming more involved inthe public sector across all areas; Germany began allowingwomen into the Bundeswehr, its armed forces, on a vol-untary basis in 2001, while in the U.K., which promoted itsfirst female head of a naval base in 2004, women comprise9.1% of the armed forces and 11.2% of its officers.60 InKenya, a female serves as Commissioner of Customs Ser-vices, one of the six commissioners to lead the Kenya Rev-enue Authority. A career customs officer, she rose throughthe ranks after joining the Ministry of Finance in 1984.

Many of the most powerful decision-makers and leadershold non-elected offices, such as Sheila Bair, the chair-woman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation inthe U.S., or Linda Stiff, who served as the acting head ofthe Internal Revenue Service in the U.S. Both women wieldconsiderable influence over economic issues. Indeed, notedJoni Swedlund, Principal, and segment leader for DeloitteUnited States Federal Financial Services practice at DeloitteConsulting LLP, in many ways women serve in more seniorleadership roles in a career public sector capacity than inthe elected sphere.

Likewise, in France, Christine Lagarde serves as the currentminister of economic affairs, industry and employment. Shehas never held elected office, but her appointment to thispost in 2007 made her the first woman in a G8 economyto serve as a minister in an economic capacity. She alsopreviously served as the minister of agriculture and fishingand the minister of trade. She has never held elected officeand prior to her appointment to the public sector was thefirst female chairperson of Baker and McKenzie,an international law firm.


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In the military there is a real shared sense o purpose. I someone is blocking you rom accomplishing your mission, some

times you just have to move them out o your way.

Major General Marilyn Quagliotti, former Vice Director of the U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency

Women in local government

Europe: Womens representation atthe mayoral level in Europe is highest

in Sweden, at 29%; the Nordic countryalso reports the highest percentageof female municipal council member-ship, at 45%.61 Recent breakthroughsin local government include YordankaFandukova, who won a landslide victoryin November 2009 to become the firstfemale mayor of Sofia, the 130-year-oldcapital of Bulgaria.

Asia Pacific: New Zealand, thefirst country in the world to grant

women universal suffrage, reportedduring its most recent elections in2007 that 579 women were electedto local positions, constituting 32%of total local government member-ship -- up from 25% two decadesago.62

Other ways to effect change

Having women in high levels of government is important,but whats more important is having women who canmake a difference, said HE Maha Khatib. Its how muchyou can really affect the world around you.64

While growth within the elected or public sector spheresrepresent a powerful way for women to make an impactwithin government, they are not the only paths to powerfor women in impacting government and policy. The pres-ence of advocates in non-elected positions is particularlycrucial in raising awareness, mobilizing interested partiesand driving demand for higher levels of investment. Somenotable areas outside the public sector that offer the op-portunity for womens growth include:

Political parties: Political parties set the agenda duringelections and determine the main issues to address;through these groups, candidates are nominated,funded, rallied and supported. Thus, womens par-ticipation in political parties is crucial to ensuring theirissues and concerns are priorities. Even within politicalparties, women form sub-groups to consolidate theirvoice, constituting a powerful voting bloc that dic-tates party policy toward mandating gender quotas incandidacy endorsement, planks in the group platformand training.

Non-governmental organizations: NGOs are a

strong force for advancing womens involvement ingovernment, particularly at the decision-making level,through efforts that ran the gamut from local all theway to multinational. Such groups are effective ontheir own, but often partner together with other or-ganizations, political parties and governments to exertan even more powerful force for change.

Womens movements: These organized, non-gov-ernmental groups have challenged intolerant orauthoritarian governments in Argentina, Brazil, Chile,Nepal, Peru and the Philippines and have been a forcefor peace in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Uganda, Sudan,Burundi, Timor-Lester and the Balkans65, and havepushed governments to face issues such as genital

mutilation, marital rights, issues of female inheritanceand domestic violence.

Americas: In the U.S., eight of the fiftygovernors are women, as are 16.9% ofmayors in cities with 300,000 or moreinhabitants, a proportion similar to theirrepresentation in Congress. Notably,women account for nearly one-quar-ter of elected state legislative seats,a significantly higher proportion thanexperienced at the national level.63


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Training the next crop o emale leadersAs important as encouraging women to vote and runfor elected office is showing them how. Many womenaround the world are unaware of their rights and theopportunities they have to affect change within theirgovernment, and building their capacity for leadershipremains a crucial focus for many organizations, who orga-nize efforts to build community networks for women and

connect them with women who have successfully madethe transition to the public sectorand to public office

Philippines: Oxfam offers training programs aimedat changing the mindsets of women who acceptsocietal gender roles, and works to help themunderstand the properties of a good leader.Women receiving leadership training were also of-fered free childcare.

Africa: In Sierra Leone, Oxfam educates womenabout their voting rights, while the Inter-Parlia-mentary Union works to connect female votersand build their capacity for leadership.

U.S.: The White House Project offers trainingand actively recruits women to run for local andnational office, encouraging them with multiple

programs, including panels where attendeescan see other women like them who have runfor office.

Honduras: The country offers initiatives toeducate women about changes in legisla-tion, voting rights and other issues, along

with efforts to extend quotas to include morefemale candidates in elections, and womenreceiving leadership training were also offeredfree childcare.

U.K.: Oxfam scheduled leadership trainingprograms to coincide favorably with theschool day, enabling mothers to learn withoutaffecting their other duties or public benefits.

Marie Wilson, founder and president of the WhiteHouse Project, noted this approach often producesthe best results. We dont tell women they haveto run, she said. We show them panel after panelof women that look like them. Seeing anotherwomen do it has an enormous effect on women.We show them they can do it. (Wilson, 2009)

In addition to the support, training, mentorship and infor-mal networks of other decision-making females, whatsmost important is making that first crucial step: the deci-sion to run for higher officeand having the confidence toknow that they can do it regardless of whether or not theyhave years of training and experience. What we find isthat women shoot too low, said Wilson. They come in atthe local level, when they could run for state legislature.51

The key factor toward guaranteeing womens continuedand increasing participation in government is the abilityto take a risk, and make the first leap. Women recountingtheir rise to the top in the public sector agree that the keyto their success is taking risks and being willing to moveinto areas where they might be less comfortable, beingbold, and not letting fears or worries of failureor whatthey should be doinghold them back.

Stretching beyond the comort zone

A lot of it is confidence right out of the gate. Id like tosee more women say, Ive had some very strong leadershipexperience, maybe not all that I need, but Im going to runfor governor, and Im just going to get out there, saidLiswood. I think our reach should exceed our grasp.52

Women have dierent opinions and views, and having just one woman does not mean all are represented.

The Honorable Ruby Butler DeMesme, former assistant secretary, U.S. Air Force, current Director of Human Capital Market Innovative Strategy, DeloitteConsulting LLP United States


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Social media and women in government

Even without running for and serving in public office, women can provide a powerfulmechanism for holding elected officials accountable. Educating oneself on the issues thateach candidate stands for, and then holding them responsible for improving conditionsfor women, is an important way to maintain a voice in government without having toovercome the significant barriers of securing funding, getting leadership training, and run-ning for office and may represent one of the fastest, most efficient ways for women toincrease their power in politics while paving the way for more future female leaders.

Social media is a particularly powerful tool in this regard, as it allows women to get theirmessage out, affect change and amass a wider audienceacross a wider geographyquickly and with minimal financial investment.

As the chief information officer for the eighth-largest economy in the worldthe State ofCalifornia Teri Takai has harnessed the power of social media to speak directly to resi-

dents and voters about key issues particularly those that affect women and families.

Social media allows the government to interact with people in a much more personalway, said Takai. Its going to be the predominant tool to interact with government. Wereusing it more and more to collect input. Were trying not to communicate just via the web-site, but through blogs and Twitter to allow feedback, comments and suggestions.

Takai noted that California is developing its own social media policy; in many ways the stateleads the way, most notably in its outreach to women. F irst Lady Maria Shriver makes theempowerment of women a strong priority and has developed WE Connect, a website andsocial media tool meant to connect with women and working families and inform themof statewide programs, services and resources; it also provides assistance registering forprograms and opportunities.

Teri TakaiChief Information Officer for the State of California, U.S.

With many women coming up in government now, its

really important to give them the mentorship they need to

grow their careers.

At a glance:

Director of the Michigan Department of InformationTechnology (MDIT) (2003-2007)

Chief Information Officer for the State of Michigan(2003-2007)

Managing Director, EDS Corporation (2000-2002)

Ford Motor Company, led the development of thecompanys information technology strategic plan(1970-2000)

Practitioner Chair of the Harvard Policy Group on Net-work-Enabled Services and Government (Present)

Past-President of the National Association of StateChief Information Officers


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eT

David McCandless, www.informationisbeautiful.net


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From vicious circle to virtuous cycle: an

organizational approach to advancing women

No organization, whether public or private, can affordto waste the significant investment they are making inrecruiting and training women only to see them walk outthe door or stall in their careers. This vicious cycle has beendubbed a global brain drain and is why it has been so hardto increase the number of women in public and privatesector leadership. While women have employed individualstrategies to achieve their ambitions, advancing womeninto positions of leadership in government is going torequire more. Its going to require organizational strategies.The good news: it is possible to turn the vicious circle intoa virtuous cycle when organizations focus on womensadvancement.

An organizational wake-up callDeloitte United States has learned this lesson and todayboasts over 1000 women partners, principals and direc-tors- the very top positions in the firm. But it wasntalways this way. In 1991, only 4 of the 50 candidates forpartner were women, even though the firm had been hir-ing men and women in roughly equal numbers since 1980.The reason for the paucity of women at the top was the

turnover rate for women, which was significantly higherthan for men. Even more startling was the fact that thesewomen were not leaving to raise families, as many had as-sumed. A majority were leaving to go to other jobs.

In a talent-driven profession, the fact that so many ofDeloittes women were leavingand taking all that train-ing and experience with themwas disturbing. It was ap-parent that something about Deloittes culturewhetherovert or notwas discouraging to women. To identify andremedy what was prompting women to seek opportunitieselsewhere, Deloitte created the Initiative for the Advance-ment of Women (WIN).

Spearheaded by top leaders, the initiative made a strongbusiness case for retaining and advancing women and ag-gressively pushed the message out to all levels of manage-mentand held those same managers accountable forprogress. It was an effort that would yield a sea-changethroughout the entire organization that benefited every-one, including the women.

Percentage of women in national parliaments

10.9% 40%18.4%

1975 2009 2025

1995 Fourth World Conference for Women Beijing Platform for Action political prong, Women in Power and Decision Mak-ing, set out a goal for women to achieve parity defined as at least 40% representation by 2025.


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Changing cultures, changing prioritiesDeloittes experience in retaining and advancing womenshows that when this goal is a priority, it can be attained. Italso demonstrates, though, that a concerted, conscious, andsystem-wide effort is ultimately needed to create a virtuouscycle of developing women that moves them into positionsof leadership. It wont happen by itself or from quotas orrecruitment targets alone. To change the culture, Deloittefollowed certain key principles that should guide anyorganizations efforts to stem the flight of female talent:

Make a fact-based case for change. There are powerfulreasons for retaining and developing women. To beginwith, the investment made in recruiting and training femaleemployees is wasted time and money once a womenleaves; whats worse, that investment may benefit acompetitor who hires her. Given that women account forroughly 40% of the college-educated population globally,the chances are high that the woman who just left willbe replaced with another woman, who may in turn leave.Hence, the vicious circle. Government agencies shouldanalyze their talent marketplace as well as their internalturnover and advancement trends, to determine their ex-posure and the cost associated with turnover. For example,turnover among teachers in Americas public primary andsecondary schools is costing school districts at least $7.2billion annually.

But investing in womens development and advancementis not just about reducing the costs of turnover. Its alsoabout creating stronger, more vibrant organizations thatboth reflect and understand their constituents. Given theevidence that investing in women yields a higher return,governments that understand how to make those invest-ments wisely are in a better position to capitalize on thisgender dividend.

Most importantly, with women accounting for half theworkforceand a majority of the college-educatedpopulationthe war for talent will be won only by thoseorganizations that make womens retention and advance-ment a priority.

Senior leadership support must be visible and communi-cated often. Ideally, the head of an organization or agencywill lead any effort to promote the retention and advance-ment of women. True cultural change must start from thetopwith leadership providing clear directives and holdingmanagers at all levels accountable for advancing women.As part of this effort, metrics must be established to trackprogress: recruitment rates, promotion rates, turnoverrates, assignment and leadership appointments, are someof the key metrics.

A focus on career development: Womens movement inand out of the workforce and across organizations often hasas much to do career development issues as with work-lifeissues. Building a culture that ensures women are givenplenty of opportunities and the conditions and resources tosucceed is key to advancing women into leadership.

Often assignments and opportunities that lead to advance-ment, as well as lessons on the unwritten rules of workare transmitted through informal networksand researchshows that women have less access to those informal net-works than men.2 Formal career and leadership developmentprograms for women can transmit many of the lessons thatare learned by men through those same informal networks.

Promote work-life integration: Flexibility needs to be morethan just a policy. By openly promoting flexibility and assur-ing that those who take advantage of flexible work optionsare not permanently derailed in terms of career advance-ment, an organization can ensure that employeesbothmen and womenare able to integrate work with outsidecommitments. At Deloitte, the recent implementation ofMass Career Customization (MCC) has allowed employ-ees to customize career paths to better fit the ebb and flowof other factors in their lives (e.g., children, education).MCC encourages individuals to work with their managersto determine their desired pace, workload, location/sched-ule, and role so that options are created that work for boththe individual and the organization.

Both public sector and private sector organizations havemuch to gain by focusing on the development and ad-vancement of women within their own organizations cre-ating their internal virtuous cycles. But what if they reachedacross the sector divide and started to work togetherto achieve this virtous cycle for their countries? What ifcompanies started to invest in womens education, healthand security and governments started to invest in womensprofessional development and work-life support?

While the challenges are great, the possibilities are evengreater.

I think our reach should exceed

our grasp.

Laura Liswood, secretary general of the Council of Women World Leaders


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Special thanksA very special thanks to all the women who participated in this piece. In addition to those mentioned in the report, a very warmthanks to the following individuals including Robert N. Campbell III, Joe Eshun, James H. Wall, Stephanie Quappe, Barbara Worton,

Amy Leonard, Ajit Kambil, Barbara Adachi, Rana Ghandour Salhab, Becky Kapes Osmon, Gemma Martin, Venessa Lee, ElizabethHenry and Brenna Sniderman (Forbes Insights).

For more information visit www.deloitte.com/pathstopower

Contacts (Forbes)

Christiaan RizyDirector

Stuart FeilEditorial Director

Brenna SnidermanResearch DirectorForbes Insights60 Fifth AvenueNew York, NY 10011212-367-2662

Forbes Insights is the custom research practice of Forbes Media, publisher of Forbes Magazine and Forbes.com.Taking advantage of a proprietary database of senior-level executives in the Forbes community, Forbes Insightsresearch covers a wide range of vital business issues. Learn more at: www.forbes.com/forbesinsights


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Contacts (Deloitte)

Americas

BrazilEdgar Jabbour+55 11 5186 [email protected]

CanadaPaul MacMillan+1 416 874 [email protected]

Caribbean ClusterTaron Jackman+1 345 814 2212

[email protected]

MexicoEnrique Clemente+52 55 [email protected]

LATCOArmando Guibert+54 11 [email protected]

United StatesJohn BigalkeLHSC & Government+1 407 246 8235

[email protected]

Bob CampbellState Sector+1 512 226 [email protected]

Gene ProcknowFederal Sector+1 202 378 [email protected]

Robin LinebergerFederal Sector+1 703 747 [email protected]

Asia/Pacific

AustraliaSimon Cook+61 (0) 2 [email protected]

GuamDan Fitzgerald+(671) 646 3884 [email protected]

IndiaKamlesh K. Mittal+91 11 6662 [email protected]

JapanYuji Morita+03 6213 [email protected]

KoreaMin Keun Chung+82 2 6676 [email protected]

MalaysiaAzman M. Zain+60 3 7723 [email protected]

New ZealandAloysius Teh+64 4 495 [email protected]

SingaporePatricia Lee+65 6216 [email protected]

ThailandMarasri Kanjanataweewat+66 (0) 2676 [email protected]

VietnamPaul Meiklejohn+84 [email protected]

EMEA

AustriaGundi Wentner+43 1 537 00 [email protected]

Guido Eperjesi+43 1 537 00 [email protected]

BelgiumHans Debruyne+32 2 800 29 [email protected]

BulgariaDesislava Dinkova+359 (2) 8023 [email protected]

Central EuropeMartin Buransky+420 246 042 [email protected]

CISMaxim Lubomudrov+74957870600 [email protected]

CyprusPanicos Papamichael+357 22 360 [email protected]

DenmarkLynge Skovgaard+45 [email protected]

FinlandMarkus Kaihoniemi+358 20755 [email protected]

FranceGilles Pedini+33 1 40 88 22 [email protected]

GermanyThomas Northoff+49 (89) 29036 [email protected]

GreeceVasilis Pallios+30 210 678 [email protected]

HungaryCsaba Markus+36 (1) 428 [email protected]

IcelandGudmundur Kjartansson+354 580 [email protected]

IrelandHarry Goddard+353 1 417 [email protected]

IsraelChaim Ben-David+972 2 [email protected]

ItalyRoberto Lolato+39 [email protected]

LuxembourgDan Arendt+352 45145 [email protected]

Mid AfricaJoe Eshun+255 (22) 2116006

[email protected]

Middle EastAnis Jabsheh+9626 [email protected]

MoroccoFawzi Britel+(22) 94 07 50/[email protected]

NetherlandsHans van [email protected]

NorwayArve Hogseth+47 [email protected]

PolandMaria Rzepnikowska+48 (22) [email protected]

PortugalRaul Mascarenhas+(351) [email protected]

South AfricaLwazi Bam+27 (0) 11 209 [email protected]

SpainGustavo Garcia Capo+34 915145000 [email protected]

SwedenKim Hallenheim+46 (0)8 506 722 [email protected]

TunisiaAhmed Mansour+216 (71) 755 [email protected]

TurkeyGokhan Alpman+90 212 366 60 [email protected]

United KingdomMike Turley+44 207 303 [email protected]

Global

Greg PellegrinoGlobal Industry LeaderPublic SectorDeloitte Touche TohmatsuWashington, DC

+1 202 378 [email protected]

Bill EggersDirector, Public SectorDeloitte ResearchWashington, DC+1 202 378 5292

[email protected]

Karen LangMarketing DirectorGlobal Public SectorDeloitte Touche TohmatsuBoston, MA

+1 617 437 [email protected]


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1 Oxfam GB, Womens Leadership and Participation: Overview, 2008.

2 Oxfam GB, Womens Leadership and Participation: Overview, 2008.

3 Interview, Ambassador Amina Chawahir Mohamed, January 25, 2010.

4 Interview, Diane Rath, January 14, 2010.

5 Interview, Ruby DeMesme, January 19, 2009.

6 Meet the Planets 16 Women World Leaders, Pink 2009

7 2009 Catalyst Census: Fortune 500 Wome

advancing women in government

Documents