Leadership and Management Institutes for Women
“Women belong in all places where decisions are made. It should not be that women are exception” — Ruth Bader Ginsburg
From Susan B. Anthony’s pioneering mobilizing in the American Suffragette Movement to K.K Shailaja’s revolutionary role as Kerala’s Health Minister during the Covid19 pandemic, the story of women’s rights and their leadership has come a long way. Despite monumental strides in formal equality, since the beginning of the 20th century, gender relations are fraught with imbalances all over the world. The glaring inequalities are a global phenomenon with discontinuities that needs reverence, and overlaps that mandate action.
A spatial analysis of women’s situation reveals specific where the strides of empowerment have been along and others where the road ahead seems tedious. Education, legal rights, and health are some of the areas where we can observe phenomenal improvements for women. But, on the contrary, politics, leadership, and decision-making are some of the aspects where women are grossly underrepresented. The fact is the gulf between de facto equality and de jure equality is glaring. One crucial suggestion extended by several organizations such as the UN is to strengthen the role of women in leadership and introduce more leadership programmes for women. Such will not only galvanize gender equality but also lead to overall socio-economic development of the country. Before getting into the Nitty-gritty of women and leadership programmes, let us look at some of the related statistics.