Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Did you know that....across the world, women work on average more hours than men per week, but receive less pay....over the past 3 years more than 50% of refugees resettled in the U.S. have been women....womens participation in managerial and administrative posts is around 33% in the West, 15% in Africa, and 13% in Asia and the Pacific.
Barriers to Leadership
Despite the real potential for organizational learning and constructive change a woman's model of leadership could foster in our communities, there are still several barriers that deter women from seeking leadership roles, or exclude them altogether. This is especially true for refugee and immigrant women, in whose cultures and communities men have assumed the dominant roles. Some cultural and religious beliefs relegate women to taking care of the home and children, even if they are Refugee women often come from a harsh path formally employed, stifle them and give them little and have experienced the worst that this planet opportunity to develop their skills. Even in so-called has to offer. The fear of going back to the past advanced societies, women are held to higher standards motivates them to work hard to change their than men, thus it is more difficult for women to obtain childrens future. They are eager to educate and leadership positions and maintain them. alter themselves. They also have the role of motherhood which they use as a tool to improve A lack of education presents another barrier to womens their communitys future. leadership. In much of the developing world formal Konjit Moges, ECDC African Community Center education is not a priority for women, given their expected roles as family caregivers. Conversely, men are considered the provider of the family and for them, formal education was highly emphasized. According to the United Nations Statistics Division, women still lag behind men in primary and secondary education in parts of African and southern Asia. The lack of women in leadership positions is itself a barrier to fostering the development of women as leaders. It takes more than one woman to effect change. A woman entering male-dominated work or community groups has no support and no opportunity to practice her unique leadership style. She may be seen as ineffective if she does not conform to the prevailing norms. The phrase man enough for the job captures perfectly the pressures women face.
As a community
Develop womens networks/associations within the community to provide support and peer-learning opportunities. Recognize how beliefs and values support or undermine leadership roles of women within the community. Increase the participation and access of women to expression and decision making. Promote the many positive roles played by women. Develop programs and policies that change attitudes and behaviors related to gender roles. Establish programs for empowering young women. Understand and appreciate differences in leadership styles and utilize those styles to promote the mission of the organization. Provide personal support and encouragement as a family member or friend to women as they take on leadership roles. Be a role model or mentor.
As an organization
As an individual
Additional Sources:
Profiles in Womens Leadership, The Centre for Development and Population Activities. Available at: http://www.cedpa.org/cgi/cedpastore/00061.html Rethinking Leadership: Leadership as Friendship. Available at: http://www.advancingwomen.com/awl/social_justice1/Perreault.html
Ethiopian Community Development Council, Inc. 901 S. Highland Street Arlington, Virginia 22204 Tel: (703) 685-0510 Website: www.ecdcinternational.org
Southeast Asia Action Resource Center 1628 16th Street, NW, 3rd Floor Washington, DC 20009 Tel: (202) 667-6449 Website: www.searac.org
October 2005