Benchmark of Women's Leadership

Women having roles in leadership is the topic of this article.  This piece was the official report of a study performed by the White House Project.  It discussed how the fields of Academia, Business, Entertainment, Journalism, Law, Military, Nonprofits, Politics, Religion and Sports would all benefit from putting more women in charge.  It later goes to recommendations on how to acquire more leadership positions and what are the important things to know about the appearance of each industry.   

Now, I do not think the topic is misguided but I do feel the perspective can be questioned.  To say we need more women to rise up the ranks is fair.  There is always time for a momentum shift in society where a perceived lower class can be beneficial to everyone if they were able to achieve equal opportunities.  The data as it is presented does not necessarily say how the adjustment would be favorable to have fewer men in those positions.  As a minority, I understand the call for change.  We can all say why we need to see more people like ourselves in the world.  It is not just for diversity but for the potential of the next generation to have hope.  However I also know that if I cannot out do the person currently in the job or stop the progress of them to maintain themselves as the standard then my efforts will be nullified.  I feel the study could have been helped by concentrating on specific women that would enhance the job if they were to have it versus emphasizing statistics for why so few women are leading men in each division of the professions.  To condense this topic to certain women that are the best examples would be a better argument for its cause.  Then if proven to be true then they could open the door for more who have real capabilities of producing improvements over what was previously done.  The report does not discuss why the numbers are the way they are necessarily but only that they should be different.   

If we were able to learn about the women currently in each field, it could add to the reason their proposed alternative should be implemented.  We can have examples where the top earning men are compared to the top earning women and see the disparity.  We can also use illustrations of the upper and lower levels of women and determined how that came about.  Let’s study if that segment of data is copacetic or if there are biases and preferential treatment being accepted to get to that point.   

I learned that women are underrepresented in many areas of leadership throughout the workforce.  Nominating women for roles and comparing current participants would provide more accurate information for someone who is not aware of the situation and using a novice’s viewpoint.  The report shows leading to correct the course is as important as calling for more representation for results.