We need more female role models in positions of power to close the gender power gap

Many women cite their mothers as their role models, myself included. My mother set up a series of women’s refuges in South Wales to meet the demand for services for women victims of domestic violence. This inspiration ultimately led me to a career in development and I later met many women entrepreneurs who were supporting their families and who were not held back by an economic dependency on their male family members.

But do most women have female role models at school or university, when they start their first job, or leading the governing bodies that make decisions about their lives?

Just days before International Women’s Day 2020, I was disembarking a plane after a recent visit to Brooke’s projects in Senegal, and going straight to the Women in Dev conference. I couldn’t help thinking how women’s leadership in development has changed over the years — for the better — but also how there is still so much to be done to achieve gender equality.

In Senegal whilst visiting animal owning communities, I couldn’t help noticing that all the senior people I met were men. In 2020 men remain the decision makers both as policy level and as owners of community assets, including livestock. This is no different to the picture I saw over the years as a female leader in international development. In fact, it’s no different to the rest of the world. Around 70% of leadership roles globally are filled by men. Even in the U.K. INGO sector, despite the fact that women outnumber men by almost 3 to 1, only 30% of those women reach the top of their organisations.

However, in this most recent trip it was the first time I saw an increasing sense of confidence amongst women in developing communities. Those I connected with in Senegal were pushing themselves forwards and speaking up — while years ago they would have been silent. Invisible even.

One image which struck me was of our female vet, Dr Maimouna Ndiaye, training a group of predominantly male farriers. She was an educated, highly skilled woman in a position of power amongst a group of men, acting with confidence and a sense of purpose. And the men were listening.

Amongst this group of male farriers was Fatou Touré, the first female farrier in Senegal. Her presence there and her choice to become a farrier is trail blazing. Farriery is skilled, back-breaking work which requires strength and endurance. The image of Dr Maimouna assertively demanding that her trainees re-do the shoe and Fatou holding her own amongst the men is an enduring one. Women in positions of power and in non-traditional roles challenge perceptions and stereotypes. There is a saying ‘You can’t be what you can’t see’ (Marian Wright Edelman) and the visibility of women in such roles normalises this for other women, girls, men and boys and expands their horizons.

This image stayed with me as I moved from rural Senegal to a conference room in London for the Women in Development conference. The room was full and brimming with confidence of women Chief Executives, aspiring leaders and other strong female role models from all walks of life discussing topics such as feminist leadership and barriers to it, activism and bodily autonomy. This was new and inspiring. My mother, a feminist and an activist of over 50 years was telling me how these discussions would not have taken place 10–20 years ago. In addition there was over 50% women of colour on the panels — again you would not have seen that a few years ago.

How can we marry these two images, from a village in Senegal to a boardroom in Dakar, Delhi or London? How can the growing importance of female leaders in the development sector trickle down to millions of women around the world, like Fatou and Dr Maimouna, the female community representatives, their mothers, daughters and sisters? I spoke to one of the panelists on the Pan-African discussion and asked her how she connected, as an educated and award winning black woman, to the — often illiterate — women in challenging circumstances in remote communities. She said she connected on a human level, discussing issues they had in common, for example family, in order to build bridges.

As a sector, we have achieved progress on gender equality, but we still need to work hard to provide an environment where women — as well as men — can thrive to achieve the transformational change we are seeking, both within the our organisations and in the communities we are here to serve. At Brooke, we have known for a while that men and women have different roles interacting with the working horses, donkeys and mules that support their lives, and we therefore have different interventions for each, but it’s only recently that we’re getting to grips with how we can use these approaches to promote equality. We need to understand barriers to change, and dismantle them. Economic empowerment and the gender pay gap is one of these barriers.

And what can we do as senior female leaders? As Madeleine Albright said, “There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.” As female leaders we can support more junior women to break the glass ceiling. We need to see and be inspired by bold women. Female role models are vital.

We must mentor, share experience and create informal and formal opportunities to support other women to progress. Institutionally it is important to have an enabling environment for women and men to work flexibly, valuing part time work and job sharing and remote working. Achieving a better gender balance and diversity is better for the organisation. As research shows, more diverse organisations perform better.

For the INGO sector specifically, we need to continue to work holistically, to understand the context, to understand gender inequalities, to equip women — and men — with the tools, techniques and understanding they need for a more equal world. It is not good for women — or men — to be compartmentalised. It is only though increased gender equality within our organisations that we can help push for gender equality in the countries we operate in.