Women are increasingly making strides in the worlds of politics and business, increasing their visibility as leaders and diversifying organizations. Several studies have shown that diversity among a company’s workforce leads to more innovation and greater success. This is only one of the reasons that it is so important for more women to take their place as global leaders alongside men.
Success in the working world is no longer about physical strength. There are a number of strengths that women tend to have that are important in the business and political arenas today, including being detail-oriented and persistent. Women are also good at building alliances and at handling ambiguity as they navigate their way through complex problems and situations.
Still, there is a long way to go, and in some fields, women are particularly underrepresented. For example, just 26% of artificial intelligence professionals are female, and percentages drop precipitously in other tech fields. Only 12% of cloud computing professionals are women.
It is clear that organizations in these areas must work harder to welcome, recruit, and retain women employees. While women should be encouraged to pursue tech careers in college, companies should also keep in mind that they do not necessarily have to have this background to move into management positions. There are a number of other strengths that they can bring that can make them successful in these positions. Women acting as mentors can help encourage younger women.
In politics, just around one-fourth of the people who have seats in a parliamentary lower house worldwide are women. The number drops even lower for ministerial positions, but there is a slow and steady rise. In Finland, not only is a woman the prime minister but women hold a number of key positions within her government.
The world faces many challenges in the years ahead, from climate change to economic inequality and more. Countries and companies should do everything they can to make sure that they have the best possible teams in place to tackle these difficult issues. With research demonstrating that a diverse workforce is a stronger workforce, industries across all sectors as well as political parties stand to benefit from ensuring that women are encouraged and promoted into positions of leadership.