Around globe, women leaders rise to the pandemic challenge
| Toronto; and Basel, Switzerland
Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen secured the trust and love of her people.
As Denmark entered one of Europe鈥檚 first lockdowns in mid-March, the nation鈥檚 youngest-ever prime minister sang 鈥�80s pop while washing dishes in her kitchen on live TV. 聽
She held press conferences with children and sealed her stature as a caring leader by acknowledging the vulnerability of seniors as the country began easing restrictions.
Why We Wrote This
A blend of decisiveness as well as empathy may be key to successful leadership 鈥� but so too is a political culture that values diverse voices. Part of our special 100th anniversary edition on women winning the right to vote.
鈥淲e are asking the weakest to be the strongest right now,鈥� she told the nation. 鈥淎nd that is a tough request.鈥�
Denmark is considered to have waged one of Europe鈥檚 most successful battles against the first wave of the coronavirus; it has recorded 616 deaths. But Ms. Frederiksen revealed in June that she hardly had the answers.
鈥淚 have never been in so much doubt in my life as I was this spring,鈥� she said in a speech.
Yet her manner was calm and empathetic, and also decisive 鈥� the winning common denominator among female heads of state navigating the crisis. A century after American women won the right to vote, women represent just a fraction of the world鈥檚 leadership but a disproportionate number of those who tackled the virus swiftly and successfully.
Those who earned praise include New Zealand鈥檚 Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Taiwan鈥檚 President Tsai Ing-wen, and St. Maarten鈥檚 Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs. Their capacity to combine emotional sensitivity with straight talk, and to listen to science and shift course as needed, has spurred conversation globally on whether women have an edge when tackling the kind of chaos the pandemic unleashed.
But that discussion is not happening in Denmark 鈥� nor in other Nordic countries led by women. Instead, many in those nations have said their leaders鈥� successful stewardship is not the result of essential gender differences, but a reflection of robust democracies committed to gender equality. That commitment catapulted those leaders to the top in the first place but also gave them a chance to lead without being bound by gendered stereotypes.
Of course, the approach to leadership will reflect the individual leader, says Brynhildur Hei冒ar-og 脫marsd贸ttir, secretary-general of the feminist Icelandic Women鈥檚 Rights Association, which operates in the world鈥檚 No. 1 country for gender parity. But, she adds, 鈥渙nce we have women leaders, it鈥檚 a sign of progress that we have already made as a society in creating diverse leadership and diverse voices.鈥�
Women tend to 鈥渓ead with more emphasis on consensus, on working with other people,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd this plays a part in how these women leaders have dealt with the [pandemic] and are leading it.鈥澛�
Few female heads of government
It鈥檚 hard to draw hard conclusions about gender because the sample size for female leadership is still so small, says Carlien Scheele, director of the European Institute for Gender Equality. Just over 10% of countries in the world are led by a woman today, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, and only 15% in Europe.
Women who do overcome the hurdles to get to the top tend to be exceptional, experts say. And of course, not all women leaders were standard-setters during the pandemic. Belgium, led by a female prime minister, Sophie Wilm猫s, became a coronavirus hot spot in Europe.
But those who study leadership give high marks to the democratic and more participatory style of many women leaders. A 2019 analysis published in the Harvard Business Review showed women outscoring men on 17 of 19 leadership capabilities, including building relationships and inspiring and motivating others.
The media found the full embodiment of these attributes in Prime Minister Ardern of New Zealand. She has been praised, for example, for getting on Facebook Live events to warmly encourage her fellow New Zealanders to act in ways that would flatten the infection curve and eradicate the virus. It worked: New Zealand went into lockdown with just nine deaths and has counted 22 to date. 聽
鈥淚n the face of the greatest threat to human health we have seen in over a century, Kiwis have quietly and collectively implemented a nationwide wall of defense,鈥� she said.
In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel, a physicist by training, eschewed the war rhetoric expressed by many of her European peers as she patiently explained exponential infection rates to Germans. Nicknamed 鈥淢utti鈥� 鈥� Mother 鈥� during her 15 years in office, Ms. Merkel was able to draw her nation into accepting difficult lockdown measures.
In a fast-moving crisis like COVID-19, leadership requires a full range of human qualities, says Kathleen Gerson, a sociology professor at New York University. And in countries with more gender equality, the stereotypes are not as rigidly set.
鈥淩egardless of your gender, you鈥檙e probably going to be better able to respond to the anxieties in the culture and also to provide more vision about how to get out of it if you can express and act on both of those dynamics: decisiveness and strength, but also empathy and caring,鈥� says Dr. Gerson.
鈥淵ou need a leader who鈥檚 got the capacity to do that,鈥� she says, 鈥渂ut you also need a political culture that will support that approach.鈥澛犅犅犅犅犅� 聽
The Nordic countries
The female prime ministers of Norway, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland all succeeded in curbing the pandemic by enforcing strict lockdowns early that exacted a heavy economic cost but decreased threats to human life. Scientists were not always on their side, but initial results have reinforced the decision. That was a sentiment shared across Nordic countries excepting Sweden, which opted not to shut down and saw far worse results.
鈥淭hese outcomes are striking because basically it means female leadership saves lives and it saves the economy,鈥� says U.N. Women Deputy Executive Director Anita Bhatia. 鈥淚t saves jobs. It saves livelihoods.鈥� 聽聽聽 聽
Devi Sridhar, professor and chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, says these women leaders exhibited 鈥渕oral clarity鈥� and planted themselves firmly on the side of protecting as many lives as possible 鈥� despite criticism.
Lockdown 鈥渋s not a cost-free exercise; people will suffer,鈥� says Professor Sridhar. 鈥淵ou have to carry your population, which means you have to recognize that pain and that sacrifice.鈥澛� 聽
Inclusion of voices
That underscores the need to build trust 鈥� something that Ingibj枚rg S贸lr煤n G铆slad贸ttir says often follows from having a greater diversity of viewpoints at the table. Ms. G铆slad贸ttir was the director of the human rights arm of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe for three years.
鈥淲hen you look at countries doing well and where women are leading in the government, the common denominator is that these countries all have strong democratic systems and democratic culture,鈥� she says.
That culture can also help leaders better recognize weak spots amid a crisis. Grete Herlofson, secretary-general of The Norwegian Women鈥檚 Public Health Association, says Norway put an immediate gender lens on the pandemic.
From the start of the pandemic the country, led by conservative Prime Minister Erna Solberg, recognized it was Norwegian women losing jobs, carrying the burden of care for older people and children, and at risk of domestic violence.
鈥淏eing a gender-equal country, we were able to see that the pandemic hit women harder than men,鈥� says Ms. Herlofson. 鈥淢ore men died, but more women lost their jobs, more women had major domestic challenges. ... And we were able to have a discussion on that issue.鈥�
That kind of awareness could benefit women as countries try to shape a new normal in a post-pandemic world. Just as American women gained suffrage at a time of global change after World War I, this crisis could be a steppingstone to greater gender equality on other fronts.聽聽聽 聽聽聽聽
Value of women鈥檚 work
In Iceland, which has led the globe in the demand for equal pay, feminists such as Ms. 脫marsd贸ttir are pushing a rethink about undervalued professions that are typically performed by women, such as nursing or elder care. The pandemic, she says, revealed the 鈥渢rue essential value of women鈥檚 work.鈥�
Ms. Bhatia of U.N. Women is concerned that women and girls, especially in the developing world, will be disproportionately impoverished economically and educationally as a result of the pandemic, undermining the gains of the past 100 years.
But, she says, if the right lessons are drawn, this crisis could be a pivotal moment for women around the world. 鈥淚t is feeling like the pandemic is a portal into a different future,鈥� Ms. Bhatia says.
