Stereotyping and attitude that men make a better leader discourages women to participate in decision making, according to a study carried out by the National Commission for Women and Children (NCWC).
In a society where gender stereotypes and attitudes run deep, women are portrayed as less capable than men. While definitely more men hold such views than women, women also share these misplaced gender beliefs.
Women are generally considered emotional, soft, passive and weak- and these characteristics altogether sum-up that women cannot make a good leader or politics are purely masculine activities.
The report also shows lack of education and training discourages women participation in decision making and particularly at local government. NCWC says these issues can only be addressed if tackled simultaneously.
“We can have female students for instance as a possible resource of the country and empower them through education, so that we can create a pool of supply and simultaneously work on creating a demand for them, which is willing, which will accept, which will appoint and elect such kind of possible aspiring leaders,” said Sonam Penjor, Offtg. Chief Programme Officer, NCWC.
The study shows that these outlooks lead women to have lower expectations of them-selves, of their leadership capacity and their role in politics; they also suffer from low self-esteem and poor image.
A case study from the country’s first local government election last year shows, of over 1,000 posts at the local government, about 80 posts are held by women currently.
