Diplomatic World_nummer 57

Opening ceremony crowd
Do you think that if we had more women as
political and business leaders it would contribute to
make the world a better place?
It depends on how you define 'better'. Institutions as
diverse as the World Bank, the IMF, Goldman Sachs,
and McKinsey have all pointed to the rise in GDPs of
various economies if women were fully utilized not just at
the bottom but also at every level of the economy. On the
corporate side, there are over 70 reports from different
countries indicating a strong correlation between more
women in senior roles as executives and board directors
with a company's better financial performance. Given this
myriad research indicating the positive results that accrue
from advancing women's economic opportunities, the
question then is why are women still begging to be allowed
IN? Or to put it another way as one frustrated female
executive said at a recent roundtable I organized: "Don't
companies want to make more money?" The same can be
asked of countries.
What holds women back are long-held cultural assumptions
as to what they can or cannot do that influence companies
and countries to not fully utilize the talent pool that women
represent. Right now, in many countries of the world,
women are the majority of college graduates but they tend
to be under-employed in jobs that do not match their skills
and education. The presumption that family and house
chores are predominantly women's role in society still
permeates cultural thinking even in developed economies.
These stereotypes continue to undercut their claim to
leadership in the workplace.
What are the objectives of the Global Summit of
women? Is it a "women only" version of the Davos
summit or do you also actively seek to promote
a better representation of women in leadership
positions?
Well, from the beginning, we wanted to find a way to speed
up, to accelerate women's economic progress by sharing
what works in terms of government policy or corporate
programs or entrepreneurial experiences that can jumpstart
other women so they do not have to start from zero. So
our focus on best practices and on practical strategies as
opposed to continually focusing on the challenges women
face in the economic sphere permeates the Program.
Basically, what did you do in your country or your business
that I can bring to mine? That is the predominant
question.
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