On November 5th, 2024, for the second time in eight years, U.S. voters rejected the opportunity to have a first-ever female president. 

Which begs the question: In terms of equality between the sexes, are Western countries progressing or regressing? Here is a look into the importance of female leadership and how it impacts us as a society.

In a world where individuals’ views on women’s rights are consistently shifting, it is crucial for us to spread the important message of equal opportunities and women’s place in leadership. So, what is happening right now with women’s rights? Are we making any progress, or have we put all this effort in only for our progress to backslide? Here, The Bite aims to explore a global and local perspective to spread awa

Currently, no country in the world has achieved gender equality. One in three countries has made absolutely zero progress since 2015, while various countries worldwide are slowly regressing. Men are constantly outnumbering women worldwide when it comes to leadership positions. Only 29% of the seats in the US Congress are represented by women. And as of 2023, only 32.2% of women in the worldwide workforce take on senior leadership positions. In addition, 107 out of 195 countries have never had a woman as head of state.

According to Ms. Magazine, studies show that countries where women have more equal political representation in government the citizens are more likely to support reproductive rights, support pregnant women and mothers, and induce equal access to healthcare and education. This just tells us that we as a society must fight the stereotypes and encourage women to step up into leadership roles.

Various studies have shown that when a woman looks at a job description and she only meets, let’s say, 8 out of 10 requirements, she is much more reluctant to apply for the job. Essentially, a woman will apply for a position solely if they meet 100% of the job description, while a man will apply for the job even if they meet only 60% of the requirements. Women are more likely to be hired due to their track record, while men are more likely to be hired due to their potential.

What About Our Local AISB Community?

While approximately 70% of our teachers here at AISB are women, it is important to note that our very own Director, Rachel Caldwell, is the first-ever female director. Secondary Principal Melanie Kempe says that in the past 18 years working within international education institutions, Caldwell is the “first female head of school” she has worked with. “So, just that statement in itself [shows] we are growing,” Kempe says. “There are definitely more females now than there were before for sure, but it’s far from balanced.”

According to both Caldwell and Kempe, AISB has implemented various training programs, including an anti-bias training program, to ensure that our faculty recognizes that we all have biases whether they are conscious or not, and their impact. There are also consistent check-ins happening to see how many women there are, for example, in the CEESA region and our school board. According to Caldwell, AISB also strongly encourages female leaders to step up and take further roles to fight stereotypes.

Within the AISB faculty, there is a much higher number of women, particularly in early learning and elementary school, says Caldwell. The housekeeping staff is all women, while the security and bus drivers are all men. Generally, these professions in AISB are very gender driven, certainly, there are no gender preferences in the job descriptions at AISB, however, this is how applications have been distributed.

‘The Process Matters, Not Just the Outcome’

Elisabeta Moraru, the CEO of Google Romania (and current member of AISB’s Board of Trustees), says that women lack the confidence to step up and take a role compared to men due to a bias in the workplace, where women need more qualifications to be hired than their male colleagues. “The studies and statistics show that women need much more out of a job description,” Moraru says, “whereas male colleagues don’t need that much.”

“In Romania, we have almost 30 percent women, which is a very high percentage compared to the EU average,” says Moraru. “That tells us a lot about our cultural legacy that women can study STEM or engineering, which our society supports. I am very happy to see that in this community, and this sisterhood.”

“At the end of the day,” Moraru says, “you have to expose yourself to different situations and accept it might be a failure, but know that the process matters and not just the outcome.”

In a perfect world, everyone has equal opportunities, and the number of women isn’t outnumbered due to gender discrimination. Unfortunately, this isn’t currently the case. We have to work together to break the gender stereotype that constantly tells women aren’t fit enough to be politicians or CEOs. AISB is breaking barriers through many ways to foster an environment of equal opportunities for all.