UNITAR

Empowered Pathways: Navigating Gender and Women's Leadership


In this course, you will learn different techniques to help you become a more effective leader, including guidance on how to effectively manage stress, build meaningful relationships, and enhance your communication skills, among several other important skills.


This course is part of the One UNITAR Gender initiative, which aims to empower more women around the world, especially in developing countries and least developed countries, to strengthen their leadership skills and feel empowered to apply and share their knowledge with others.


Welcome to the first module of Empowered Pathways: Navigating Gender and Women’s Leadership!In this module, we will explore the topic of leadership and stress markers.


As leaders, we often face various challenges and stressors in our roles, and understanding how to identify and manage these stress markers is crucial for effective leadership.


In this module, we will delve into the concept of leadership and its relationship with stress markers.


We will examine the different types of stress markers that can impact leaders, such as external pressures, internal expectations, and personal triggers.


We will also explore the effects of stress on leadership performance and well-being, and the importance of self-awareness in identifying and managing stress markers.


Throughout this module, we will provide you with practical strategies and tools to effectively cope with stress markers, enhance your leadership skills, and thrive as a leader.


So, let’s get started on this empowering journey to learn more about leadership and stress markers!


By the end of this module you will be able to:
Define self-confidence and recognize what contributes to your own confidence.
Identify your strengths, challenges and opportunities as a leader.
Navigate successfully in culturally diverse and international settings.
Recognize the power of diversity in motivation and provide examples of how this is impacted by gender.
Practice the 3 C’s of Leadership (competent, committed, and with strong character) to optimize your unique leadership style.
Identify all levels of sexual harassment and raise awareness on what to look out for.
Execute conflict resolution using the methodology provided during the course.


Learning Objectives


Exercise: How has gender influenced you?Reflect on your childhood. Recall an incident when you were told to “act like a boy” or “act like a girl”. What was the message? Who was the messenger? Would the message be different if it came from the opposite sex?


Use your Action Plan throughout the training to write down for yourself what you can start doing, stop doing, do more of and do less of.This will become your moral compass as you journey through leadership.


You are welcome to draw your own action plan in a notebook or download the Action Plan template in the briefcase located on the main course page.


A Global Perspective on Women’s Empowerment


About Empowering a Billion Women Network (EBW) “We create opportunities for women-owned businesses and connect them with enterprises & organizations seeking to engage, hire, procure and do business with them.”For more information visit the EBW website.The EBW100 Global List.


It marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality. Throughout history, extraordinary women have fought tirelessly.


As today’s women and girls reach for new heights, they stand on the shoulders of all those who have come before and carry forward their legacy of proud achievement.


The Global View

Our vision is a global economy powered by women and community. Because we believe when you activate women, you activate the economy that impacts women.


There is a tremendous amount of research and work that needs to be done to reduce the gender gap in business, politics, and other arenas to helping to make the world a better place for humankind and to protect the sustainability of our planet.
Visit the SHEconomy website.


SHEconomy was predicted by Intuit to be the number three trend in a forecast of top twenty demographic trends within the next decade.


All human beings are created equal, but we are not treated equally. As the gender gap reminds us, there is no “we” and “they” here; there is only humanity.


We are all involved, and we are all implicated. The only question is whether and when we will all respond. The hour is late, the time is now. (CNN) - welcome to the age of SHEconomy.


Equality is not about being treated equally but being treated equally well. We need to fix the system, not the women!


Equality, let’s not forget, means business. That’s why SHEconomy, is your business!


The term 'SHEconomy' represents what?


Aug 07, 2019The share of women in senior roles globally is increasing incrementally.


In 2019, 29% of senior management roles were held by women, the highest number ever on record.


87% of global businesses had at least one woman in a senior management role in 2019.


The World Economic Forum has released its latest gender gap report which found that it will take 257 years until men and women have pay equality.


The report did find that the overall gender gap has narrowed with a 2% increase in women in senior roles noted…


But at the same time the economic gender gap has widened while women’s participation in the labour market is stalling.


The startling reality is that global pay parity will only be achieved in the year 2277.


Currently, only 55% of adult women around the world are in the labour market compared to 78% of men.


The SHEconomy and Global Statistics

Hofstede’s Cultural DimensionsYou know, dogs are interesting animals. If you have ever watched a group of different breeds of dogs together…


you see that there are dogs who are aggressive, those that are mellow, some want to be the alpha male and some are content just playing and having a good time.


These different dimensions are very similar to Geert Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory, a theory that looks at unique aspects of cultures and rates them on a scale for comparison.


Now, I am not trying to say dogs and humans are the same, but the way they interact is quite similar.


Individualism vs. Collectivism:This dimension focuses on the questions about whether people prefer a close knit network of people or prefer to be left alone to fend for themselves.


Long-term vs. Short-term Orientation:Long-term orientation dimension can be interpreted as dealing with society’s search for virtue. Societies with a short-term orientation generally have a strong concern with establishing the absolute truth.


Which of the following are part of Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions?


Theory of Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions


The original model of Hofstede was the outcome of factor analysis done on a global survey of the value system of employees at IBM between the years 1967 and 1973.


This theory was one of the initial ones which could quantify cultural differences.


The original theory that Hofstede proposed talked of four dimensions, namely power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism vs. collectivism and masculinity vs. femininity.


After conducting independent studies in Hong Kong, Hofstede included a fifth dimension, known as long-term vs. short-term orientation, to describe value aspects that were not a part of his original theory.


Again in 2010, Hofstede devised another dimension, the sixth one, indulgence vs. self-restraint, in an edition of ‘Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind’, co-authored by Michael Minkov.


Hofstede’s work serves as the base for other research in cross-cultural psychology, inviting a number of researchers to study different aspects of international business and communication.


These dimensions founded by Hofstede illustrate the deeply embedded values of diverse cultures.


These values impact not only how people with different cultural backgrounds behave, but also the manner in which they will potentially behave when placed in a work-associated context.


Global Cultural Dimensions

Autocracy in leadership;
Authority that is centralized;
Paternalistic ways of management;
A number of hierarchy levels;
The acceptance of the privileges that come with power;
A lot of supervisory staff;
An expectation of power differences and inequality.


Societies with large power distance are characterized by the following features:


Participative or consultative style of management;
Decision-making responsibility and authority decentralized;
Flat structure of organizations;
Supervisory staff small in proportion;
Questioning the authority and lack of acceptance;
An inclination toward egalitarianism;
Consciousness of rights.


Societies that have small power distance possess the following features:


Tendency to avoid risk;
Organizations that have a number of standardized procedures, written rules, and clearly delineated structures;
Strong requirement for consensus;
Respect for authority;
Requirement for predictability highlighting the significance of planning;
Minimal or no tolerance for deviants;
Promotions depending upon age or seniority.


Strong uncertainty avoidance is represented by the following aspects:


Individualistic cultures are characterized by:
Fostering contractual relationships that revolve around the fundamentals of exchange.


Emphasis on personal enjoyment, fun, and pleasure, over duties and social norms. They are a part of a number of in-groups which hardly have any influence on their lives.


The notion that they hold unique beliefs.


Behavior as per social norms that are established for maintenance of social harmony among in-group members;
Considering the wider collective with regards to implications of their actions;
Sharing of resources and readiness to give up personal interest keeping in mind the collective interest;
Favoring some in-groups (such as friends and family);
Being a part of a few in-groups that have an influence on their lives. Rather than being individualistic, they have an increased inclination towards conformity;
Increased concern regarding in-group members. They show hostility or indifference toward out-group members;
Emphasis on harmony and hierarchy within group;
Regulation of behavior with the help of group norms.


Collectivistic cultures are characterized by:


Clearly distinct gender roles;
Benevolence has little or no significance;
Men are expected to be tough and assertive with a concentration on material achievements;
Much value is associated with mastery of people, nature, job, and the like;
Sense of humor, intelligence, affection, personality are considered preferred characteristic traits of a boyfriend by the women;
Understanding, wealth, and health are considered desirable characteristic traits of a husband by the women.


**Masculine **cultures possess the following characteristics:


Every social organization has its prototype in the family.Virtuous behavior involves treatment meted out to others in a similar manner as one prefers to be treated oneself.


A futuristic, dynamic mentality;
Emphasis on a relationship order depending on status, and observance of this order;
Emphasis on persistence and perseverance;
### Stress on possessing a sense of shame;
Stress on thrift;
Positive association with economic growth;
Inclination toward interrelatedness represented in sensitivity toward social contacts.


Long-term orientation (high Confucian values) reflects the following:


Short-term orientation (low Confucian values) is characterized by the following…


Take Time to Reflect
How will you use this enhanced understanding of cultural dimensions to improve your leadership potential and foster inclusivity?


Hofstede's Six Cultural Dimensions

What are the barriers to women's empowerment?


In every country around the world women face multiple barriers and gender-based discrimination in the work place.


These obstacles make it harder for women to get on an equal footing with men in the world of work. Legal barriers further compound gender inequalities.


We need to ensure that our generation of young women can meaningfully contribute to policy changes and economic development.


The Malawi chapter can help achieve the objectives of AWLN and strengthen more grass-roots networks through the Spotlight Initiative, to reach remote areas of the country.


Why is the Malawi chapter of AWLN relevant to young women today?


This will boost professional and career development for many in response to Africa’s needs. This is what many young women have longed for.


To a great extent, most women’s movements have only targeted specific classes in urban areas, leaving out rural areas, where the majority of young women live.


Patriarchal societies and male-dominated systems of government need to look closely at how they can include women in decision-making.


And to my fellow young women, may we never feel too small to meaningfully participate, demand our rights and take the lead in all stages of development, from the grass roots to national level. We all have a voice.


What can be done to ensure women’s voices are better heard and their issues are better addressed?


Time to Reflect
Reflect on a time when you experienced an act of women’s empowerment.
What impact did it have on you and those around you?


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Empowered Pathways: Navigating Gender and Women's Leadership

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