Or perhaps the other way around?

To be honest, I often wonder if women in politics should be learning from women who have succeeded in other fields. I think about Sri Lanka, where women are finding ways to succeed in business, in the media, and other areas. Yet the rates of women in politics there is still quite low. Truthfully, the same can be said of women in the US. So, why is it that we have a number of women CEOs and Presidents of huge corporations, but no woman VP or President in the US? Why do we have women making millions as actresses, singers, authors, anchorwomen, etc, but only 17% women in our House and Senate?

So the question may be: what are women in politics not doing that women in other sectors are? For example, if you look at women in the business world in the US, you find women who have really struggled to succeed. They have had to work from within male structures to make change, work twice as hard as men to make only 80% of what men make, find creative ways to live their lives and still get ahead, but they have succeeded. How are women in business adapting and what strategies are they using to get ahead? Any thoughts on this?

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Or perhaps the other way round

Submitted by Regina Mundi on Sun, 2007-06-24 19:34.

I personaly see nothing wrong in women in politics having to learn from women who have succeeded in other fields. Politics is a big bundle that contains everything.A politician needs money hence learning to run a successful business would help the politician. A female politician in a primary producing country like Cameroon should know about agriculture. Most of the people both men and women will listen when she talks. They would identify with her.I think that a female politician will benefit from knowlege from all other successful women because the electorate is made up of everybody.

Besides the above women are late starters in politics as we know it today. Women had for too long accepted the old adage that a woman's place is in the home. We are waking from sleep when the sun is overhead. We might not reap the full benefits of our struggles this decade but it is sure that things shall be very different in the next 25years. Just being a politician also does not rob us of our womanhood. Women I think are people oriented. They want to go into politics because they see a need for change. They want to stem out corruption,make or influence the making of laws that would improve the lot of the underpriviledged. Women truly want chang. So they are on the same foot ball field where players want to score goals for different reasons. The game becomes very rough for them when there is very little money for campaigns and when they are not prepared to play dirty politics.
How the media portrays female politicians is another matter.
It is my prayer that many women would be involved in the media and work to change the negative way women are sometime portrayed.

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The dynamics of politics

Submitted by vawotwi on Wed, 2007-05-02 09:39.

While I believe that women can learn and mentor one another across sectors, we must also consider that the dynamics of politics and the public sector are quite different from other sectors. Women in business have made some progress, but they would argue that they still do not have as much access as their male counterparts.

There are only 12 female CEO's at US Fortune 500 companies, accounting for less than 3%! There is a need and an opportunity for successful women leaders to mentor and support one another. The question I think is - how do we create a safe platform for this to happen in all sectors? What are the unique leadership skills required to succeed in politics?

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Or Perhaps The Other Way Round.

Submitted by rebecca on Tue, 2007-05-01 21:01.

I am not in business and so I can not speak for them but I have come to the conclusion that in spite of the recognition that women are excelling or very good at what they are doing, the world is yet to concede much space for them in politics and public office particularly in Nigeria. They seem to be doing all or even more than some of their male counterparts but this in most cases do not get them the coveted prize.

Gender stereotypes still tout "the best person for the job is a man". Women in politics therefore face several challenges to gain acceptance and recognition even though there are no entry qualifications for participating in politics unlike applying for a job as a program officer or manager.
In Nigeria, the political parties only pay lip service to the fact that they are encouraging women to participate while only a handful have thought it worthwhile to incorporate their allege interest in promoting women's participation into their manifestos. The National Policy on Women adopted in 2001 demands that women should occupy 30% of seats in government yet there is no law backing this policy for it to be enforced. Political Godfathers who are mainly men, mentor men to take strategic positions . Women can not match the financial strength of their male counterparts in a country where the electorate can be easily influenced by money and other gifts due to poverty. Women's (whether in politics or outside of politics) confidence must be built to not only challenge these stereotypes and other militating factors but to be unrelenting in their pursuit towards taking their position as equal partners in governance and development.

The competition in business is of a more intellectual level than in politics. Business are interested in making their businesses grow but politics is about manipulation of people and succeeding on the back of their ignorance of what you are really doing. Politicians belong to a cult. If you are not a member of the cult, you have to be invited in as you do not have the password to go in. I think we need to think of ways of debunking stereotypes against women particularly those that say that women do not make good team players, can not keep secrets and are too emotional to take tough decisions. How to achieve that is the big question.

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