Celebrate Women!
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March is Women’s History Month and we also celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8th. Women’s History Month celebrates the achievements women have made throughout U.S. history. International Women’s Day recognizes women’s achievements and serves as a call to action to lobby for gender parity.
While women have not always been recognized as leaders, their influence has been felt in many different ways throughout history. Women have made contributions in education, science, technology, and government. In fact, research has shown that women can be effective and successful leaders (DeFrank-Cole & Tan, 2021; Eagly, Karau, & Makhijani, 1995).
Movement through History
We have seen the impact of women all around. The collective action of women and allies have led to more rights for women and a movement toward equity. Social movements have a long history of women’s involvement and participation. Women have not been passive bystanders, even when they were granted little formal authority. Women continue to be active participants in a number of social movements and have led, often behind the scenes, with a collective voice to make the world more socially just.
“The power to question is the basis of all human progress.”
There have been large social movements that have led to great changes for women. We see these changes through the waves of feminism. In the first wave of feminism (late 19th and early 20th century), we saw the suffrage movement that led to women’s right to vote. The second wave of feminism (mid to late 20th century) challenged traditional gender norms and introduced the women’s rights movement. Intersectionality helped to shape the third wave of feminism (late 20th and early 21st century) and now currently in the fourth wave we see current social movements like #MeToo and the Women’s March.
The Benefits of Women and Women Leaders
When women lead, they are more likely to be committed to social issues that reflect equality and social change. They invest in families and communities and these concern all people in society. They are more likely to allocate resources that lead to positive social outcomes and make decision that are more socially responsible (Eagly, Kinahan, & Bosak, 2018).
There are clear benefits to women as leaders. Yet, when we look at the number of women leaders, there is clearly a gender leadership gap. Women are important members of society and their representation is needed. Women make up half of the population and have a great deal of consumer power. They make 80% of consumer purchases and are 60% of college graduates (Wittenberg-Cox, 2019). Thus, we must work harder to ensure that the composition of senior leadership teams reflect the pool of customers and constituents that an organization seeks to serve in order to better represent the needs and interests of all.
“Tremendous amounts of talent are being lost to our society just because that talent wears a skirt. ”
When women are at the table where decisions are being made we see improvement in the bottom line with increased profits and improvements that benefit communities and world around us (Eagly, Kinahan, & Bosak, 2018). We don’t want to lose out on the ideas and talents of half the population when they are excluded or dismissed from getting involved in decision-making. When women participate in teams and organization, diverse perspective that improve the quality of problem solving and bring innovation are the result (Hoffman & Maier, 1961).
Women’s Marks in Our Everyday Lives
There are many reasons to celebrate women. The ways women have made a difference can be seen in all parts of our everyday lives. A few examples:
Life Raft
Maria Beasily (1882)
Maria Beasily improved upon earlier life rafts, which were just wooden planks strapped together by adding guardrails and metal floats. Her life raft design saved 706 people when the Titanic sank.
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ruth Wakefield (1930)
Wakefield came up with the chocolate chip cookie by accident and today the cookie is a classic, favorite cookie.
Dishwasher
Josephine Cochrane (1886)
The first automatic, commercially viable dishwasher was invented by Josephine Cochrane. This is now an appliance found in almost all homes in the United States.
Glare-Free Glass
Katharine Burr Blodgett (1938)
Blodgett was the first woman hired at General Electric and developed non reflective, glare-free glass.
Windshield Wipers
Mary Anderson (1903)
Before the use of windshield wipers, drivers had to reach out of their cars to clear their windshield while driving. Mary Anderson devised a lever-operated squeegee that could be used from inside the car.
Wi-Fi
Hedy Lamarr (1942)
Hedy Lamarr, an actress, designed the technology that served as the basis for Wi-Fi and other wireless technologies.
“Girls are capable of doing everything men are capable of doing. Sometimes they have more imagination than men. ”
The list can go on. There are so many more accomplishments of women and girls. We must continue to lift up and support all our accomplishments.
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References
DeFrank-Cole, L., & Tan, S. J. (2021). Women and Leadership: Journey Toward Equity. Thousand, Oaks, CA: SAGE Publishers.
Eagly, A. H., Karau, S. J., & Makhijani, M. G. (1995). Gender and the effectiveness of leaders: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 125–145.
Eagly, A., Kinahan, M., Bosak, J. (2018). Where and why do women lead: Leadership for the public good versus private profit. Presentation at the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology Conference, Chicago, IL.
Hoffman, L. R., & Maier, M. (1961). Quality and acceptance of problem solutions by members of homogeneous and heterogeneous groups. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 62(2), 401–407.
Wittenberg-Cox, A. (2019, March). Gender Balance: A Strategic Imperative for Business? [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/avivah_wittenberg_cox_gender_balance_a_strategic_imperative_for_business
