ActionPapers
LEADERSHIP AND POLITICAL PARTICIPATION:
DATA – KNOW THE FACTS AND HOW TO USE THEM
“Women make up half the population in Wisconsin. We are different from men and that’s why we need to have 50% women in leadership making decisions that matter to us.”- participant in 2004 WW=P Open Forum, Platteville
WHY: Relevant data will provide a baseline picture of the status of women inleadership in Wisconsin and a means to measure our progress. Data powers the argument for change!
* The US ranks sixtieth in women’s political leadership, just below Sierra Leone.
1 Norway, France, Spain and South Africa mandate that women fill from 30–40% of political positions – there are 37 other countries with quotas, yet . . .
* Only 79, or 14.8% of seats in Congress, 14% of the Senate and 14.9% of seats in the House of Representatives are held by women. Only 26 women have served as governor in the entire history of all 50 states.
* In Wisconsin, women comprise 25.8% of the State Legislature, a backslide from 28% in 2004, up only a few points from 1990. Nationally, the number of women in state legislatures remained unchanged at 22.5%. The highest level is 34%.
* No statewide data are collected to capture the number of Wisconsin women serving in office at other levels of government.
* Women comprise nearly half the workforce, yet in our state we occupy only 12% of corporate executive offices, and hold a mere 9% of board seats in the Wisconsin top 50 public companies.
2
* Women’s leadership participation doesn’t reflect our consumer power and role in the economy. Women control $3.3 trillion in annual consumer spending, make 81% of purchase decisions, 62% of car purchases, 50% of business trips, head 40% of households with income over $600,000 and own 10 million companies, or 45% of all firms.
3
* Wisconsin ranks 33rd nationally for the proportion of businesses owned by women.
4 Business ownership is one of the most effective means of improving one’s economic status.
* Wisconsin women earn less as a percentage of men’s wages, ranking 45th of 50 states, and less than the national average for median annual wages.
WHAT: Increase the number of women in leadership positions in the public, non-profit and private sectors.
* Create an accessible database that will provide the basis for an annual report on women in leadership in elected and appointed positions at the local and county level, as well as for state and federal government.
* Expand available gender-related information in the private sector.
HOW:
* Regional Solution Networks (RSNs) collaborate with local organizations, educational and political institutions, and the media to collect and submit data on women in leadership to Wisconsin Women’s Council (WWC), which will host the database. Ask the WWC to publish an annual report for distribution.
* RSNs work with Milwaukee Women Inc. to expand their data base on women in corporate leadership and replicate their project in other regions.
* Establish goals for progress that incorporate a multigenerational design, and engage women of all ages in the plan.
* Once the picture for leadership is clear, publicize it widely through the media and organizations’ newsletters. Develop a speaker’s bureau to make presentations at monthly meetings of local groups to provide gender awareness and the value of diversity to community members/leaders, and engage them in the project.
* Research the possibility of gender quotas on local and area appointed commissions and councils.
* Develop a strategy to increase the number of women in leadership positions in your community by using other
Take Action! Documents on resource pool development and successful models.
*Make men in positions of power partners in all of these efforts.
RESOURCES:
Wisconsin Women’s Council: http://womenscouncil.wi.gov
Milwaukee Women Inc.: http://www.milwaukeewomeninc.com
Center for American Women in Politics: http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~cawp/
Catalyst: http://www.catalystwomen.org/
1 Wilson, Marie. Closing the Leadership Gap. Viking Press, 2004.
2 Milwaukee Women, Inc. Diversity and Tomorrow’s Profits: Women in Corporate Leadership. Milwaukee Women Inc., 2004.
3 Reals Ellig, Janice and Bill Morin. What Every Successful Woman Knows: 12 Breakthrough Strategies to Get the Power and Ignite Your Career. McGraw-Hill, 2001.
4 Institute for Women’s Policy Research: http://www.iwpr.org
