Recently, a record-breaking number of women now hold leadership positions in the government sectors. The women leaders were part of the acting cabinet reorganized by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed that resulted in women getting 50 percent of the government’s top ministerial positions.
But various journal researches show that women still struggle to rise up the ranks in other sectors private or business sectors. In the previous time the involvement of women in leadership including in their home was ignored, due to men hold primary power and predominate in roles of social privilege and control of property and political moral authority.
Betelhem Negash, Women Rights Advocate/ Blogger, told The Ethiopian Herald that the society considers role of women to be less important in most cases. To change this, the Constitution has put in place an Affirmative Action. The aim is not to bring women who are incapacitated to power, but to support those who are capable, and enable to participate in a place where they are less involved.
Fortunately, women’s participation has now reached 50 percent at the cabinet level. But women should also participate equally with men in the leadership position in the private and other sectors. So they should be equally involved in the other sectors like banking, business, and boards. Currently, their involvement is not enough since the effort is not institutionalized and supported by policy.
Since ancient times, women have been low participation in leadership and decision-making at different levels of the society. The prevailing attitude has led to a low level of competitiveness among women in leadership roles in the society.
This negative attitude or thought of the community towards women capability should be changed. Besides, in order to apply the constitutional rights of women, there must be something obligatory and the effort should be supported by the institutional structure and policy. There is a need for bodies that monitors and pursues how many women come to leadership, she noted.
“Positive attitudinal change is important and we must act tirelessly instead to confining to th0ught. And awareness creation is important for the decision makers and communities to change the existing working system.”
As to her, associations which are working on women issues should pay attention towards women’s participation in leadership position. And also women who have a leadership position should share their experience to fellow women who want to catch leadership position as it has positive influence and helps to get inspiration.
She said that women who are in the leadership position have not developed experience to discuss and deal with each other’s problems. So to find out solution for the existing challenges; discussion and experience sharing with one another are effective mechanisms.
According to Saba Gebremedhin, Executive Director at Network of Ethiopian women’s Associations, as the election season gets nearer, various organizations that are working on women’s issues, political parties, the government and all concerned bodies must work for women to be involved in decision-making process. The communities’ attitude towards women’s ability to do in all aspect is not good so it needs to be changed.
She said that there is a perception that young women will get married after employment and they require 3 months of paid maternity leave. If the job has field work, women want to be at home because they have children. This led the employers to think that their work will be abused. In addition, women have responsibility to raising children and due to these reasons; even women those are qualified enough in their education; various private and business organizations are not interested to employee them.
Leadership positions require work experience in addition to education qualification. However, women are spending their time for their family responsibility so that it is additional challenge for them to catch the position.
Betelhem added that the experience to encourage women to come to leadership position and decision making is not well developed until now. The reason is when girls are grown up, they are treated differently than boys and their interests are restricted by their family, the community and environment.
Fortunately, though there were no exemplary women who came out of this mindset during the past times, the current leadership position of women in the government sector is one good experience to inspire other women in the private institutions.
There is also a problem with women that there is a tendency to prefer simple works than facing challenges. “When I was a journalist, I had a tendency to prefer simple issues and not want new issues and to exercise new challenges. So we/women should develop and empower ourselves to prepare for leadership position,” she stated.
As to Betlelhem, culture also negatively influence the role of women in leadership position and the organizational environment which refers to the prevailing company perceptions of women’s professional capabilities and commitments affect their careers. It also includes attitude towards women that could result in unsupportive and discouraging work environment. And women internalize this perception and it leads them to lower participation in the decisions making process and leadership positions in all sectors.
Sometimes to come up in the leadership position in the board and business sector, networking proposition is applied. Men meet at a cafe and share ideas about what sector they are capable of doing and what they would like to be successful in doing. On the contrary, women often do not talk to each other even about their interest of field. That is why when the leadership position appointment exists they are left aside.
To be competitive and have balance participation in the leadership position in the government and private sectors, women should understand the advantage of participation in the leadership position. Furthermore, women’s participation should look like their community balance as 51 percent of the populations are women.
Therefore, to protect their political or any other rights the involvement of women in all aspects of the society should be equal with men. Women should also understand and believe that participation in leadership position is their right and representation of other women to protect their rights, Betelhem explained.
“Currently we hope the prevailing young women will have better participation in the leadership position. There will be better women participation in various sectors like in the media and other sectors. Furthermore, various bodies are working starting from the bottom level of woreda to empower women to take the leadership position.”
In addition, in order to increase their participation in the leadership position in the future, concerned bodies should give better attention and work on girls. They should grow up thinking that they can. They should exercise decision making and the leadership position starting from their home, she said.
Professor Hirut W/ Maryam, Minister of Science and Higher Education, presented works designed to increase women’s participation in the ministries led by women ministers like Ministry of Women on a workshop organized recently by Awi, entitled “Let the representation of women be fifty percent in boards and government-owned enterprises.”
At the occupation she indicated, despite a one and a half year journey since the establishment of the institute, in order to increase women participation in leadership position, teaching, science and research, many works in the science and higher education sector are undergone and will continue to be developed and strengthen the participation and achievement of female students.
She said that to bring women into leadership in higher education institutions, a guideline has been revised. And the policy was set to increase women’s participation by adding that “every public institution of higher education includes at least two female leaders in the senior leadership” and that “women with a particular lecturer position will compete”.
The Ethiopian Herald March 10/2020
BY ESSEYE MENGISTE
