Who We Think We Are: Women as Managers and Leaders in International Development

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Who We Think We AreWomen as Managers and
Leaders in International Development

• By Ailea Sneller
• George Washington University
• International Development Studies Program
• December 4, 2008
• INTRAC Conference, Soesterberg, the Netherlands

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A Theory

• Non-governmental development organizations
  (NGDOs) may be undermining both their missions
  and their values by operating in ways that are
  fundamentally disempowering to the women in their
  staff, and therefore exclude them from equal
  representation in leadership roles.

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Outline for Discussion

• Why women matter in development
• Why NGOs matter in development
• Why women in matter in NGOs
• A few statistics
• Interviews
• Comments conclusions

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Women as Concept in Development

• Study after study has taught us that there is no
  tool for development more effective than the
  education of girls and the empowerment of women. 
  No other policy is as likely to raise economic
  productivity, lower infant and maternal
  mortality, or improve nutrition and promote
  health, including the prevention of HIV/AIDS. 
  When women are fully involved, the benefits can
  be seen immediately  families are healthier
  they are better fed their income, savings, and
  reinvestment go up.  And what is true of families
  is true of communities and, eventually, whole
  countries.
• --Kofi Annan 2004, emphasis added

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The Role of Development NGOs

• NGOs are leaders in cultivating a global moral
  order that finds poverty and violence
  unacceptable. They must be exemplars of the
  societies they want to create, and work much
  harder to mainstream civic values into the arenas
  of economic, social and political power
• --Edwards et al 2000, emphasis added

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Gender in Development NGOs

• As organizations, NGDOs are not gender neutral.
  By and large, NGDO organizations reflect rather
  than contradict wider society with its
  stereotypical views of women here, women act as
  servers of men seldom function as decision- or
  policy-makers and are seen as women first and
  workers second. Judgment on performance differs,
  with women having to prove themselves by being
  twice as good as men. Norms of behavior, rules,
  physical structures, organizational divisions of
  power and tasks, and functional categories
  naturally tend to reflect and favor men rather
  than women. And, importantly, informal
  communication, decision-making and negotiation
  take place in male preserves.
• --Alan Fowler, 1997

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Women Managers Good for Development?
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What Hasnt Happened Yet

• A conceptual place for women development
  practitioners and leaders
• In the US, women represent 47 of the workforce
  and 63 of all workers earning the minimum wage
  or less, but make up only 13.6 of Fortune 500
  boards, and less than 2 of Fortune 500 CEOs
  (Catalyst 2004).
• No similar statistics are available for the
  non-profit world or for development organizations
  specifically.

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Where are the women? (And where are the data?)

• One study conducted in 2002 used a sample of
  general non-profit organizations, 19 of which
  were lead by women (Hallock 2002).
• Author acknowledges at the outset that there is
  very little research on non-profit management
  in the context of gender, and it has yet to be
  determined if his sample was representative of a
  larger picture among non-profits

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Gender Ratios in the FieldDo female ratios match
the pyramid at NGDOs?
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Statistics

• Looking at numbers in leadership within
  development organizations that are
• Multisectoral
• At least 10 years old
• Nonprofit
• (Mostly) comparable size, mission, approaches
• Methodology Gather gender info for
  presidents/CEOs, senior staff, entire HQ staff,
  boards and board chairs. Back up with interviews.

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Presidents/CEOs
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Board Chairs
IRD
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Senior Management
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Board Membership
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Case Study AED

• FOUNDED 1961
• BUDGET 400 million
• STAFF 1,900 worldwide 1,000 in Washington
  DC headquarters
• SECTORS Education, Leadership Democracy,
  Environment Energy, Youth, Health,
  HIV/AIDS, Economic Development

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AEDs 2005 Diversity Survey

• Total HQ staff 66 women, 34 men
• Board 38 women (6 of 16), 62 men
• President/CEO and Board Chair both men
• Glass ceiling is installed at grade 7 Women go
  from a 58 majority to a 35 minority between
  grades 7 and 8
• but back to a 58 majority at grades 9-10
• Average 74 majority in grades 3-6

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AED Gender Ratios by Grade
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International Development Graduate Programs An
emerging female majority?
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Implications of Women in Management

• A 2001 study on human resource practices found
  that surprisingly, both men and women benefited
  from a larger female gender ratio in the highest
  job levels (Jansen 2004318, emphasis added).
• Study suggests that the increased presence of
  women at higher levels of management is better
  for the advancement of both men and women within
  an organization. Among human resource factors,
  gender may be among the most influential in terms
  of organizational success in this respect.

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Implications of Women in Management

• Another study in 2000 found that female managers
  scored higher than their male counterparts on
  nearly every management indicator measured when
  rated by peers, bosses and subordinates within
  their organizations (Sharpe 2000). The
  categories assessed included motivating others,
  fostering communication, producing high quality
  work, listening to others and analyzing issues.
• Findings echoed other studies showing that
  clients and subordinate workers particularly tend
  to respond more positively to female managers
  than their male counterparts, on average (Maddock
  1999).

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Interview Observations

• Development as a field is no more gender neutral
  or women-friendly than other fields (business,
  law, science, etc.).
• Womens representation in leadership roles is
  better than it was, but still nowhere near equal.
• Women still experience a greater disadvantage in
  terms of career opportunities because of the
  expectation that they will assume the bulk of
  family responsibilities. This is an impediment
  to womens advancement within organizations that
  do not adjust for this reality in their HR
  practices.
• Often a large disconnect within NGOs vis-à-vis
  externally-oriented change and internally-oriented
  change. I.e. NGDOs are not necessarily cutting
  edge when it comes to social self-awareness.
• Women in leadership have awareness of and
  struggle with issues of NGO managementHR
  policies, for examplethat male leaders might not
  in the same way.

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Womens Catch 22

• Organizational policy and behavior that creates a
  workplace that is accommodating toward womens
  leadership is difficult to achieve, which makes
  it more difficult for many women to transition
  into positions of leadership.
• Without having women well represented in
  decision-making positions and policymaking
  capacities, it is difficult for womens needs and
  family-friendly approaches to come to the
  forefront of organizational priorities.

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Preliminary Conclusions

• How might NGDOs be undermining their missions and
  values?
• Failing to incorporate women's leadership may
  marginalize women's programs
• May detract from the diversity and quality of
  ideas brought to bear on development problems
• May detract from diversity and quality of methods
  and approaches to tackling development problems
• May weaken operation of organizations
• May weaken NGDOs moral leadership on issues of
  equality

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So what? (Its not like its our job to change
the world)

• Why we should make sure women are equally
  represented in NGDO leadership
• Its the right thing to do
• Makes for more diversified and more effective
  organizations
• Egalitarian NGOs help make society as a whole
  more egalitarian
• It means development is getting done better?

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How do we do it?

• Cultivate gender awareness in organizational
  culture and structure
• Include gender elements in mission and goals
• Actively recruit and support female leadership
• Encourage NGDOs to demonstrate leadership in
  guiding social values about women, families and
  work in our culture, and reflecting them in their
  policies

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Thanks! Questions?

• Lewis, David. (2001) The Management of
  Non-governmental Development Organizations.
  Routledge New York.
• Jansen, Paul G.W., Mandy E.G. van der Velde and
  Inge A. Telting. (2004) The effectiveness of
  human resource practices on advancing mens and
  womens ranks. Journal of Management
  Development. 20/4 318-30.
• Maddock, S. (1999) Challenging Women Gender,
  Culture and Organization. Sage Publications
  London.
• Sharpe, Rochelle. (2000) As Leaders, Women
  Rule. Business Week. 20 Nov 74-84.
• UNIS United Nations Information Service. (2004)
  No Development Tool more Effective than
  Education of Girls, Empowerment of Women, Says
  Secretary-General in Address to Womens Health
  Coalition.