Development Day 2014 Gender and Development: The Role of Female Leadership June 16 SITE, Stockholm School of Economics KAW Lecture Room 8.30-9.00 Conference registration. 9.00-9.05 Welcome Anders Olofsgård, Deputy Director at SITE, SSE Moderator: Martina Björkman Nyqvist, Assistant Professor, SSE 9.05-9.20 Opening Speech Hillevi Engström, Minister for International Development Cooperation 9.20-11.00 Presentations Jeni Klugman, Director of Gender and Development at the World Bank Group Voice, Agency and Participation Rohini Pande, Professor, Harvard Kennedy School Gender Quotas and Female Leadership
11.00-11.20 Coffee break 11.20-13.00 Presentations Andrew Beath, The World Bank " Empowering Women through Development Aid: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Afghanistan" Valentine Moghadam, Professor, Northeastern University Democratization and Women s Political Leadership in North Africa Erik Meyersson, Assistant Professor, SITE, SSE Education and Empowerment Evidence from Turkey 13.00-14.00 Lunch 14.00-15.30 Panel 1: Entrepreneurship and female leadership in the business community: opportunities and challenges Introduction by Ina Ganguli, Assistant Professor, SITE, SSE Sofia Falk, CEO, Wiminvest Gustav Loven, Social Sustainability Manager, H&M Charlotte Petri-Gornitzka, General Director, Sida Martina Viarengo, Assistant Professor, The Graduate Institute Geneva 15.30-15.50 Coffee break 15.50-17.20 Panel 2: Norms and laws: is change fast or slow? Introduction by Raquel Fernandez, Professor, New York University Shareen Joshi, Assistant Professor, Georgetown University Laxman Belbase, Save the Children and MenEngage Shazia Rafi, former Secretary-General Parliamentarians for Global Action Rohini Pande, Professor, Harvard Kennedy School Jeni Klugman, Director of Gender and Development at the World Bank Group
17.20-17.30 Closing Remarks 19.00 Conference Dinner (by invitation) Date: Monday June 16, 2014, Starting with registration at 08.30 09.00 Place: Stockholm School of Economics, Bertil Ohlins Gata 5, KAW Lecture Room. RSVP: Wednesday June 12, gun.malmquist@hhs.se, Phone: 08-736 96 72
Concept note Since 2011, the Stockholm Institute for Transition Economics (SITE) together with the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, has organized a yearly conference on timely topics within development. The conference invites scholars, policy makers and business representatives to a conversation about what current research says about challenges facing the developing world, how to translate that knowledge into action, and how broad segments of society can get involved in identifying and financing solutions. In 2011 the topic was aid effectiveness (leading up to the High Level meeting in Busan, South Korea, that year), in 2012 it was the Arab Spring and in 2013 the Post 2015 Development Agenda. For 2014 we turn attention to the role of women in development. More specifically, we are interested in the role of women as leaders and decision-makers, in politics, business and civil society, and what role that plays for economic development generally, and the development of women specifically. There is an abundance of evidence that women fall behind men on many markers of welfare and life opportunities, both in the developed and the developing world. For most of these indicators, for instance labor force participation and education, both the absolute and relative position of women tend to improve with economic development. Progress comes slower in some areas though. One such area is women in leadership positions and decision-making roles, in particular in politics and business. This is a hotly debated question in the developed world, including the current discussion of quota legislation for parliaments and corporate boards. It is also a topic of legislative action in some parts of the developing world, such as reserved leadership positions for women in village councils in India and quotas for members of parliament in countries like Morocco and Mexico. To make things concrete, a commonly referred to measure of progress is the proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments. This is also one of the indicators to monitor Millennium Development Goal 3; to promote gender equality and empower women. As of 2013, women made up 21.2% of seats in national parliaments and only 34 countries, 18 of which were developing countries, had met the United Nations 1990 target of 30% or more women in national legislative seats. Women in leadership positions may not seem as pressing a concern as missing women in China and India, mass rape and violence in conflict zones, and high maternal mortality rates. However, strategies for development generally and female development specifically, must rely on advancement across many areas, and the United Nations considers the participation of women in all levels of decisionmaking a basic human right and key condition for women s empowerment. Evidence shows that having more women in leadership positions has far-reaching impacts and has led to the advancement of public policies favored by women more broadly. Increased female political participation and influence has led to for instance reduced infant mortality, a reallocation of public expenditures towards goods and services
favored by women, increased female entrepreneurship, a reduced aspiration gap among parents for girls and boys and greater career and educational aspirations among adolescent girls. Norms inhibiting talented women to climb to leadership positions in the business community can also reduce private sector productivity (a key to growth and job creation) by reducing the available talent pool. A key policy lever for increasing women s representation among decision-makers is quotas or affirmative action policies. These policies have proved to be effective in increasing the representation of women in politics, importantly by changing perceptions of women as leaders, so that the effects of the policies outlast their implementation period. However, while gains have been made in the number of women in leadership positions in politics and business, women still tend to primarily be represented in the lower ranks and tend to specialize in female issues and sectors. The World Bank s 2012 World Development Report on Gender Equality and Development placed an emphasis on the extent to which women are able to exercise agency by having a role in societal decision-making and influencing policy. It points out that in addition to affirmative action policies to promote women s political representation, measures that increase women s voice in other societal institutions such as collective action organizations, the judiciary, and corporations, are necessary complements. In light of these issues, discussing the role of women in leadership position seems highly relevant also in the context of the developing world. Should female leadership be a priority for development generally, and the development of women specifically? Does female leadership and decision-making empower and make a difference for women at large in poor countries? How should female leadership be encouraged, legislatively or organically? What part can developed country governments and the international business community play to encourage change? These are among the questions we anticipate to discuss at the conference. The format of the event is a full day conference with a combination of lengthier presentations and panel discussions around a few key questions. The audience is anticipated to be a mix of scholars, government policy makers and administrators, members of the business community and students from the Stockholm School of Economics.
Panel topics Panel 1: Entrepreneurship and female leadership in the business community: opportunities and challenges Empowerment often starts with economic independence. Equal opportunities to work for income and the possibility to realize business ideas are important steps towards achieving gender equality in a society. This is true at the grassroots level, as evidenced for instance by the focus on poor women by microcredit institutions, but it is also true at top levels. As an individual right, women with aspirations should face a level playing field when seeking career advancement, just as they should face the same opportunities for education, health care and other public services. This is also important from a social welfare and economic efficiency perspective, as a truly meritocratic system that makes no differential assessments based on gender, race or ethnicity can best take advantage of a society s talent pool and aspirations. Thus, for developing countries, empowering women and reducing barriers to women s advancement may be especially important. Despite these arguments, women continue to be underrepresented in leadership positions in businesses across the world. The primary purpose of this panel is to discuss the reasons for this situation, and what can be done about it. Progress can be seen, but it is often painfully slow and unevenly distributed. How can we understand variation across countries in female leadership within businesses? What is, and can be, done from within the business sector itself? What does research say about the benefits of more diversified leadership and board rooms? Is there discrimination and prejudice against female leadership, and is it internalized by women, discouraging aspiring women from choosing a career within the business community? How crucial are role models? Do women in developed and developing countries face similar or different challenges? Or is the distinction more based on culture, religion and historical legacies, than on levels of economic development? These, and other, questions will be discussed in this panel featuring representatives from the business community as well as academics and civil society. Panel 2: Norms and Laws: is change fast or slow? Gender roles and relationships within a society may depend on both norms and values on the one hand, and laws and political regulations on the other. The former are sometimes referred to as slow-moving institutions, and the latter as fast-moving institutions, alluding to the time they take to change. If gender roles largely reflect these slow-moving institutions (academic research has even traced the variation in
current day gender roles to historical agricultural practices, more specifically the uneven spread of plough agriculture), chances of deep and sustainable progress through legal and political reforms may be small. On the other hand, there is also evidence of how changes in laws and regulations can speed up a transition in norms and values (a well-known example is attitudes towards the use of seat-belts in cars). Quota policies have proved to be effective in increasing the representation of women in politics, importantly by changing perceptions of women as leaders. Maybe reforms to fast-moving institutions are particularly important when norms and values are deemed particularly obstructive? The main purpose of this panel is to discuss the role of norms, values and laws and regulations in holding back, and promoting, women into leadership positions. Where do these norms come from, and who or what (poverty, religion, conflict, etc.) is perpetuating them? What forces can cause even slowmoving institutions to change relatively quickly? What is the interplay between norms and values and legal and policy reforms, such as quotas and mandated political seats? Are the latter mainly window dressing and ineffectual unless in sync with norms and values? Or, can they rather speed up the process of change in norms and values (or trigger a backlash), in a dialectic process? These and other questions will be discussed in this panel featuring representatives from the academics and civil society.