Women in government

In 31 of these countries, women have led for five years or less; in 10 nations, they have led for only a year. The Marshall Islands, which is not included on the WEF list of countries, has also had a female leader for one year. At least 13 additional countries have had women leaders who held office for less than a year, according to a separate analysis by Pew Research Center. Of these countries, Ecuador and Madagascar had women leaders for a total of just two days.

Power, gender, and trailblazing for the next generation A roundtable discussion of women in government Janet Foutty, chairman and chief executive officer of Deloitte Consulting LLP, shares a conversation with three women leaders who were trailblazers in their government careers. They not only served with great distinction but also moved up the ranks to positions that few—if any women—had ever previously held in government.

Their words of wisdom for career development resonate across industries and generations. Add to my bookmarks By Janet Fouttychairman and chief executive officer of Deloitte Consulting LLP I recently had the privilege of gathering around a table with three incredible women who I greatly admire.

Each of whom is a true trailblazer in their career—during their time in Federal government and now at Deloitte.

They served the federal government with great distinction and moved up the ranks to positions that few—if any women—had ever held in government. Most importantly, they pushed for new ways of doing things such as initiating a more flexible work schedules, developing a formalized support network, and helped other women rise through the ranks.

Looking Back…

I would like to share my favorite parts of my conversation with: So each of you served the federal government in very male dominated fields of defense, national intelligence, and homeland security. Tell us about your greatest career challenge and how you turned that challenge into success for yourself.

In order to develop my career, I relied on a lot of mentors and sponsors to support my move up to other positions. When I was looking to take some time off at the birth of my son, Congress had recently passed the Family and Medical Leave Act, which sought to better balance workplace demands with family needs.

I was one of the first people in the Naval Sea Systems Command to ask to work at home. While my working from home was a new experience for everyone, it was a great benefit to my family and the torpedo defense program I was working on at the time. It also paved the way for other new parents who later followed suit.

As a political appointee in the federal government, I realized that I had to develop a strong expertise, and so took on budget, and then management issues.

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And how I was successful was building strong relationships with my civil service colleagues. What has helped me throughout my career is finding the best and brightest, which there are thousands in the federal government, and listening to all the different ideas and perspectives.

If you understand the process, you understand the stakeholders, and you have facts and figures at your fingertips, it makes it a little easier to break through that glass ceiling. In two sentences or less, what was the most valued advice you received from one of your favorite mentors or sponsors.

Women in the federal government: Ambitions and achievements - Journalist's Resource

Know the facts, know the process, be able to bring the analysis, and be able to articulate it in sound bites. Focus on the work and the outcomes, make decisions, and stay true to you.

And if I could add my great advice, which is to not try to over manage how all the twists and turns of life will intersect with your career and to take it one day and one chapter at a time.

Now, we will go to something a little bit more forward looking, what can be done by us collectively to help encourage women to start a career in government or public service. I would say that working in national security and in particular in CIA, it is really about the mission, doing something that is greater than yourself, contributing to the security of our nation.

I know that sounds like motherhood and apple pie, but there is an enormous amount of satisfaction in being part of something that really is making a difference.

I find working in the public sector to be enormously rewarding. Frankly, I would echo a lot of what Mary outlined because the two of us have similar backgrounds in terms of careers as a civil servants. We both joined and stayed because of our call to public service and our alignment to the mission, and we really found something that spoke to us, respectively.

Focusing on mission will not only to bring capable women into government but also.The League of Women in Government Supports Local and Statewide Organizations to Advance Women in Local Government Leadership.

The Women in Government Leadership Program, launched in , is a deliberate and strategic effort to increase the number of women elected to state and local office. The Governing Institute. A federal government website managed by the Office on Women's Health in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S.

Department of Health and Human Services. Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, DC A group of female government officials from Sweden have caught on to this hilarious, time-honored trend and decided to try their hand at a parody. Women in Government Relations is dedicated to advancing and empowering women by fostering professional development and growth opportunities through a community that supports women’s leadership in government relations.

countries are classified by descending order of the percentage of women in the lower or single House. Comparative data on the world and regional averages as well as data concerning the two regional parliamentary assemblies elected by direct suffrage can be found on separate pages.