Women and Leadership

Women make up less than 10 per cent of national leaders. Behind this statistic lies a pattern of unequal access to power. Drawing on current research and in conversation with some of the world's most powerful and interesting women about their lived experience, Gillard and Okonjo-Iweala explore gender bias and ask how we get more women into leadership roles. Speaking honestly and freely, women leaders such as Jacinda Ardern, Hillary Clinton, Michelle Bachelet and Theresa May talk about their ideas receiving less acknowledgement than their male colleagues' ideas, what it's like to be body-shamed in the media, and the things they wish they had done differently. Their stories reveal how gender and sexism affect perceptions of women as leaders, their pathways to power and the circumstances in which their leadership comes to an end. The result is a rare insight into life as a leader and a powerful call to arms for women everywhere.