12 I People
Opinion
Is female leadership the solution to the pandemic? BY MAYA KRAUSE, ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, 2022 DESIGN BY LILLIE HOFFART, ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, 2022
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n June 8th, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the country had completely eradicated COVID-19, citing no active cases for the first time since February. This news brought celebration, as public gatherings such as sporting events, retail shopping, and hospitality have reopened. As some countries succeed and others struggle in standing up to the challenges of the pandemic, patterns in leadership will emerge. For instance, countries with female leaders have largely been successful at fighting the coronavirus. Does this pattern demonstrate the skills that women bring to leadership, or is it more representative of what comprises a successful leadership style when faced with a crisis?
Country United States Leader Donald Trump COVID-19 case count 4,523,888
a four-level alert system (Prepare, Reduce, Restrict, Lockdown) and had already closed the country’s border. And when New Zealand entered the Lockdown phase a few days later, Ardern addressed the country on Facebook Live in a sweatshirt, apologizing for the abrupt emergency alert announcing the lockdown that had been sent to citizen’s phones with a “loud honk.”
Because the coronavirus pandemic is ongoing, no peer-reviewed studies have been conducted that determine any patterns in leadership throughout the pandemic. However, so far, womenled countries have been notably successful in acting quickly and controlling the spread of COVID-19. From Ardern to Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin to Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen, female leaders around the world have been applauded for their swift and successful action in tackling the pandemic. On March 21st, when New Zealand only had 52 cases of COVID-19, Ardern announced
Stereotypes associated with female leaders have typically not been viewed as effective leadership strategies, especially in the United States. According to a study by Dr. Kira Sanbonmatsu at the Rutgers Center for American Women and Politics, women’s gender stereotypes (caring, collaborative, communityoriented) are seen as less fitting for political office than male gender stereotypes (power-seeking, strong, combative). Additionally, as explained to The New York Times by Alice Evans, a sociologist at King’s College London, “there is an expectation that leaders should be aggressive and forward and domineering. But if women demonstrate those traits, then they’re seen as unfeminine.” However, during the pandemic, women leaders around the world have succeeded by leading cautiously, but swiftly, and steering away from the combative responses seen used by some male leaders.
Country South Korea Leader Moon Jae-in COVID-19 case count 14,366
Country Brazil Leader Jair Bolsonaro COVID-19 case count 2,662,485
Each dot represents one case per 10,000 people
