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There is a considerable number of women in high ranking political leaderships in Europe since the last two decades as currently some 30 European women leaders are heading their countries as the presidents or prime ministers out of some 34 European countries.
Who are the current most powerful women political leaders in Europe?
Austria. Brigitte Bierlein, a judge with a PhD in law, was the first female president of the Austrian constitutional court and then the first female Chancellor of Austria from 2019 to 2020.
Belgium. Sophie Wilmès, who has a degree in communications became the first and youngest woman prime minister of Belgium at 44 from 2019 to 2020.
Croatia. Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, a career diplomat with an MA international relations and a Harvard degree, became the first and youngest president of Croatia from 2015 to 2020 at 46.
Denmark. Helle Thorning-Schmidt who has an MA in political science was elected as Denmark’s first and the youngest-ever woman prime minister from 2011 to 2015 at 41. Mette Frederiksen, is the current prime minister of Denmark since June 2019, has an MA in political science and leader of the Social Democrats since June 2015 at 45.
Estonia. Estonia has two leaders: Kersti Kaljulaid, an MBA graduate was the first woman president in 2016 at 52 and The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women by Forbes and Kaja Kallas, a law graduate who is currently the first woman prime minister of Estonia since 2021 at 44.
European Central Bank. (ECB). Christine Lagarde, a French republican politician, a lawyer with a law degree from Science Po, France, is the current president of the ECB, since 2019.
European Union. Ursula von der Leyen, an LSE graduate, former minister of defense of Germany and is now the first woman president of the European Commission since December 2019.
Finland. Finland has four leaders: Tarja Halonen, first woman president of Finland in 2000, Anneli Jäätteenmaki, first woman prime minister in 2003; Mari Kiviniemi, the second woman prime minister in 2010 and Sanna Marin, with an MA in administrative science, as the third woman prime minister of Finland from 2019, who is also the youngest prime minister in the world at 34.
France. Elisabeth Borne, an engineer, is the prime minister of France and the second woman to hold the position since May 2022 after the first French woman prime minister, Edith Cresson.
Georgia. Salome Zourabichvili, a career diplomat and a graduate of international politics at Science Po, France, is the first woman President of Georgia, elected to power in 2018.
Germany. Angela Merkel, who has a PhD in physics, became the Chancellor of Germany in 2005 for 16 years until 2021 and is considered, as the most powerful and influential women in Europe.
Greece. Katerina Sakellaropoulou, a law graduate, a lawyer and a constitutional court judge, was elected as Greece’s first woman president in January 2020.
Hungary. Katalin Novák, an economics graduate is the current president of Hungary since 2022 and the first woman to hold the presidency and the youngest in the history of Hungary at 44.
Iceland. Katrin Jakobsdottir, who has an MA in literature who became prime minister of Iceland in 2017 after the first Iceland’s woman prime minister Johanna Siguroardottir – listed by Forbes as among the 100 most powerful women in the world.
International Monetary Fund (IMF). Kristalina Georgiva, a Bulgarian economist, is managing director of the International Monetary Fund since 2019 and a graduate of MIT and Harvard.
ireland. Mary Patricia McAleese, lawyer with a doctorate in law, was the president of Ireland from 1997 to 2011 after Mary Robinson, who was also a woman president of Ireland,
Italy. Giorgia Meloni, 45, is Italy’s far-right Italian politician who was elected as the first woman to hold the Italian prime minister in 2022 after her Brother of Italy party won in the general election.
Kosovo. Kosovo has 2: Atifete Jahjaga, the first woman president of Kosovo, a former police general and the youngest head of state at 45 and Vjosa Osmani, a political activist and a law graduate from Pittsburgh University who is the 5th and current President of Kosovo since 2021.
Latvia. Laimdota Straujuma, an economist, was the first woman to be the prime minister of Latvia from 2014 to 2016 after becoming minister of agriculture from 2011 to 2014.
Lithuania. Ingrida Simonyte, a former finance minister with a MA in economics, became prime minister in 2020 at 47 and Lithuania has a strong tradition of women leaderships including the “Baltic Iron Lady” Dalia Grybauskaite who spent a decade in power as prime minister from 2009.
Malta. Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, 50, a law graduate, was a member of parliament from 1998 to 2014 and minister for the family from 2013 to 2014 and then president of Malta from 2014 to 2019.
Moldova. Moldova has 3: Zinaida Grecean was the first woman prime minister of Moldova from 2008 to 2009, Natalia Gavrilița who became the prime minister and later president of Moldova and Maiai Sanduu who becomes the president of Moldova in 2022.
Norway. Erna Solberg became the prime minister of Norway from 2013 to 2021, a graduate of political science and the leader of the Conservative Party since 2004..
Northern Cyprus. Sibel Siber, a medical doctor, became the first woman prime minister of Northern Cyprus in 2013 at 52 and later in 2015 she was elected as the speaker of parliament.
Poland. Poland has two women prime ministers: Eva Kopacz who was elected as prime minister in 2014 and Byata Szyoto who was elected as prime minister of Poland in 2016.
Romania. Viorica Dăncilă, who has an MA in economics from Vilnius University, former leader of the Social Democratic Party, was the first woman prime minister from 2018 to 2019.
Russia. No woman has ever become president but Russia has had 9 women governors for its 21 autonomous regions including Veronica Bronevish, the Governor of Koryakiaa.
Scotland. Nicola Sturgeon was the first minister (chief) of Scotland, leader of the Scottish National Party from 2014 to her retirement in February 2023 and was the first woman to hold Scotland’s highest political position.
Serbia. Ana Brnabić who has a BA and MBA from Northwood and Hull is the prime minister of Serbia since 2017 as the first woman to hold the office and considered by Forbes as the 88th most powerful woman in the world.
Slovakia. Slovakia has 2 women leaders: Iveta Radičová, the first woman prime minister of Slovakia from 2010 to 2012 after becoming the minister of defense and Zuzana Caputova – a liberal lawyer who became Slovakia’s first woman president 2019 as well as the youngest president in the history of Slovakia at 45.
Slovenia. Nataša Pirc Musa, a high profile attorney, author, with a PhD in law and a journalist best known for her legal rulings and opinions, was the first woman president of Slovenia in 2022.
Sweden. A champions of gender equality, Sweden had a women as prime minister when Magdalena Andersson occupies the country’s top job in November 2022,
Switzerland. Switzerland has 4 women presidents: Michelin Calmy-Ray in 2007, Doris Laudhart in 2010, Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf in 2012 and Simoneta Somartuga who became the president of Switzerland from 2015 to 2020.
Turkey. Tansu Çiller, an economics professor, was deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs and later became the first woman prime minister of Turkey from 1993 to 1996.
Ukraine. Yulia Tymoshenko, an economist, was the prime minister of Ukraine from 2005 to 2010 as the first prime minister of Ukraine and in 2005 the Forbes magazines placed her as third world’s most powerful woman.
UK. The UK has three woman prime ministers; Margaret Thatcher, a law graduate, from 1979 to 1990 as the first woman prime minister and the longest-serving UK prime minister of the 20th century nicknamed the “Iron Lady”, Theresa May, the second from 2016 to 2019 and Liz Truss as the third woman prime minister in 2022.
Why do many European women become political leaders?
Strong support by the electorates. It is interesting to note that most voters in Europe give strong support to women candidates fighting for higher political posts.
Strong party support. Similarly, many European political parties have liberal party structures that allow women to stand or contest for the higher party posts.
Change in gender balance. In almost every European country, the voter dynamics have changed where the number of women voters have surpassed men.
High educational backgrounds. Many women political leaders have strong educational backgrounds and are graduates of top universities and colleges.
Talent recognition. There is a growing recognition of the talents and capabilities of women and women political leadership by the populace over the last two decades.
Gender equality law. In almost every country in Europe, laws on gender equality have become paramount and a part of the continent’s political landscapes.
Liberal political leadership structure. Most political parties in Europe have an open leadership structure that allows women to stand for the high political posts in their party elections.
Young and talented group. Most women in the political leaderships in Europe are young, educated, versatile and talented; many became presidents and prime ministers in their forties.
Liberalist and reformist. Most European women leaders are liberalist as well as reformist and that makes them highly acceptable in the European political scenarios.
A European phenomenon. Since 1950, a staggering number of 55 women leaders are heading the top political posts of their nations in 44 European countries, including Turkey.
What about other nations?
All in all, the world has 131 presidents or prime ministers, since 1960, who are women and the first woman prime minister was Srimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka in 1960.
Countries outside Europe which have women presidents or prime ministers in the course of their political history are Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Barbados, Brazil, Honduras, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Israel, Liberia, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Pakistan, the Philippines, Peru, Samoa, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam with the exception of Cambodia, China, Egypt, Japan, Malaysia, Russia, South Africa, Saudi Arabia and USA.
Is Europe preparing for more women premiership?
It is worth noting that currently 12 European countries: Belgium, Croatia, Finland, Kosovo, Liechtenstein Luxembourg, Netherlands, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and Ukraine are having women deputy prime ministers and that gives us the indication that they are groomed to be the country’s next prime ministers.
What about non-European nations?
Non European nations too are currently having women deputy prime ministers including Barbados, Canada, Cambodia, China, Mauritius, New Zealand and Timor Leste.
Can women become defense ministers?
Defense ministers are traditionally men mainly due to the gender balance in the armed forces but the world currently has 19 women defence ministers including Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Iceland, Maldives, Netherlands, Nicaragua, North Caledonia, Portugal, Spain, South Africa, South Sudan, Suriname, Togo and Zimbabwe.
What about women in change of finance?
Currently, there are 19 countries: Albania, Angola, Australia, Barbados, Bulgaria, Canada, Cuba, Estonia, Finland, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Nigeria, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, USA, Uruguay and India that represent Asia that have women finance ministers.
Which countries have had women foreign ministers?
A total of 39 countries currently have women foreign minister including: Andora, Albania, Australia, Belgium, Burkina Faso, Chile, Canada, Central African Republic, El Salvador, Ewastini, France, Germany, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Iceland, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liechtenstein, Libya, Lesotho, Mongolia, Malawi, Monaco, Mozambique, Namibia, New Zealand, Nepal, North Korea, Norway, Palau, Peru, Samoa, Slovenia, South Africa, Tanzania, Timor Leste and Tonga.
Which countries have the largest women MPs?
According to the data by the World Economic Forum, the countries with largest woman members of parliament (MPs) are: Rwanda 55%, Cuba 53%, Bolivia 52%, Mexico 48%, Grenada 47%, Namibia 46%, Sweden 49%, Nicaragua 45%, Costa Rica 45%, South Africa 42%, Finland 42%, Senegal 42%, Norway 40%, EU Parliament 40% and USA 28%.
Which countries have more women in their Cabinets?
Data from the InterParliamentary Union shows that 14 countries have a balanced representation of men to women in their highest political leadership in the country.
Spain has 10 women to 6 men in its cabinet, France 12 women to 11 men, Finland 11 women to 7 men, Nicaragua 10 women to 7 men, Sweden 12 women to 10 men, Albania 17 men to 8 women, Rwanda 13 women to 12 men, Columbia 8 women to 8 men, El Salvador 8 men to 8 women, Guinea Bissau 8 men to 8 women, Haiti 9 women to 9 men, Moldova 5 women to 5 men, USA 13 women to 13 men and South Africa 14 women to 14 men.
What about gender equality in the United Nations?
The UN, since its inception in 1945 has 10 secretary-generals but never had a woman secretary-general. The UN so far has 77 presidents of its general assembly (UNGA) in its history but with only 3 women UNGA presidents, namely Angie Brooks (Liberia), Haya Rashed AlKhalifa (Bahrain) and Maria Fernanda Espinosa (Ecuador).
Who is the most powerful woman in the US?
The US has no woman president but Kamala Haris, a law graduate, is the first woman vice president since 2018 is currently the most powerful women in the US.
Can Kamala Harris be first US woman president?
Kamala Hariss, 49th vice president of the US, is the second most powerful person in the US, the first woman vice president in US history and she can be the next US president if she contests and wins in the 2024 presidential election.
How many central bank governors are women?
According to data by OMFIF, 14 women are currently the governors of central banks that include Aruba, Belize, Cuba, Cayman Islands, Ecuador, European Central Bank, Lesotho, Malaysia, North Macedonia, Russia, Samoa, San Marino, Serbia, and Seychelles.
Who are the world’s youngest women ministers?
Romina Pourmokhtari becomes Sweden’s youngest-ever Cabinet minister in 2022 at 26 as minister of climate change and environment. She is also head of Swedish’s Liberal Party youth wing, of Iranian origins and educated in political science at Uppsala University, Sweden.
Shamma Al Mazrui became UAE minister of youth affairs in 2016 at 22, making her the youngest UAE minister and the youngest minister in the world. She has a BA in economics from New York University in UAE, MA in public policy at Oxford and fluent in Arabic, Chinese, English and French.
Who is the youngest US Congress women?
Karoline Leavitt, 25, a Republican and a former White House intern and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 28, a Democrat, are both the youngest women ever elected to US Congress.
Why has the US no woman president?
As the world’s biggest democracy, the US so far has no woman president but Hillary Clinton did try and lost to Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election by winning 227 electoral colleges compared to Donald Trump who won 304 electoral colleges.
How is the gender balance in the US Congress?
In terms of woman congressional representation, the US has 12 woman governors out of 50 governors or 24%, 26 woman senators out of 100 senate members or 26% and 124 women out of 435 or 28% members of the House of Representatives.
How many world cities are ruled by women?
Some 34 city mayors out of 133 world capital cities or 35% are women including the cities of Amsterdam, Berlin, Colombo, Dakar, Dublin, Mexico City, Oslo, Paris, Rabat, Santiago, Sarajevo, Singapore, Stockholm, Sydney, Tokyo and Washington DC. The mayors of Barcelona, Hong Kong, Sydney and Zurich are also woman while not capitals but the cities are considered important due to the economic position in their countries.
What are the obstacles to women in political leadership?
The International Women’s Development Agency (IWDA) has revealed 4 obstacles and barriers to women’s participation in political leaderships, namely 1. discriminatory electoral laws, 2. party politics practices that favor men, 3. social beliefs and attitudes about woman political leadership and 4. negative perceptions that create a lack of voter support.
Which world’s top ranking universities are led by women?
According to the THE Ranking, women who are heading the world’s leading universities as vice chancellors are: Drew Gilpin Faust (Harvard), Louise Richardson (Oxford), Carol Christ (California), Deborah Prenticel (Cambridge), Alice Gast (Imperial College, London), Amy Gutmann (Pennsylvania), Phyllis Wise (Illinois), Martha Pollack (Cornell), Rebecca Blank (Wisconsin), Suzanne Fortier (McGill) , Christina Hull Paxson (Brown), Linda Katehi (California/Davis), Mary Sue Coleman (Michigan), Minouche Shafik (London School of Economics), Ana Mari Cauce (Washington) and Nancy Rothwell (Manchester).
What about women’s representations in the corporate world?
According to a Deloitte study, women now make up 22% of the executive level at financial services firms in Wall Street and the number is expected to grow to 31% by 2030. The number of women CEOs in Fortune 500 Companies are comparatively low, as in 2020, only 37 out of 463 CEOs or 8% and in 2021 the number rose to 41 women CEOs or 9% out of 459 CEOs.
Who is the first woman president of NYSE?
Stacey Cunningham, in 2018, became the first woman president of the world’s largest stock exchange the New York Stock Exchange in its 226-year history and she has 2 degrees in industrial engineering and in culinary.
What are the challenges of women in corporate world?
According to the study by the Strategic People Culture (SPC), woman faces 7 challenges in business leaderships: 1 unconscious bias, 2 unequal pay, 3 difficult expectations, 4 limited career advancement, 5 sexual or gender based harassment, 6 lack of sponsorship or mentors and 7 limits to top positions.
Can women capture the medical world?
According to OECD data, the proportion of female doctors has increased rapidly in all OECD countries over the past two decades where almost half of all doctors are female particularly in the Netherlands, Spain, Denmark and Norway driven by growing numbers of young women enrolling in medical schools.
How many women have captured outer space?
The first man in space was Yuri Gagarin of Russia in 1961 and in 1965, a Russian astronaut, Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space. A total of 75 women astronauts have flown in space including USSR/Russia 6, USA 56, Canada 2, Japan 2, France 1, Belgium 1, Iran 1, South Korea 1, China 2, Italy 1, Sweden 1 and 1 from the UK.
Who are the women that made history in 2022?
According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), 8 women made history in 2022: 1. Katanji Jackson – first black woman appointed as Supreme Court judge in US 250 years history, 2 Stephanie Prappart – first woman to referee of a man World Cup football game, 3 Admiral (Navy) Antoinette Grossman – first woman to head Jamaica’s armed forces, 4 Aysha Malik – first woman Supreme Court judge in Pakistan, 5 Maya Angelou – first black woman to be featured in US coins, 6 Hannah Green – first professional woman golfer to win in a mix gender golf game, 7 Claudine Gay – first black woman to be appointed as Harvard University president and 8 Zara Rutherford, a Belgian who flew 28,000 nautical miles in 155 days to become the youngest woman to finish a solo flight around the globe at 19.
Who are Forbes 10 most powerful women in the world in 2022?
The Forbes’s 10 most powerful women in 2022 are: 1 Ursula von der Leyen, President, European Commission, 2 Christine Lagarde, President, European Central Bank, 3 Kamala Harris, Vice President of USA, 4 Mary Barra, CEO General Motors, 5 Abigail Johnson, CEO Fidelity Investments, 6 Melinda Gates, Cochair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 7 Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister of Italy, 8 Karen Lynch, CEO CVS Health, 9 Julie Sweet, CEO Accenture and 10. Jane Fraser, CEO Citigroup.
“If your actions create a legacy that inspires others, then, you are an excellent leader.” – Dolly Parton: American actress, singer and philanthropist.
Abdul Halim Saad is head of Asia Pacific Risk Consultancy, studied politics at LSE and Bradford and taught international politics at Sultan Idris Education University, Proton City, Malaysia. (Art. No 130).**
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