The Astonishing Growth of Women in Leadership

The exploratory stage of women in politics was in 1848. This was when the first women’s rights convention was held that led to the Declaration of Sentiments. This document was signed by 68 women and 32 men that demanded equality for women. These 100 people are considered to be the pioneers of the beginning of women having a respected presence in politics.

The take-off stage would be in 1972 when the first African American woman decided to run for president. Shirley Chisholm received 151.95 votes and received more votes in the primary than McGovern. This was the take off for women in politics because not only did Shirley running for president grab people’s attention, the fact that she received over 100 votes was revolutionary. I believe that so many people became early adopters because they started to see how dedicated and determined women were. Also, women started to bring different perspectives to the table than men, so more people may have been drawn to the fresh ideas.

The tipping point of women in politics was in 2016 when Hillary Clinton ran for president. Leading up to this election, women having a respected presence in politics was more normalized and we were beginning to see women in leadership roles more often. Clinton, however, really set the tone when she and Trump were not far off in votes for electoral college. Clinton having 232 votes and Trump with 306. It was a revolutionary election that proved women could competitively run for President of the United States against a male. People have not only accepted the fact that a woman could be in power, more people like the idea of it.

The saturation point would be in present day 2019. Our 116th congress is the first one to have one-fourth of the board being female. These are ground breaking numbers that prove that the majority of our country are for women representing America in the political field.

I believe that the laggards are a small percentage of people who are very old school about how the country should run. However, I do believe that as the next decade approaches, we will begin to see a full acceptance of women as leaders in the political field. Click here for a more in depth timeline on how women have made an impact in our country!