International women leaders : why them and not U.S. ?

Abstract

United States citizens like to believe they live in the best democracy in the world, providing political and legal equality. Yet, there is a paradox. In the United States women comprise over 50% of the population, but make up a mere 15% of the U.S. Congress. According to the U.S. Department of Education, women comprise 56% of all college students and have earned more bachelors degrees than men since 1982 (Johnson, Global News Wire, 2006). In fact, according to the Census Bureau estimate last year, there are more men than women ages 18-24 in the U.S., about 15 million men versus 14.2 million women, but the male/female ratio on college campuses today is 43/57 (Marklein, USA Today, 2005). Why then, in this country of democracy and equality has a woman yet to be elected president, considering the percentages of educated women compared to men in the U.S. This research project tries to answer this question. A comparative analysis of countries is conducted to explain the apparent paradox of why women are being elected to leadership positions internationally, but not in the U.S.