Women are Leading the Fight Against COVID-19

“Our findings show that COVID-19 outcomes are systematically and significantly better in countries led by women and, to some extent, this may be explained by the proactive policy responses they adopted. Even accounting for institutional context and other controls, being female-led has provided countries with an advantage in the current crisis.”

-Supriya Garikipati, Uma Kambhampati, “Women leaders are better at fighting the pandemic“

A recent study by two economists in the United Kingdom explores why “Women leaders around the world have had considerably more success in slowing the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic and its general outcomes.” In her Forbes article entitled, “The Science Behind Women Leaders’ Success In Fighting Covid-19,” Stéphanie Fillion breaks down the study into three key points:

• Women leaders’ ability to slow the spread of Coronavirus
• Success through leadership styles generally associated with women leaders
• Data

New Zealand is one of the 19 countries around the world that is lead by a woman, and on June 8th the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern declared the country “COVID free.” Fillion writes, “It was one of the first countries in the world to do so after the prime minister took the drastic step of shutting down the country entirely. Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany…was successful in slowing the spread of the virus, and was able to reopen the country’s economy earlier than other European countries.”

The leadership styles of women heads of state during the Coronavirus pandemic are described as, “risk-averse when it came to human lives, and as such closed their country earlier than their male counterparts.” Regarding the data surrounding COVID-19, “the countries that are ‘leading’ in terms of deaths per capita, ‘still remain very alpha-male-led countries – the United States, United Kingdom, India, Russia, and Brazil.'”

Another example of women spearheading COVID-19 relief can be found in the efforts of Lynda M. Dorman and Carolyn E. Howell. Lynda, CEO, and Carolyn, President, co-founded Orange Wall Enterprises, a safety solution company that was created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Join us this Wednesday, August 12th for a free wegginar® entitled, “The Power of Relationships in a Global Economy.” Learn more about Lynda and Carolyn’s success, and how they started a company based on the needs of their community. Register for the virtual presentation here.