ABSTRACT
Historically, men have dominated political leadership positions. Still, some women have become leaders, and sometimes some of the greatest (see the opening leadership profile). Today, women compose slightly less than half the working population and are slowly improving in middle-ranked managerial positions. In top organizational positions, however, women are enormously under - represented in most nations. This begs the question: Is the lack of a proportionate number of women leaders a function of culture, a lack of opportunities to learn, problems with mentoring, a combination, or something else? Do culture and gender barriers hold women back, or could culture and gender factors be the basis for women to advance at par with men?
