What The U.S. Elections Mean For Women Business Leaders
Originally published by Corrine Post for Forbes
The 2024 Election between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris is extremely close. With House, Senate and gubernatorial races at stake, either party could gain considerable influence over the country’s laws and policies.
The policy and legal ramifications of this election will depend on how much power each party secures across the branches of government. But regardless of who wins, the professional landscape for women leaders will shift.
Here’s what women leaders can anticipate in the months to come, and what strategies can help them stay resilient and focused in their careers.
Women’s 2024 Election Victories Could Unlock Seats On Corporate Boards
When women win elections, it sends a message about society’s attitudes toward women in leadership. These victories can help convince boards that society as a whole views women as legitimate leaders. In turn, the shift in social norms encourages companies to add more women to their boards.
Electoral successes by non-incumbent women running against men caused large U.S. firms headquartered in the corresponding zip codes to add more women to their board of directors, according to an analysis of 365 House, Senate and Gubernatorial elections between 2004 and 2016. The researchers, professors at Rutgers University and Bucknell University, published their findings last year on the Social Science Research Network.
Women’s ballot box wins translated to even greater gains in the boardroom when they generated high voter turnout and received substantial media coverage, according to the researchers. The gains were also larger when decision makers on the board lived locally, allowing them to witness the enthusiasm for women’s leadership firsthand.
A significant number of women are bound to get elected in November. Women represent 27% of U.S. House candidates, 23% of Senate candidates, and 20% of gubernatorial candidates, according to Rutgers’ Center for American Women and Politics.
In places where women are expected to win, we can anticipate an increase in women’s representation on boards as companies respond to these societal signals, especially in races where voter turnout and media attention were especially high.
Beliefs About The Glass Ceiling May Shift
Obama’s election to the White House led many to believe that the U.S. had entered a post-racial era—one where Americans would increasingly make race-free judgments about their leaders. Could the outcome of the 2024 election change how we think of the corporate glass ceiling?
A Harris victory could shatter both gender and racial barriers, buoying the optimism of women, particularly women of color, in their careers and leadership possibilities. A Trump win, in contrast, may deepen pessimism that gender and racial gaps in the C-Suite will close anytime soon.
After Clinton’s loss in the 2016 election, many Americans concluded that the world was not yet quite ready for women in top corporate leadership roles—even as they remained personally remained committed to gender equity ideals and attitudes. This is what researchers at University of Queensland concluded from their survey of 165 U.S. residents 12 days before the 2016 election and of another 159 individuals 2 days after Clinton’s defeat. In the span of two weeks, participants’ ratings of women applying for leadership roles dropped significantly, whereas the ratings of male candidates did not change. A replication of the study in an experimental lab yielded similar results.A significant number of women are bound to get elected in November. Women represent 27% of U.S. House candidates, 23% of Senate candidates, and 20% of gubernatorial candidates, according to Rutgers’ Center for American Women and Politics.
In places where women are expected to win, we can anticipate an increase in women’s representation on boards as companies respond to these societal signals, especially in races where voter turnout and media attention were especially high.