According to a study published by Elsevier’s SSRN, countries led by women perform better to Covid-19 than countries with male leaders.
Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, many have remarked that female-led countries (such as Germany, Taiwan and New Zealand) are fighting the virus more effectively than some of the world’s biggest countries led by their male counterparts (such as the USA, the UK and Brazil).
Professor Uma Kambhampati and Dr. Supriya Garikipati carried out a study that confirms this assumption. Both academics hold an interest in gender-related studies. Their findings show that COVID-outcomes are better in those countries led by women. This may be somehow related to the proactive and coordinated policy responses that they have adopted.
In their study, the two academics examined whether there is actually a significant and systematic difference between leaders’ approaches to the virus and the effectiveness of these approaches. Kambhampati and Garikipati also looked into the number of infections and deaths as a result of the difference in policies.
The research highlights the significant differences between women and male world leaders’ approach to the pandemic. They cross-examined a total of 194 countries, covering nearly all countries on the globe. When the countries with the most negative or positive Covid-19 outcomes were removed from the datasets, the correlation between female leadership and response effectiveness was only strengthened.
“Our results indicate that women leaders reacted more quickly and decisively in the face of potential fatalities,” explained Garipakti. In the majority of cases, women leaders locked down earlier than male leaders in similar circumstances. On one side, this quick reaction could have longer-term economic implications; but, on the other side, it has helped to save lives. And this is proofed by the significantly lower number of casualties in these countries, which are now one step forward in the battle against the current crisis.
