Breaking the Bias

“Women are underrepresented in elite leadership jobs for a variety of reasons, including prejudices, bias, and even connections. Men have been in positions of leadership for a long time, and many people would describe and identify the term leadership with men. Women, on the other hand, are equally capable of leading. Despite the fact that they have different leadership styles than men, their style and technique are just as effective, if not more so. New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, is an example of a well-respected elite leader. During COVID-19, she provided outstanding leadership that is beneficial to their country. She handled the situation admirably. New Zealand has one of the lowest fatality rates in the world, with only 63 deaths as of March 4, 2022 (WHO). As a result, we must overcome these barriers, prejudices, and leadership gaps. Because we live in a time when anyone, especially women, can be a leader in their chosen field.

• Robert Christian Pelicano, College of Dentistry

“We now live in a global culture that is fueled by forces that seek to devalue women. Women remain underrepresented at almost all levels of leadership roles, mainly because of the glass ceiling. This is an invisible barrier that results in bias, stereotyping, gender inequality, and prejudice towards women. For them, success and likability are positively correlated for men but not for women. Because of this, women are given fewer opportunities for growth and professional development than men. On the contrary, I stand to believe that women do not need to be made strong in order to compete with men to be on top of the ladder. Women have already been made strong; all we need to do is change the way the rest of the world perceives the kind of strength that we have. Isn’t it about time for women to take the lead and end the bias? As a young woman seeking to establish herself in the adult world, I am a firm believer that there is no limit to what we, as women, can do and accomplish. Babae kami, hindi babae lang.”

• Shayne Alezandrea Y. Dinopol, College of Medical Technology

“Simply put, stereotypical idealizations are to blame. Women have not always been given the power to hold an elite position in the administration. This idea is not limited to a single region of the world, but rather is a universal conceptualization. The majority of people assume that men would perform better in several sectors, such as athletics. When it comes to politics, the majority of individuals believe that the male gender role best reflects and represents leadership.”

• John Cristian Indig, Senior High School

“Women are underrepresented due to the reasons of a patriarchy and an old stereotypes. People assume that women are incapable of doing anything outside their homes, that they solely belong in their homes to do chores, weaker than men and lack of flexibility in leadership because males have been leaders for so long, the qualities linked with leadership are typically thought of as masculine and are rarely regarded positively when demonstrated by women.”

• Riezel V. Pepito, School of Business

“Because we have the notion of patriarchal leadership.”

• Kate Danielle Dotillos, College of Optometry

“Women are underrepresented in elite leadership position because of the idea of stereotypes. The representation of leader is viewed as manly that’s why people tend to see females less than males when it comes to leadership skills. That resulted in men receiving more favorable treatment across generations.

But, nowadays our society tend to practice leadership roles which is mostly led by womens, and I think that slowly we have released ourselves from the misogynistic minds our past have thought us.”

• Shahane Niña Alisoso, College of Nursing