If only you can see how powerful women are leading us out of the pandemic this International Women’s Day

While reading a recent Forbes article entitled “Do Women Make Better Leaders In A Pandemic? Don’t Trust The Data,” I was reminded of my Anthropology 101 professor telling us that “data do not exist.” In fact, out-of-context data points have no meaning. Our brains have a fascinating ability to only see what we want to see and those usually are those facts that support our own story. It has little to do with what is evidence-based research or “factually supported” data.  Furthermore, we are usually the hero in our story, so we keep searching for data that makes us feel secure and certain of what to expect. Nancy Doyle, the author of the Forbes article, would like us to rethink the arguments that have emerged praising the way in which women have led their countries’ responses to the pandemic brought on by the coronavirus. Whether they are presidents or prime ministers, such as  Angela Merkel in Germany, Prime Minister Erna Solberg in Norway and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in New Zealand, and elsewhere all across the globe, people are linking the success of their country’s response to the virus with the style of these female leaders. Articles claim that they were decisive in their decisions, used scientists and brought together experts, relied on technology in innovative ways, and rallied their country’s people to believe that their quarantines and sacrifice were the right approach – and in fact their countries results were far better than those of male-led countries, be it the US or Brazil or… Read More