Caregiving Crossroads: Unpaid Care as a Determinant to Women’s Leadership

This panel discussion will take a global view to explore the relationship between caregiving and gender parity in leadership.  Panelists will speak to specific factors in the relationship between caregiving and leadership, including workplace and political dynamics, demographic shifts, trends in public health, relationships between men and women, etc. Objectives for the session will include:

• Building understanding and interest in the link between women’s caregiving responsibilities and their leadership trajectory – both the ways that caregiving builds valuable leadership skills, and the ways it can interrupt or stall leadership progression.
• Critically assessing the implications of addressing caregiving within the context of the “care economy,” including the ways this framing may constrain effective policy development and promote unintended consequences.
• Strengthening connections within the gender equality community and across sectors so that caregiving remains a focus area in future leadership forums and agendas.
• Centering the diversity of caregiving experiences globally, recognizing how social and cultural norms shape women’s leadership opportunities differently in the Global South and North.