On Feb. 12, 2020, the World Health Organization brought hundreds of experts and public health funders together in Geneva for a Research and Innovation Forum, centered solely on fighting COVID-19.
“This outbreak is a test of solidarity -- political, financial and scientific,” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. “We need to come together to fight a common enemy that does not respect borders.”
That very same day, Dr. Geert Hofstede died. At 91, he was a renowned social psychologist who revolutionized the way we understand cultural barriers -- both within and among the borders currently struggling through a global pandemic. And, he saw the world change since 1929. He graduated from high school the year World War II ended, went on to be a Dutch soldier, academic, teacher and co-founder/director of the Institute for Research on Intercultural Cooperation.
“Divided we stand, united we fall,” Hofstede’s daughter Gert Jan Hofstede memorialized his work on the family’s website, “Just after my father’s death, the Corona pandemic took center stage. It throws new light on familiar phenomena. In particular, it tightens the link between morals and species survival.”
So, what does this mean in terms of mid-crisis leadership? G. J. Hofstede says leaders must bend vox populi-- for the opinions or beliefs of the majority. “One size does not fit all,” she said. “Leadership, paradoxically, only works if it follows what people expect and accept. That is why some countries have draconic measures in place while others rely on the self-policing of citizens.”
Here in the Divided States of America, there’s certainly a mix of emotions in response to state and federal safety guidelines like social distancing, wearing a mask when venturing out, working from home and limiting travel. While many are complying, those who deem the rules “draconian” are making it known:
But, there aren’t crickets on social media from those adhering to the stay-at-home and "flatten the curve" recommendations:
Speaking of protests, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is one of just nine women that are leading states in the U.S. (fun fact: Michelle Luján Grisham of New Mexico is the only woman of color); and, they’re being applauded for it.
According to Reid Wilson for The Hill, “A sweeping survey of more than 22,000 voters in all 50 states found that most say their governor is doing a better job than President Trump in handling the coronavirus outbreak.”
“The poll, conducted by researchers at Harvard, Northeastern University and Rutgers, found voters are more likely to have high levels of trust in their state and local governments than in the White House or Congress,” Reid said. For reference, Trump’s approval rating was 44 percent with 40 percent disapproving.
Before diving into how national cultural dynamics of leadership, followership and context are critically affecting the pandemic, let’s take a look at where women are amid our current crisis’ landscape:
Women are the most critical to sustaining vital operations through this time -- most serving as essential workers and healthcare professionals. Based on U.S. Census data, “Women make up nearly nine out of 10 nurses and nursing assistants, most respiratory therapists, a majority of pharmacists and an overwhelming majority of pharmacy aides and technicians. More than two-thirds of the workers at grocery store checkouts and fast-food counters are women,” Nonprofit Quarterly reports on their site.
Dr. Lisa DeFrank Cole, director of the Leadership Studies program at West Virginia University, discussed her views as an expert on gender-parity for those in power, and those carrying out the demands of leadership as followers. “Women are on the front lines more so than men. There are those caregiving roles again, those communal type jobs -- healthcare workers, nurses aides; the people who are actually the most important and critical are the grocery store workers, the ones working in drug stores and cleaning the hospitals,” she said. “And we need to be supporting the people that are putting themselves in those positions. Those are women far more than they are men, even though they say men are more at risk of getting the virus than women.”
“As the coronavirus sweeps across the globe, one pattern remains consistent: Men seem harder hit by the virus than women and are more likely to have severe illness or die,” writes Nell Greenfieldboyce, NPR science correspondent. “Data from around 1.5 million tests done in the U.S. show that the majority of people tested, 56%, were women. Of those women, 16% tested positive for the virus. In contrast, only 44% of the tests were done on men. And 23% of them tested positive.”
Internationally, that trend continues:
From Global Health 50/50 and Business Insider
Women holding office across the globe are doing rather well under public scrutiny for their response and direction through the ongoing saga. Here are some highlights:
"The ones who passed this test with flying colors are disproportionately women. This is despite the fact that they make up only7% of heads of state," Forbes reported.
So, what really is behind women’s success In the midst of COVID-19? The traits generally assigned to more feminine or collective leadership approaches -- such as a compassionate, empathetic environment paired with a woman’s “housekeeping” and nurturing tendencies -- are showing how women are better fit to deal with a public health crisis than their male counterparts.
Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Theory (1980) established measurable levels of a nation’s key mainstream characteristics -- scoring their social norms, politics, economics, religion, work, family and schooling based on the following:
The pinpointing of a nation’s “gendered” tendencies deviates from our common understanding of the sexes but can shed light on why feminine and collectivist cultures are doing better handling the pandemic.
Hofstede’s Cultural Consequences defines masculinity and femininity as the following:
“Masculinity stands for a society in which social gender roles are clearly distinct: Men are supposed to be assertive, tough, and focused on material success; women are supposed to be more modest, tender, and concerned with the quality of life.” On the other hand, “femininity stands for a society in which social gender roles overlap: both men and women are supposed to be modest, tender, and concerned with the quality of life.”
Though these tendencies do reinforce some negative stereotypes of a woman’s place, Dr. DeFrank-Cole believes the attention drawn to women leaders and their strengths right now is absolutely an opportunity for growth.
Q: Can you offer some context as to the different phases of feminism, and how the pandemic fits in?
A: “I think change is happening already. First of all, it's not like change has never happened, right? I think if we look at the waves of feminism with suffrage being the first wave; and then in the ‘60s women wanting to get more education and enter the workforce as the second wave; and then the third wave in the ‘90s that it was almost as if women could throw off feminism and say, 'I don't need it. That battle has been fought and won. I get to do whatever I want to do. And I don't have to go around carrying a flag or a banner saying that I am any different or any different or any better, or any worse. I just, I've got it made.'
And then the fourth wave, which I think is now saying, ‘Wait a minute. Maybe we do need feminism.’ These other things kind of made us realize that even in the ‘90s when we thought we had these battles won, it's these secondary gender biases, the implicit biases that are still rampant, that that battle hasn't been won yet.”
Q: What leadership have you seen through the global crisis that shows women’s fitness for handling challenges like a public health crisis?
A: So I think by looking at Ardern in New Zealand, or Merkel in Germany or you know, pick your person, they're doing things somewhat differently. It tells us that women are concerned with different issues, and they will champion different issues than male leaders. So women leaders have been shown to have more concern for children and education and the wellbeing of others. During a pandemic, I think the wellbeing of others kind of fits right into that domain, so I do think it will continue to build steam and keep moving forward. While it's challenging, I think it will happen. It's pushing, it's moving.
Dr. D.C. also mentioned how Trump being elected spurred major engagement in the current feminist movement, from the Women’s March to social movements like #MeToo and #TimesUp), and more women running for public office in the U.S. than ever before and more.
Q: We’re hearing a lot about going “back to normal.” There’s really no normal in leadership -- so is there anything we can expect?
A: “We talk about this capitalist mindset of, well, the stockholders win, right? They get the money. It's all about the profit, as opposed to more of a collective mindset. But does it have to be this disparity between the haves and the have nots? So it's that mentality, the masculine organizational culture versus a more feminized organizational collective organizational culture that I think we should talk about. It's leaders and followers working together, not competing against each other. And I hope that after the pandemic, stuff like that will really be revisited.”
Though the pandemic won’t move any of Hofstede’s scales yet, for every country with enough accessible data to determine their scale placement, Hofstede Insights will send you deep into individual climates and global comparisons.
To hear my full interview with Dr. D.C., please take a listen on the Community Voices page.