Why is 33% considered the tipping point?
It’s critical mass — the point at which an environment changes in such a way, it can no longer go back to what it was. Take the Supreme Court, for example. One woman justice is newsworthy — she’s first. Two women are still the exception, not the rule. When you have three women on the bench, it stops being unusual. Whether you’re talking about the halls of Congress or a board of directors, until women achieve 33% we’re just tokens. Our numbers are too small to influence men to see things in a completely different way. It’s not that women are better, it’s that balance among the two genders is better. Across the board in a variety of professions, the number of women in leadership positions today is only 18%. We have a long way to go. That’s why it’s all about numbers now. How do we move the needle? We can move the needle the fastest by getting more women elected to political office, because that’s where female leaders are the most visible. I was surprised to learn that women’s progress
