Employee Relations Activities Free Essays

Employee relations activities are those whose objective is to create an atmosphere of trust, respect and cooperation. The typically objective is to provide an atmosphere in which all employees can perform their jobs to the best of their abilities and creatively contribute to the organization. All Human resources decisions should by goal – directed. We will write a custom essay sample on Employee Relations Activities or any similar topic only for you Order Now Consequently, employee relations activities should be designed and managed to help achieve specific objectives. Employee relations activities affect efficiency, in that potential reasons for performance problems are confronted and help is offered to remove them. When the problem is an individual employee†s behavior, employee assistance and conflict resolution system seek constructive solutions. If the problem is the organization†s behavior, employee management committees or other two – way communication forums can identify possible changes that will remove the problem. Much employee relations is designed to send the message that the organization is a concerned institution that will help protect, assists, and deal fairly with all it members. The typical decisions that managers face in designing employee relations programs include: Communication – How best can we convey our philosophy to employees and solicit their opinions/suggestions on work issues? Protection – Are there aspects of the workplace that threaten the wellbeing of employees? Assistance – How shall we respond to special needs of specific employees? Cooperation – To what extent should decision making and control be shared? Discipline and conflict – How shall we deal with it? An employee handbook is a necessary part of communication an employee relations program. The handbook sets out the rules and policies within which employees and managers must operate. How the organization sets wages, allocates training, and promotions opportunities, what services it provides, and what it expect from employees is discussed in the handbook. Obviously, merely writing a handbook is not enough. It must by continuously updated, publicized to employees, and supervisors must be thoroughly familiar whit it, since they are the ones who translate policy into action. Handbook provide communication in only one direction. Many organizations have formats for providing communication from employees to supervisors and managers. These can range from â€Å"speak – up† and open – door policies, work improvement suggestions systems, to â€Å"sensing† sessions, opinion surveys, or conflict resolution procedures. Unfortunately, there is evidence that there is a growing communications gap between employees and top management. Messages that managers think they are sending aren†t being received by employees. Every managers and employee wants a healthy and safe work environment. Prevention programs take many forms. They include redesigning jobs to diminish hazardous conditions, conducting, safety training programs, even offering pay bonuses for good safety records. Safety hazard: are those aspects of the work environment, which have the potential for immediate and sometimes violent harm to employee. Examples are lost of hearing, or eyesight, cuts, sprains, bruises, broken bones, burns and electric shock. Health hazard: are those aspects of the work environment that slowly and cumulatively lead to deterioration of an employee†s health. Typical causes include physical and biological hazards, toxic and cancer – causing dusts and chemicals, and stressful working conditions. Many of the policies and programs discussed in this chapter can go a long way to prevent discipline issues from arising. Prevention should be the objective of all organizations. However, when problems arise, having procedures in place to deal with infraction can help safeguard the rights of all concerned. There are four elements to assure adherence to generally acceptable work rules of such a system. How to cite Employee Relations Activities, Essay examples

Seneca Falls in New York Essay Example For Students

Seneca Falls in New York Essay How miller wrote this speech depicts how men saw women in that time. It says to me that it is a womans duty to serve her husband. He wants to break her by threatening that she is forbidden to see her husband. This attitude towards women was not just apparent in Salem in 1642 but also in 1848. A group of women met in Seneca Falls in New York and one of the topics raised was a womans place in the family, Their declaration of sentiments recognised that law rendered married women civilly dead (Stanton, Anthony and gage 1881, p70). Men have set up all rules of marriage and divorce wholly regardless of the happiness of womengoing upon a false supposition of supremacy of man and giving all power into his hands.4 Miller had also chosen all male characters to be the conductors of the court. This goes back to my point that women are at less percentage of policy makers in America, 13 percent of U.S senators; 14 percent of U.S representatives; 14 percent of governors; 28 percent of state wide elective officers; 22 percent of state legislations and 21 percent of mayors.5 Sexuality in the play is also heightened. Miller raises Abigails age and lowers John Proctors and between them they have an affair, although there is no evidence that this really occurred in 1692. This maybe to dramatise to play, but it conveys Millers own interpretation of a woman. Sex is seen as a sin, the girls dance naked in the wood, and although it is a harmless activity in which they were doing. The setting of the play however suggests otherwise as it is a puritan community enjoyment of any nature is forbidden and they live only to serve God, The main sin is sex, which has been notoriously equated with the Devil by way of original sin. The girls dance illicitly in the dark woods around a fire (another hellish symbol), some naked.6 Desire is a feeling that drives most people that gives them choices and decides their outcomes. A street car named desire has the same sexual tensions as the Crucible in many ways. Sex or your sexual habits or preferences can be seen as a sin with its references to unspeakable aspects of sexuality. Indeed, one reviewer called it the product of an almost desperately morbid turn of mind, to me it is depicting  Blanche as being suppressed by a culture. Sex is a taboo subject and Blanches desire is suppressed by society. Sexism in the play is an underlying theme which is evident as women are seen to be the weaker sex. The friction between male and female becomes most apparent then Stanley is interrogating Stella about the papers for Belle Reve, a property which belongs to her family, he says In the state of Louisiana we have the Napoleonic code according to which what belongs to the wife belongs to the husband and vice versa. A Streetcar Named Desire raises harsh issues that people do experience in society today, for example Blanche gets raped by her sisters husband, in this climate we the loose structure and moral ambiguities of a streetcar named desire struck a chord of truth. Harold Clurman wrote in February 1948 that its impact at this moment is especially strong, because it is virtually unique as a stage piece that is both personal and social and wholly a product of our life today.8 Rape is a subject that has always been around but maybe not as talked about as it should be,  Feminist theorists and political activists have brought attention  to three sexuality issues rape, sexual harassment and woman battery. .uaf9b155bd16e6e2247b85116fc8d4199 , .uaf9b155bd16e6e2247b85116fc8d4199 .postImageUrl , .uaf9b155bd16e6e2247b85116fc8d4199 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .uaf9b155bd16e6e2247b85116fc8d4199 , .uaf9b155bd16e6e2247b85116fc8d4199:hover , .uaf9b155bd16e6e2247b85116fc8d4199:visited , .uaf9b155bd16e6e2247b85116fc8d4199:active { border:0!important; } .uaf9b155bd16e6e2247b85116fc8d4199 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .uaf9b155bd16e6e2247b85116fc8d4199 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .uaf9b155bd16e6e2247b85116fc8d4199:active , .uaf9b155bd16e6e2247b85116fc8d4199:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .uaf9b155bd16e6e2247b85116fc8d4199 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .uaf9b155bd16e6e2247b85116fc8d4199 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .uaf9b155bd16e6e2247b85116fc8d4199 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .uaf9b155bd16e6e2247b85116fc8d4199 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .uaf9b155bd16e6e2247b85116fc8d4199:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .uaf9b155bd16e6e2247b85116fc8d4199 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .uaf9b155bd16e6e2247b85116fc8d4199 .uaf9b155bd16e6e2247b85116fc8d4199-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .uaf9b155bd16e6e2247b85116fc8d4199:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Drama portfolio work EssayFor many, these symbolize the exploitation women have suffered in  male dominated societies. Only attacking and undermining the cultural  support for these practices will secure the personal autonomy  necessary for the pursuit of happiness. These problems raised by  sexual intimidation and more importantly, their solutions, remained in  the private sphere for centuries. In the 1960s and 1970s, the emerging  womens movement brought them to the public agenda , both at the  federal level in every state. So it was not until the 1960s that issue was raised politically in America, and it was only then that the laws changed so that this sort of behaviour became apparent in every state that it is unacceptable. A Streetcar named desire highlights what emotional power men can hold over women. Blanche is a lady tormented with heartache caused by a man and all of her actions since her heart was broken show the lack of respect for herself and not only was it the fact that her husband Allen had an afire but he then committed suicide and she probably carries around the guilt of that within her thoughts. She says in scene:  After the death of Allen intimacies with strangers was all  I seemed to fill my empty heart withI think it was panic,  just panic that drove me from one to another, hunting for some protection here and there, in the most unlikely places   even at least, in a seventeen year old boy, but   somebody wrote the superintendent about it This woman is  morally unfit for her position!After reading the script I question why is it that women are often portrayed as desperate, and that they would do anything for a man or to feel loved? I think that this is how Williams wanted to portray women in this play, that a womens life and choices are driven purely by men. Williams father left his sister, his mother and himself Williams opinion of women I believe would come from his own experiences and what maybe his mother had gone through.

Violence On TV Essays (1546 words) - Dispute Resolution, Crime

Violence on TV $115 Designer Cosmetic Collection From Cosmetique -- Only $1! Violence on TV What has the world come to these days? It often seems like everywhere one looks, violence rears its ugly head. We see it in the streets, back alleys, school, and even at home. The last of these is a major source of violence. In many peoples' living rooms there sits an outlet for violence that often goes unnoticed. It is the television, and the children who view it are often pulled into its realistic world of violence scenes with sometimes devastating results. Much research has gone into showing why children are so mesmerized by this big glowing box and the action that takes place within it. Research shows that it is definitely a major source of violent behavior in children. The research proves time and time again that aggression and television viewing do go hand in hand. The truth about television violence and children has been shown. Some are trying to fight this problem. Others are ignoring it and hoping it will go away. Still others don't even seem to care. However, the facts are undeniable. The studies have been carried out and all the results point to one conclusion: Television violence causes children to be violent and the effects can be life-long. The information can't be ignored. Violent television viewing does affect children. The effects have been seen in a number of cases. In New York, a 16-year-old boy broke into a cellar. When the police caught him and asked him why he was wearing gloves he replied that he had learned to do so to not leave fingerprints and that he discovered this on television. In Alabama, a nine-year-old boy received a bad report card from his teacher. He suggested sending the teacher poisoned candy as revenge as he had seen on television the night before. In California, a seven-year-old boy sprinkled ground-up glass into the the lamb stew the family was to eat for dinner. When asked why he did it he replied that he wanted to see if the results would be the same in real life as they were on television (Howe 72). These are certainly startling examples of how television can affect the child. It must be pointed out that all of these situations were directly caused by children watching violent television. Not only does television violence affect the child's youth, but it can also affect his or her adulthood. Some psychologists and psychiatrists feel that continued exposure to such violence might unnaturally speed up the impact of the adult world on the child. This can force the child into a kind of premature maturity. As the child matures into an adult, he can become bewildered, have a greater distrust towards others, a superficial approach to adult problems, and even an unwillingness to become an adult (Carter 14). Television violence can destroy a young child's mind. The effects of this violence can be long-lasting, if not never-ending.For some, television at its worst, is an assault on a child's mind, an insidious influence tat upsets moral balance and makes a child prone to aggressive behavior as it warps his or her perception of the real world. Other see television as an unhealthy intrusion into a child's learning process, substituting easy pictures for the discipline of reading and concentrating and transforming the young viewer into a hypnotized nonthinker (Langone 48). As you can see, television violence can disrupt a child's learning and thinking ability which will cause life long problems. If a child cannot do well in school, his or her whole future is at stake. Why do children like the violence that they see on television? "Since media violence is much more vicious than that which children normally experience, real-life aggression appears bland by comparison" (Dorr 127). The violence on television is able to be more exciting and enthralling than the violence that is normally viewed on the streets. Instead of just seeing a police officer handing a ticket to a speeding violator, he can beat the offender bloody on television. However, children don't always realize this is not the way thing are handled in real life. They come to expect it, and when they don't see it the world becomes bland and in need of violence. The children then can create the violence that their mind craves. The television violence can cause actual violence in a number of ways. As explained above, after viewing television violence theworld becomes bland in comparison. The child needs to create violence to keep himself satisfied (Dorr 127). Also the children find the violent characters

Solubility Product Constants at 25 Degrees Celsius

Solubility Product Constants at 25 Degrees Celsius The solubility product works as follows: In a water solution at equilibrium with a slightly soluble ionic compound, the product of the concentration of the ions, raised to the power of its coefficient in the solubility equation, is a constant. The solubility constant, Ksp, has a fixed value at a given temperature and is independent of the concentration of the individual ions. Here are values of Ksp for several slightly soluble ionic solids: Actetates AgC2H3O2 2 x 10-3 Bromides AgBr 5 x 10-13PbBr2 5 x 10-6 Carbonates BaCO3 2 x 10-9CaCO3 5 x 10-9MgCO3 2 x 10-8 Chlorides AgCl 1.6 x 10-10Hg2Cl2 1 x 10-18PbCl2 1.7 x 10-5 Chromates Ag2CrO4 2 x 10-12BaCrO4 2 x 10-10PbCrO4 1 x 10-16SrCrO4 4 x 10-5 Fluorides BaF2 2 x 10-6CaF2 2 x 10-10PbF2 4 x 10-8 Hydroxides Al(OH)3 5 x 10-33Cr(OH)3 4 x 10-38Fe(OH)2 1 x 10-15Fe(OH)3 5 x 10-38Mg(OH)2 1 x 10-11Zn(OH)2 5 x 10-17 Iodides AgI 1 x 10-16PbI2 1 x 10-8 Sulfates BaSO4 1.4 x 10-9CaSO4 3 x 10-5PbSO4 1 x 10-8 Sulfides Ag2S 1 x 10-49CdS 1 x 10-26CoS 1 x 10-20CuS 1 x 10-35FeS 1 x 10-17HgS 1 x 10-52MnS 1 x 10-15NiS 1 x 10-19PbS 1 x 10-27ZnS 1 x 10-20

Guest lecturer reports Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Guest lecturer reports - Essay Example By so doing, no one will be to blame upon failure of a particular technology. There are different views on the relationship between technology and society. Technological determinism argues on the basis of engineers devising a technology which is either rejected or adapted by the society. It sees technological development as inevitable and autonomous. Political determinism incorporates commercial imperatives and global capitalism while social constructivism relays the possibilities of innovation when technology is embedded in its social context. Engineers as societies have management thus self-regulated. They operate on the basis of division of labour and it is such management that aided in the launch of the Challenger Space Shuttle. Being the 2nd innovation in the space exploration, it completed nine successful missions before exploding in the 10th mission. Although it halted the passion for space missions, judgments on the cause of the explosion began. Political explanation linked t he explosion to low temperatures while engineers put blames on the management. The judgment was considered from scientific perspective where an analysis on the design of the space shuttle was made. It was finally discerned that Challenger explosion was due to failure of any joints that exist between the two lower sections of the right solid rocket motor [Rumerman, 2000]. Basically, there are technical problems that existed but engineers did not concentrate to it. Perhaps, joint rotation was a minor problem and was fixed by SRB O-rings. However, NASA and Morton Thiokol (MT) engineers do not reach a consensus on the O-ring problems. Tests are done to solve the conflicting ideas of the size of gap that affected the sealing capacity of the rings. NASA uses electrical instrument to measure rotation and concludes that joint rotation is a serious problem because SRB fails test. On the other hand, Morton Thiokol engineers prove that joint rotation is not a serious problem despite failure of SRB in the 8th cycle of the hydro burst test. The challenger launch decision is thus upheld to meet appropriate professional standards. Judgments should be made based on evidence relating to materials, environment and people. Considering this fact, they make sure that before implementing a particular technology, it is safe enough to be handled by people. Scientific ideas and principles may be complex and controversial if it differs from social judgment (National academics, 2013). Engineering judgments should provide pragmatic solutions. For instance, the rocket motor is designed with seals which work under conditions of temperature and pressure that exceed expected launch. This helps to create a scientific experience to bring back the thought that long halted the launch of space program until the facts of the dimensional problems were identified. In order to protect public welfare, engineers must be aware of the test designs to be applied in providing solutions (Lewis, & Richard, 1 988). The challenger launch decision therefore was based on a new recommendation which stated that low temperature was not a big problem notwithstanding facts that the prediction of the launch temperatures was outside NASA specifications. This follows acceptance of recommendations made by MT engineers and a decision to launch the space shuttle

Industry approach for addressing the vexing issue Assignment

Industry Approach for Addressing the Vexing Issue - Assignment Example Error-tracking system, which is already implemented by the healthcare professional reports, based on the medical errors that are getting pervasive and is the main cause of the death taking place in the USA. The report has also presented that medical errors often takes place due to the systematic problems, while delivering the health care services, rather than while improving the performance of each individual. Healthcare industry is adopting different approaches, such as the development of error-tracking mechanisms, extensive investigation, allocation of available resources for the initiative of error protection, and root cause analysis of the problem (Fialova & Onder, 2009). According to the ACA report, there are four approaches for mitigating the issues related with the healthcare profession, such as identification and understanding through the errors related with the voluntary and mandatory reporting systems, set up national efforts for enhancing the knowledge linked with the medical safety, increase in standards and expectations in order to bring improvements in safety through increasing involvement of medical professionals, and establishing delivery level safety systems within the healthcare organizations (Fialova & Onder, 2009). ACA report sparks the debate among the health policymakers in the USA for appropriately responding to the problem. ACA improve its quality or made it worse through restricting the funds In America, lawmakers are putting more emphasis on the healthcare quality with the introduction of protection of patients and Affordable Care Act. Through the reduction in 30 days readmissions, American hospitals have started taking initiatives for fulfilling all the requirements, has even adopted best practices, which results in the improvement of healthcare quality and readmissions between the community providers and hospitals.

Gender Equality In Politics

Gender Equality In Politics The initiation of women into influential politics has the potential to greatly benefit society. There are a number of theoretical reasons women would be doing the world a favour by entering into politics. Basic statistics demonstrate that equality would benefit the economy. In the West, the perception towards women is positive: they are mostly on equal ground with men regarding capabilities (Pew Research Center [PRC, 2008]. Moreover, because most female politicians have to juggle professional, private, and sometimes family lives, their resulting ability to multi-task should allow them better management skills and more sensible political priorities. Now, these theories regarding womens abilities and inclinations do have some factual basis. There are already successful females in high positions of power within government (e.g. Angela Merkel; Scandinavian Parliament). A survey carried out in India had results illustrating that where women were in charge, villagers were much better off ( Beaman, 2007). Surprisingly, Southeast Asia is where the most women have reached the highest governmental positions (Fleschenberg, 2008). One can argue that, whether there is a positive or ineffectual upshot to womens involvement in politics, merely achieving equality and effectively rendering most prejudices null would be a tremendous benefit to society. However, while the women of the West have far more opportunity and are reluctant to take advantage of it, there are still the women of developing countries, where bias against women is still quite distinct (Beaman, 2007). In the meantime, there is the Middle East, where progress in gender equality is practically nonexistent (Akande, 2007). But despite the emphasis given to creating equality for women, there are still very few females in high-level decision making positions. (McDermott, 2009). If gender inequality can be overcome, it can open the doorway to alleviating a significant amount of the dilemmas the world faces. Opening the Doorway: Gender Equality in Politics If liberty and equality, as is thought by some, are chiefly to be found in democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike share in government to the utmost. Whether or not Aristotle meant to include females in his definition of persons, this quote of his basically supports the idea that there is no real equality until individuals of every possible variance are not only involved in government, but have the same say in proceedings. Equality is an abstract term; it has evaded human beings since the time we came into existence, and remains indomitably out of reach due to our own inherent prejudices. It is only very recently that real attempts have been successful in overcoming these imbalances in social order; but naturally, those at the top want to stay that way-and with their power comes the ability to maintain their position. Therefore, we still have a long way to go before humans can declare themselves a race of egalitarianism. Gender inequality is probably the most prevalent form of discrimination, due to the fact that it exists, unfailingly-not only in all societies-but within the classes and castes within those societies (Jamal, 2009/2010). The superiority of men has been a given through the ages, both through formal laws and unwritten, shared understandings (Jamal, 2009/2010). These days, women have come far along the road to equality, but-as modern feminists complain-women still have to work twice as hard to get half as far as men in their careers. There is no argument that, thanks to or despite this, women are underrepresented in many areas, most notably those of power. But politics, which has the most potential to influence culture and civilization, is the most notable area of all. Whether or not women are better than men is not the question here-the question is, would gender equality in politics have a substantial effect on global affairs? And would this effect be favourable or detrimental? Because gender is the key to the organization of product and reproduction, women are at the crossroads between economic growth and human development. (Jamal, 2009/2010, p. 5) The initiation of women into influential politics has the potential to greatly benefit society. There are a number of theoretical reasons women would be doing the world a favour by entering into politics. According to Akande, women are the worlds most under-utilised resource; getting more of them into work is part of the solution to many economic woes, including shrinking populations and poverty. (2007, p. 10) Basic statistics even demonstrate that equality would benefit the economy- women put in 67% of the hours of work done on Earth, yet they earn 10% of salaries and possess 1% of all goods (Career Womens Forum, 2006). So women have already proven themselves diligent, and take up around 50% of a population-on this note, Akande reasons that their lack of active participation (2007) in all influential fields, including the workforce, intellectual or academic spheres, or politics, basically deprives a country of valuable human resources. This applies more directly to developing countries where gender discrimination completely obstructs womens chances to achieve anything, let alo ne politics; however, it bolsters equality in general. Perception is the basis of social context, and negative social context is womans biggest obstacle towards achieving anything, let alone a career in politics. In the West, the universal perception towards female leaders is changing for the better. A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center reveals the proletarian opinion on why women are still underrepresented in politics: gender discrimination, resistance to change, and a self-serving old boys club' (PRC, 2008). The public also believes that women are held back by the pressure of juggling family (which, as women, they are still meant to take care of) or personal life, and professional life; lack of the necessary skill is cited by few as a potential cause (PRC, 2008). In the same survey, women were rated higher than men on the majority of traits considered important to leadership (e.g. honesty, intelligence, compassion) (PRC, 2008). Women are believed by the populace to be more inclined towards dealing with civic issues such as health care and education (PRC, 2008); men, however, are more disposed towards eradicating crime, public safety, defence, and national security (PRC, 2008). This has been backed up by actual studies, though they put mens priorities in a less favourable light: Studies show that women are more likely to spend money on improving health, education, infrastructure and poverty and less likely to waste it on tanks and bombs. (Akande, 2007) The results of the survey continued by rating women higher than men in other areas believed to be important for a leader: holding firm to their principles even in the face of political strain; in negotiation and compromise; in instilling honesty in the government; and relating to the general public (PRC, 2008). Despite all this, only 6% actually claim women make better political leaders than men, which would be the natural progression (PRC, 2008). However, 69% rate men and women as equal, so this is probably, essentially, an even bigger step towards equality than if the reverse imbalance was presented (PRC, 2008). Even more theoretical reasoning can back up this claim: because most female politicians have to juggle professional, private, and sometimes family lives, their ability to multi-task is forcibly but finely honed (Career Womens Forum [CWF], 2006). This in turn allows them better management skills and more sensible political priorities. Now, these theories regarding womens abilities and inclinations do have factual basis. There are already successful females in high positions of power within government, such as Angela Merkel, Germanys first female Chancellor. Scandinavian countries, according to Career Womens Forum, are of the better-managed countries of the world, the most imaginative and prosperous (2008); the article goes on to correlate this fact with one stating their Parliaments are made up of 40% women, the highest percentage in the world. A Millenial Survey was carried out by a non-governmental organization in India in the year 2000 (Beaman, Duflo, Pande Topalova, 2007). It focused on subjective and objective measures of both the quantity and quality of five basic public services: drinking water and sanitation, health, education and child care, road transport and the public distribution system (Beaman, 2007). Though the survey was not undertaken for the express purpose of comparing male and female leadership performances, this-in accordance with the simultaneously subjective and objective nature of the survey-afforded the surveyors a lack of predetermined bias towards the results (Beaman, 2007). The results illustrated that where women were in charge, there was a higher investment in clean drinking water, leading to the avoidance of water-borne diseases and overall improvement of health (Beaman, 2007). Also, children were more likely to be immunized, and where women were in charge the gender gap in schooling was less by almost 13%; women were also less likely to accept bribes (Beaman, 2007). Despite all this, villagers reported dissatisfaction with their female leaders; Beaman found this rational, though, due to the inherent bias of the society (2007). Though the Nordic area can claim the highest percentage of women in Parliament, it is, surprisingly, Asia where the most women have reached the highest governmental positions (Fleschenberg, 2008). The first female Prime Minister in history was Sirimavo Bandaranaike, of Sri Lanka; she had power three times, beginning in 1960, and when she died in office in the year 2000, she was succeeded by her daughter, Chandrika Kumaratunga (Fleschenberg, 2008). Indira Gandhi, India, is possibly the most famous female politician, with the most influence and positive impact thanks to her campaign for progress in India-a recent BBC poll named her the greatest woman of the last 1,000 years (Fleschenberg, 2008). Aung San Suu Kyi is the accepted leader of democratic Burma despite her continuing house arrest (Fleschenberg, 2008). In Malaysia, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail freed her husband, Anwar Ibrahim, and has headed the parliamentary opposition party in Malaysia since the late 1990s (Fleschenberg, 2008). The re are more notable names, from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, and the Philippines; though all of these cultures are undoubtedly patriarchal and paternalistic in political and ideological terms, women have achieved the position of prime minister or president in all of them (Fleschenberg, 2008). These countries have little in common in terms of economic development, culture, religion, and political systems (Fleschenberg, 2008). The one defining commonality between these women involves their education: no different from influential politicians in general, but exceptional for their own locale, where often education cannot proceed past the secondary or tertiary level (Fleschenberg, 2008). In addition, many of them gained reputations and political experience against backdrops of political turmoil and/or transition (Fleschenberg, 2008, p. 33) as leaders of opposition movements, effectively classifying them as transformational leaders, (Fleschenberg, 2008, p. 33) valuable to their country from day one. As for their terms in office, analysis proves that none of these countries deteriorated [. . .] as a direct consequence of female governance (Fleschenberg, 2008, p. 5). In fact, any declines were caused by male-led interventions (Fleschenberg, 2008). These leaderships are made even more interesting by the fact that these women came into power by proving themselves worthy, rather than just to promote equality, are recognized as capable, self-reliant leaders with no limits on their power due to their gender (Fleschenberg, 2008). On the other hand, their governments are still not gender balanced; Fleschenberg admits that they are the exception, and their rise to power should not be confused with increased womens participation in politics (2008). One can argue that, whether there is a positive or ineffectual upshot to womens involvement in politics, merely achieving equality and effectively rendering most prejudices null would be a tremendous benefit to society. Women are generally fighting an uphill battle in this respect-or, at least, some of them are. Interestingly, a report comparing the victory rates of male and female candidates yielded the result that when women run for office, they win just as often as men do. (Bowman, 2008) Since this included mostly small-time political positions in already developed countries, it is not as provocative as it may appear; it basically only reveals that, at least in the West, there is less interest in politics. The surveyed women were not enthusiastic about running for office, or the process required, such as raising campaign cash or balancing familial responsibilities (Bowman, 2008). Still, Akande says, Women are more likely to organize in other politics, such as social movements, and in non-governmental organizations. (2007, p. 16) So, while the women of the West have far more opportunity and are reluctant to take advantage of it, there are still the women of developing countries, where bias against women is still quite distinct (Beaman, 2007). Because women are generally assumed, not to lack leadership skills so much as have less than men-even those with similar personality traits-if a woman is fulfilling a normally male role, she will be judged more ruthlessly (Beaman, 2007). For example, a bad decision, or merely an unpopular one despite advantageous ends, would gain them a harsher level of criticism than if they were male (Beaman, 2007). This social backlash for violating stereotypes dissuades all but the most determined women; indeed, where the Western woman shuns politics for the stress it promises, or mere lack of interest (Bowman, 2008), a woman in a developing country shuns it to avoid the extra controversy that would top that stress (Beaman, 2007). In the meantime, there is the Middle East, where progress in gender equality is practically nonexistent (Akande, 2007). Akande attributes this to the ongoing political upheaval, citing the near civil-war situation in Iraq, the murky future of the Palestinians, Irans nuclear ambitions, or the future of democracy in the region. (2007, p. 10) The female in the Middle East is generally far worse off than those of other developing countries, due to being in a society that is either indifferent (Akande, 2007, p. 17) to them, or downright hostile. (Akande, 2007, p. 17). The principles of the predominant religion of Islam cannot directly take the blame for this (Akande, 2007), as women have gained political prominence in every Islamic country of South-eastern Asia apart from Brunei (Fleschenberg, 2008). However, the combination of religion and culture do play a big part in the viewpoints that support this maltreatment of women (Akande, 2007). This goes not just for the Muslim women of the Arab world, but for other religions that undermine the weaker sex, such as Sikhs, Hindus, and Native Americans (Akande, 2007). He stresses the Middle East, however, because the predicament of the regions women essentially has a direct effect on world affairs; he believes that much of the strife in the Middle East (i.e. underdevelopment, domestic and regional instability [. . .], ethnic frictions (Akande, 2007, p. 9)) could be mitigated, if not outright halted, if women had more of a voice in government (2007). If the results of the studies referenced by Akande earlier on, as well as the beliefs presented by the Pew Research Center survey are any indication, even a gradual move towards gender equality-in politics and otherwise-would be a big step towards eventual stability. At any rate, gender equality is a worldwide goal, and there are measures in place meant to promote womens involvement in Parliaments, etc (McDermott, 2009). In India, one third of parliamentary seats are reserved for women (Atkins, 2008). Though some see these enactments as a step backwards merely because they appear as a chauvinistic inability to allow women a true sense of accomplishment (Atkins, 2008), there is a much more considerable reason they can be seen as such. Despite the emphasis given to creating equality for women, there are still very few females in high-level decision making positions. (McDermott, 2009) This even goes for the previously-praised Nordic countries where there is an almost-balanced level of genders within the government (McDermott, 2009). Still, when it comes to decision-making, the women have limited say. Gwaze points out that in Zimbabwe, women appointed to seemingly important positions only have real significance at voting time; otherwise, they are little more than puppets for the males with real power (2007). What we see now is a faà §ade of equality that prevents women from making the change that they are capable of. With all the previously described obstacles that women have to overcome, only for women to be rendered utterly inconsequential by males who continue to wield more power, it is no wonder that gender inequality prevails in government. Successful female politicians often take pride in not only their achievements in public service, but the fact that they are positive role models for younger girls (Campbell Wolbrecht, 2005). Males do not bother to see themselves as role models, reflecting the fact that men and boys need little additional evidence that the halls of power are open to them. (Campbell, 2005) The only way to change points-of-view on female politicians is for them to continue in this vein-its a snowball effect. Women already proven the positive impact they are capable of; as more gradually get into politics and gradually become more successful at it, the window of politics as a career is opened to more and more women. And as these women prove their value within government proceedings, attitudes towards them will change for the better, the way they already are (Beaman, 2007). Gender equality is not the biggest problem face by society, and it is not the only discrimination human beings must cope with. However, if this most profound and prevailing prejudice can be overcome, it can open the doorway to alleviating a significant amount of the dilemmas faced by the world.