Certificate in Women’s Leadership in a Global Perspective
Plan of Study
For many women in the Global South, developing countries, and transitional democracies, gaining access to full participation in the political system is difficult. Socio-cultural factors and other mitigating circumstances discourage women’s participation. As a result, women lack the experience and/or skills necessary for full political participation, including those directly linked to gaining representation as appointed or elected officials, either at the local or national levels. The curriculum in the courses will increase a women’s knowledge and skills, enhancing her ability to contribute to a country’s public policy.
Our Certificate program keeps the role of gender in politics and policy making central to the program’s design, goals, and curriculum and offers six inter-connected courses that provide students with a comprehensive background as women in leadership in public policy.
- PAFG 697a: Understanding the Political System Worldwide
This course will focus on the variety of governmental power structures that exist in various countries around the world. Part I provides students with an introduction to the role of parliaments/national assemblies, and the branches of government and their functions. Part Two analyzes each of these components from a gender perspective, carefully examining how these power structures affect the status of women. Part Three provides students with real-world knowledge of how to succeed in the political system and legislative process, including walking students through common parliamentarian/congressional procedures. Through this course, students will learn how to effectively work within the political system and legislative process power structures; garnering skills in lobbying, networking, communication, briefing, and writing testimonies. At the end of the course, students will have the opportunity to apply the skills they’ve learned in an online Parliament Simulation.
- PAFG 697b: Women’s Leadership in a Global Perspective
The Women’s Political Leadership in a Global Perspective course prepares women for a career in the political arena by helping them develop effective communication and leadership skills. The course combines classroom learning, research, and independent social action projects to give participants a distinctive learning experience that is at once theoretical and practical. The program seeks to expand students’ understanding of leadership, policy making, and social change and to encourage them to take responsibility for making change. The course focuses on leadership theories, assessing and developing leadership personality traits, examining leadership styles and sources of power, and ultimately results in each student developing an action plan for self-development. We maintain an overarching theme of women’s leadership by examining the current global scenario, using facts and figures to explore the successful stories of female leaders around the world, examine the challenges, and interrogate the barriers that women face on the road to political leadership.
- PAFG 642*: Public Policy Analysis of Women’s Issues: A Global Perspective
This course is designed for students to develop an understanding of the importance of research in policy development. Women will learn fundamental research concepts and principles and will become acquainted with significant case studies about policies affecting women. The course introduces women to the general methods used in formulating and analyzing policy and then gives them the opportunity to design and conduct independent research on a policy issue relevant to their home country. Topics in this course cover the history of policy analysis, theories of the policy process, the role of social construction, institutions, interests and values in policy, organizational theory and leadership, the determination of policy goals and objectives, and various analytical and empirical frameworks for analyzing policy and its implementation worldwide. We will use international case studies extensively in order to give students exposure to real-world policy issues, as case studies produce an in-depth knowledge of a policy within a narrowly defined framework.
- PAFG 643*: Gender and Dispute Resolution around the World
This course engages women in the systematic examination of conflict resolution theories, drawing from a broad range of academic disciplines, including economics, law, social psychology, and anthropology, as well as dispute resolution. Throughout the course, the students will be challenged to apply the material to real-world situations. The students will also practice how to use the information to deal with conflict between men and women in political arenas. The course will consider conflict in a variety of organizational settings including formal, voluntary, and community organizations and focuses on the emergence, manifestation, and resolution of disputes.
- PAFG 646*: Women and Public Policy Decision-Making in a Global Perspective
This course provides the tools necessary for policy formulation, analysis, implementation, and budgeting for women from a global perspective. The course consists of three parts. Part 1 presents an introduction to public policy decision making, including understanding the importance of having women in the decision-making process. Part 2 examines how policy formulation, implementation and analysis affect women in different countries. In Part 3, students will have the opportunity to examine and analyze public policies and budgets from their own countries with a gender perspective, and to explore how women can change public policies by gaining influence in the budgeting process in their countries.
- PAFG 647*: Women Gaining Appointed/Elected Public Office: A Global Perspective
This course prepares women from a variety of countries to gain an appointed or elected office by providing the tools necessary given their political system and context. Part 1 presents an introduction to running for office; including questions about whether to seek an appointed or elected position and how to develop a plan. Part 2 provides the practical skills necessary to run a successful campaign. Part 3 addresses the challenges female candidates may face in their run for office; including ethical dilemmas and coping with crises, campaign management, fundraising, and communication. Students will be given the opportunity to tailor the information to suit their political situations and realities.
Each course emphasizes the skills necessary to be an effective policy maker (including, but not exclusively, to hold public office), teaching students how to leverage their leadership skills to
- advocate for women’s issues,
- influence public policies,
- gain access to public offices, and
- resolve conflicts at the organizational, tribal, local, and national level.
The curriculum provides students with not only the theoretical knowledge necessary to interrogate and deconstruct the barriers and obstacles that prevent women’s full political participation, but also practical skills in research, public policy, and leadership. We train students to evaluate the status of women internationally with a lens that is cognizant of the social, cultural, political, and economic conditions of a country, as well as the influence of race/ethnicity, socio-economic status, sexual orientation, able-bodiedness, and other identities on the overall status of the individual. This complex web of intersecting hierarchies of power and oppression depicts the structural, institutional, and individual barriers that women must overcome in order to achieve equality. Our curriculum is not only cognizant of these facts, but equips graduates with the skills and tools necessary to assess the potential for women’s increased leadership in their home country, and offers concrete skills in strategizing on how to improve opportunities for women.
* Pending approval.
