By Laura Rosbrow
Kathryn Bigelow is the first woman to win an Oscar for best director — a great accomplishment. In fact, people say that Bigelow broke a glass ceiling for women. However, it is all too easy for people to believe discrimination no longer exists when one exceptional individual rises to the top — like the “post-racial” world we supposedly live in now that Barack Obama is in the White House. Bigelow conquered enormous challenges to win the prize, and will be a positive role model for aspiring female directors, making it easier for them to dream about becoming motion-picture directors. But the glass ceiling for women in the United States is far from broken.
Why has it taken so long for a woman to win the Oscar for best director? After all, the prize is in the arts, where women and girls are well represented. More American girls earn advanced degrees than American boys do. Even if girls’ educational outcomes are better than they have ever been, women still are in few positions of power. A mere 17 percent of congressional seats and 14 percent of Fortune 500 board seats are held by women, and only 7 percent of top-grossing film directors have been women for the last several years.
What we need is more female leaders.
As Linda Tarr-Whelan says in her new book, “Women Lead the Way,” there is a leadership gap between men and women that needs to be closed. As we celebrate National Women’s History Month, let’s invest in girls’ leadership development. In the Bay Area, there are girls programs that equip girls with the skills they need to break through the glass ceiling and become strong leaders through advocacy and exposure to math, science, and technology.
Until female leaders are the norm, not the Kathryn Bigelow exception, it is vital that we address girls’unique challenges to becoming leaders.