Australia’s new Prime Minister Breaks the Glass Ceiling - Building Gender Balanced Business

• Julia Gillard, 48, the daughter of a coal miner and a former industrial-relations lawyer, has a pragmatic approach to politics and a record of fighting for better conditions for workers, and for greater numbers of women in Parliament. She is well respected and hails from the left of her party

• Women now form almost a third of the federal Parliament in Australia, compared to the U.S., where women hold only 16.8 percent of the seats in Congress

• Historically, most of the pioneering female politicians have been conservative: Golda Meir, Indira Gandhi, Margaret Thatcher. Gillard is a liberal

• Gillard has to win an election—in just a few months’ time—by disassociating herself from a government she was a crucial part of. Her gender adds volume to her victory, but the novelty will wear off before long. She will have to ignore the silly comments about her hair and about the fact that she has no children and can’t cook

• It would be a mistake to underestimate Gillard. But it will be unfortunate if she, as the first female PM, is forced to waste time battling the usual slew of sexist expectations. In the lead-up to the election, she will be encouraged to draw on her gender as a strength—implying she will be more honest, transparent, and compassionate—while fighting suggestions that it is a liability.

Read the full Newsweek article here