First Draft- Work in Progress
Women’s Leadership in Local Governance: Lessons from Bangladesh Muhammad Azizuddin and Farhad Hossain
Abstract: . The paper aims to explore the context of gender and leadership in governance, posing a question of how far women leadership capacity has been enhanced through contemporary administrative reforms. It examines the possibilities and challenges in women’s involvement in local administration in Bangladesh. Recent evidence suggests that women from various walks of life are preparing for the leadership role in governance and this is a sign of progression in social transformation and modernization compared to the traditional role of homemaking in South Asian countries. Women have been empowered with greater political and administrative participation through ‘learning by doing’. However, the unsatisfactory situation exists because of socio-political, economic, and cultural as well as personal development issues. In addition to willpower and some extra efforts of their own, locally organized training programmes can empower women and make the political and administrative process of governance more progressive and inclusive.
Keywords: Governance, Administrative Reform, Leadership, Women, Local Governance, Bangladesh.
INTRODUCTION Increased attention among academics, researchers and practitioners of governance is being paid since the late 20th century about women leadership and their role in governance. The governments in countries worldwide and international development partners such as United Nations (UN), Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), World Bank (WB) are in consensus about the minimisation of gender inequality and promotion of women’s involvement in governance and administration. The EU has emphasised the equal treatment of men and women as a fundamental tenet since its inception and adopted the principle of gender equality as central to all its activities (Cretu, 2015). The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), a UN entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women, recognizes the importance of incorporating gender perspectives into all levels and processes related to national
development strategies,
strengthening the role of women in decision-making processes
(Hordosch, 2008:1-2). The UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG) emphasised on the elimination of gender disparity, sharing of women in political and administrative leadership and their proportion of involvement in the decision process (FCM, 2009). The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) has adopted a specific goal on gender equality (Goal 5) as ’Achieve gender equality and empowerment of women and girls’ (UN, 2015). The Government of Bangladesh has confirmed international instruments to ensure involvement of women, on equal terms with men in the political, social, economic and cultural life of the country. Despite all efforts, a number of countries including Bangladesh remain with under-representation of women in governance. It has become a commonplace to claim that leadership in local governance is more important than management and the nature of this claim is seldom studied in the context of gender with administrative reforms (Turo, 2009). The available literature review indicates that a dearth of thorough academic studies on the issue in analytical rigor. The studies in gender leadership with governance have been so far on piecemeal basis and descriptive in nature. Little empirical work is available in administrative science literature on the issues related to governance. ”The rhetoric around such practices has tended to be masculine and gender has rarely been considered as an element in studies carried out on leadership” (Metcalfe and Altman, cited in Wilson, 2001, cf. Mawa et al, 2011: 23). Therefore, the area of gender leadership research remains almost unploughed and the issue is, to most extent, under-studied. The overarching goal of this paper is to take part in a debate regarding the issue of women’s involvement in governance with administrative reform in the area of administrative science. The aim is to explore the context of gender and leadership in governance. It examines the challenges and possibilities of women’s
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leadership
development
through
administrative
reforms
in
Upazilas
within
the
local
administration in peripheral Bangladesh. This section has sketched out a landscape of administrative reform and leadership development with gender issues. The discussion situates a theoretical foundation for this research. Following section deals with methodology consisting of the research question, hypothesis, philosophy and the context of the study. The context depicts the status of women, public administration scenario and local governance and administrative reforms in the country. The paper advances with examining the women’s leadership role in local governance, supplementing case profiles of two women vice chairpersons from the two units of local governance. The conclusion follows a discussion on the problems and prospects of women’s leadership role in local governance in the country. ROLE OF GENDER IN LEADERSHIP: A THEORETICAL OVERVIEW In their scholarly work Dror (2001), Caiden and Sundaram (2004), Jooste (2008) and Pollitt and Bouckaert (2000), brought insights in administrative reform, capacity and leadership. They narrate that administrative reform “tries to head off crises in the capacity to govern” (Caiden and Sundaram, 2004:373, as cited in Dror, 2001) and it can “aid in the capacity building process” (Jooste, 2008:18) for leadership roles. Pollitt and Bouckaert (2000) studies go further that administrative reforms strongly emphasise leadership and leadership development in many governments around the world. These are considered as the points of departure for a theoretical framework of this research paper. Administrative reforms are the, as echoed by Caiden, “improvements in administration... general administrative overhauls in difficult circumstances... specific remedies for administration... suggestions for better government...and intentions of selfstyled administrative reformers” (Caiden, 1969: 43, cf Hussain, 1997: 103 ). It is ”the deliberate use of authority and influence to apply new measures to an administrative system so as to change 3
its goals, structures and procedures with a view to improving it for developmental purpose” (Mora and Ticlau, 2012: 196-197; UN, 1983). Leadership implicates capacity of influencing individuals and
systems to
improve the conditions in an organisation (Mary, 2005).
Administrative reforms foster leadership suggesting measures for better government, making provisions for people’s participation and building individual performance capacity to influence other and
thus enhanced
skills and
capacity for governance both individually and
organisationally. Theoretical constructions of women’s leadership role typically emphasize a couple of primary dimensions of the concept: leadership, gender, and organisation. Leadership involves an empowerment approach in influencing individuals as well as systems to improve their circumstances (Mary, 2005: 106). It is “a collective phenomenon that is distributed or shared among different people, potentially fluid, and contrasted in interaction”, instead of “a property of individuals and their behaviours” (Denis, Langley, and Sergi, (2012:121). In their study Leadership in the Plural (2012), Denis, Langley and Sergi describes that the forms of leadership imply plurality in one way or other that focus on sharing leadership in team, pooling leadership at the top of organizations, spreading leadership across boundaries over time, and producing leadership through interaction (2012:11). Northouse (2001) in his book Leadership: Theory and Practice, as Mary (2005:107) describes, indicates the two groups of theoretical leadership attributes. The ‘trait’ and ‘style’ approaches that focus on the characteristics or behaviours of the leader and the ‘contingency’ or ‘path-goal’ theory that focuses on the follower and the context of leadership come to the scope of the first group. The other group encompasses the ‘leadermember exchange theory’, ‘team leadership’, ‘transactional’ and ‘transformational’ leadership, focusing on the interaction and the relationship between leaders and followers. As women are
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increasingly becoming a part of the workforce, the adaptation of different leadership characteristics is an important issue for organizations and governance (Moran, 1992:476). Gender is the socially determined personal and psychological characteristics associated with being male and female, namely masculinity and feminity (Garrett, 1992: vii, cited in Kabir, 2013: 11-12). The construction has been used “to exaggerate the differences between males and females...to maintain sex inequality” although, “there are limitations in offering universal descriptions of feminine and masculine attributes when, cross-culturally, different constructs prevails” (cf Mawa, et al, 2011:24-25, Reskin and Padvic, 1994, cited in Altio and Mills, 2002:74). Traditionally, the features related to leadership have been connected to masculinity (de la Rey, 2005) and the volume of women’s involvement is insignificant. Kabir’s (2013) research in connection with women’s participation in South Asian Civil Service observes that “[A] very insignificant number of women occupy key decision-making positions in the public service. High entry standards and certain other prohibitions deprived a large segment of the populations, especially women, from serving society” (Kabir, 2013, cited in front cover page). The discussion on gender leadership as to whether women have distinctive leadership attribute signifies two opposing views that “there is little difference between women and man” and “women have different leadership styles” (de la Rey, 2005:4). This is an overview of current perspectives on gender and leadership by pointing to research on institutional culture, man, and masculinities. Rey (2005) opines that “feminine attributes may provide a source of alternative leadership more appropriate for a new morality” (p. 4). The study of the theories of leadership from a gender perspective indicates that a particular style ie., transformational leadership attributes make women capable for effective leadership role (Rowley et al, 2010). Organisation is a tool for reasonable action in achieving goals and objectives (Lehtimaki, et al, 1991). It is the goal oriented institution of a set of individuals working collectively through 5
specific objectives to achieve the goal. The literature on organizations and governance with gender consideration so far is seldom. Gender is a constitutive element in organizational logic or the underlying assumptions and practices that construct most contemporary work organizations (Clegg and Dunkerley 1980, cited in Acker, 1990:147). Acker indicates that “organisations are one arena in which widely disseminated cultural images of gender are invented and reproduced” (Acker, 1990:140). Organisational reforms and changes in structure and function facilitate leadership for governance worldwide (Rees et al, 2011). Although organisations are genderneutral, women are taking part in governance one or another way and administrative reform is a breakthrough for gender leadership development for governance. METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATION AND RESEARCH CONTEXT This paper is a study of women’s leadership development through administrative reforms at the local level within an institution-specific knowledge in the area of administrative science.
It is
based on qualitative inquiry and empirical investigation and draws on both primary and secondary data. As a part of the methodological triangulation, a literary material was used along with interviews and observations. Systematic qualitative study of available relevant journal articles, research papers, library work, field research, document analysis, were the sources of information for this research paper.
The single case study embedded design is the
methodological perspective adopted for this research (Yin, 2009). Methodological filters were followed to limit the literature through the exclusion of the systematic review. This study has sought to answer the research question of how far administrative reform facilitates women’s involvement in local administration in Bangladesh. Given the literature, the author has hypothesised that leadership has a vital link to administrative reform, thus, it enhances women’s leadership in local governance. With the very nature of public administration as an integrated field of practical art and academic research (Olsen, 1991) and the general implications
6
for and the use of positivist traditions of social science in conjunction with post-positivist one has been the philosophical underpinnings for this research paper (Polit, 2001). Women at Work and Gender Status in Bangladesh Women in Bangladesh comprised of half of its population and is considered half of human resource in the country with the 80th gender gap in the world (ILO, 2014). However, the country is historically and traditionally a highly patriarchal society, the essential feature of which is domination and supremacy of men and powerlessness and invisibility of women in every sphere of life (Jahan and Kabir, 2012: 34). Like most other third world countries in the South which are tangled in a web of autocratic, corrupt, [traditional] religious or military regimes, Bangladesh has managed time and again to side track women’s rights issues by reverting to various excuses such as religion, tradition and political stability etc (Hasan, 2007: 10). Although the constitutional provisions and legislative endowments in the country provide an equate grantee for women’s rights to improve the condition of women, the situation is still unsatisfactory however progressing (Jahan and Kabir, 2012). The Constitutional provisions and their subsequent amendments have guaranteed the scope of involvement of women in government and administration with reserved seats to ensure their association (GPRB, 1972: articles 6, 7, 9, 10 and 27-29). The reformed legal framework ensures that government and administrative apparatus of the country, irrespective of national and subnational,
should have a specific number of
women’s involvement in its operations. Numerous development organisations in the country, like Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC), Grameen Bank, Gono Sahaya Sangstha (GSS) and Association for Social Advancement (ASA), have been taking programmes to increase women’s social mobilization, raising the social status and political consciousness. The increasing trends of genderwise involvement in the affairs of government and administration can be visualised in table-1.
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Table- 1: The Professional Scenario of Male and Female Involvement in Bangladesh Year
Admin
Busi & Fin M F
Edu Service M F
Medi Service M F
.3%
74%
26%
84%
1.2%
.6%
65%
35%
.046%
.1%
-.012%
.035%
M
F
2000s
85%
14%
.83%
2010s
78%
22%
- .008%
.057%
Growth Rate
Politics M
F
16%
91%
09%
71%
29%
79%
21%
-.016%
.011%
-.013% .013%
Source: Author’s compilation from different literature and reports of BBS, UNDP, HDR, UNESCO, UN.
Table-1 indicates that the trends of women’s involvements are increasing though the growth rates are generally low. The rates in administration, education, and medical services are generally increasing at a slow pace, while in politics the rate is remarkably high. It can be assumed that the proposals of administrative reforms related to women’s involvement in local administration paved the way to access to decision issues in government and administration. Public Administration in Bangladesh Bangladesh is a densely populated low-income developing the country in South Asia. The country shares common characteristics with other developing countries, such as high levels of poverty, economic underdevelopment, colonial legacy, and inherited traditional administrative practices which are predominantly masculine in its system of governance. The system of public administration in the country has evolved from ancient Bengal, colonial British India via postcolonial United Pakistan. The present scenario is the resultant outcome of numerous reform efforts constituted and commissioned to change and adjust with time and space relations. Figure1 is an illustration of the structure of public administration in the country.
8
Figure-1: Public Administration in Bangladesh
Source: Author’s construction (2016)
9
Figure-1 indicates that public administration in Bangladesh is a two-tier system comprised of national and sub-national administration. The national administration follows an “orthodox pyramidal pattern”, and “is simple in form but complex in style” (Zafarullah, 1998:97), comprising of legislative, executive and judicial branches of government (Nigro and Nigro, 1989). The President acts as the executive head of the country and the Prime Minister is the functional head of the government. The country has a central secretariat called ‘Bangladesh Shachibaloy’ at national level comprising of ministries and
divisions for policies and
clearinghouse functions (Zafarullah, 1998). The other tier consists of ‘line’ departments and directorates attached to the ministries and divisions that are mainly responsible for general administration, [public] service delivery to citizens and implementation of various government development programs at the subnational level (Ahmed, 2002:327, cited in Kabir, 2013:5). The subnational administration is the local government entities comprised of territorial units of administration under the administrative control of the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives (MoLGRDC). The Divisions, Districts, Upazilas, and Unions in rural Bangladesh, and city corporations/ municipalities in the cities and towns are the local government
institutions
in
the
country.
They are considered
as the traditional ‘field
administration’ in the country with attached departments and subordinate offices of national administration. The division is at the top echelon without a local authority and they are seven in number. The 64 districts are in the upper tier with historically well-arranged administrative units and have the provision of a government-appointed local authority. The 490 Upazilas and 4553 unions represent the lower and lowest local tiers of local government respectively and have directly elected local authorities. Upazilas are the traditional ‘field administration’ of the country reorganized as the lower organ of local government and unit of administration at the local level with functional directly elected local administration authority called ‘Upazila Parishad’. It is a
10
special combination of state administration and local self-government. The Union is without having a full-fledged local administrative apparatus. It has a democratically elected local authority known as ‘Union Parishad’, where prior to 2016 apolitical democracy is practiced. They have been reorganized both structurally and functionally through administrative reforms and made rooms for women’s leadership role in local governance. Involvement of ordinary women in local governance and administration is growing, though not up to mark. Local Governance and Administraative Reform in Bangladesh Local units of governance in Bangladesh is the sub-national administration and local selfgovernment units of public administration, dates back to ancient Village-Self-Government (VSG)
and colonial British enacted the Chawkidari Panchayet Act, 1870 and the Local Self-
Government Act, 1885 (Hassan, 1999; Choudhury, 1987). The Village Self-Government system was with two institutions of the Headman and the Panchayet seem to have been in existence since the ancient times and enjoyed autonomy with considerable variation in their powers and functions of administration and developmental role. It was predominantly male as the ‘Headman’ usually belonged to the most powerful family in the village. All political and administrative contacts between the village and the higher authorities were exclusively routed through him. The village Panchayet was an elected body with executive and judicial functions (Khan, 1999). The Chawkidari Panchayet Act, 1870 and the Local Self-Government Act, 1885 are considered important historical milestones in the history of local governance and administration of Bangladesh, upon which subsequent reforms and reorganizations have been taken place (Choudhury, 1987). The constitution of Bangladesh provides an equate grantee for women’s rights in the country to improve the condition of women. However, there is a dearth of functional initiatives for enhancing women’s leadership role in local governance. It was the last quarter of the 19th
11
century, the Government of Bangladesh had taken initiatives to have formal opportunities for women’s involvement in governance and administration at local level through successive reform efforts of the Commission for Review of Structure of the Local Government, 1993; the Local Government Commission, 1997, the Upazila Parishad Act, 1998, Public Administration Reform Committee,
2000; and
finally,
the Upazila Parishad
(amendment) Act, 2009.
They
recommended for women’s involvement in different strata and women have been in a position to play a considerable leadership role in local administration and governance. An intermediate position implies that administrative reforms are the en-route to women’s empowerment and reality is varying in different degrees of involvement in governance. A women’s involvement scenario in local governance in Bangladesh can be gauged from the table- 2 below. Table-2: Women in Local Governance in Bangladesh Year Level Upazila
Union
Municipality
Total
2000 (Local Unit) 1,440
2016 (Local Unit) 1,961
(480)
(490)
13,015
20,903
(4479)
(4,553)
(326)
1,112
1,030
(334)
15,485
23,976
(5,285)
(5,377)
Source: Author’s compilation from different sources, 2016. Table-2 shows the increasing trend of women’s involvement in leadership roles in local governance in Bangladesh. The numbers of women are increasing from 15485 in 2000 to 23976 in 2016. It can be said that this is a resultant outcome of administrative reforms at different times in the country. The Local Government Ordinance 1983, Local Government Act 1993 and 1997 12
and their subsequent amendments in 2008 and 2009 are the case in point. It is true that the numbers of local governance institutions are increasing with increase of population in the country. The opportunities for women’s involvement are also increasing with time and space relations. WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP IN LOCAL GOVERNANCE: EMPIRICAL ASSESSMENT Traditionally, women in Bangladesh is in a seclusion state of affairs. The constitutional provisions guaranteed the equal existence of women with their male counterpart. The sociopolitical activities uphold the social status of women in the country as the functional unit of governance.
Administrative
reforms
along
with
government
legislations
are
facilitating
opportunities to women to get involved in local governance and administration. As a result, the role of women is very much visible in the local administration of Upazila and Union Parishad in the country. Local administration of Upazila is a case in point for this research. Union Parishad is the lowest level of local government has elected women members in its parishad as functionaries, comprising of one-third in number. However, their role is, in fact, just to attend the parishad's meetings, without playing an active role in local administrative functions. The chairman of the Parishad plays the main executive role. Upazila is the second lowest level of field administration in Bangladesh with a special combination of state administration, and on the other hand, local self-government. It is the focal point of local administration where women have opportunities to a play functional role in local governance and administration of public service delivery. Proposals for administrative reform initiatives have entitled the women’s involvement in local administration and accordingly, they are in exercise of their rights and responsibilities. Apart from the civil bureaucrat as support
13
functionaries,
women comprise a significant portion of local administration of Upazila
governance. Figure-2 represents the fact. Figure- 2: Typical S tructure of Local Upazila Administration and Women in Bangladesh
Source: GPRB (2011), Upazila Parishad (Amendment) Act 1998 and 2009; GPRB (2013), Upazila Parishad Manual.
The figure 2 shows that every Upazila Parishad must have an elected women vice chairperson along with a provision of three nominated local women representatives in the Parishad. The legal framework (GPRB, 2013) ensures that women Vice Chairperson should have a presiding role in Upazila Standing Committees. It appears that women leadership role have been increasing in local administration and governance through administrative reforms and reorganizations. They are, in fact, from ordinary social status holder females elected directly by the local adult franchise and playing a contributory role in readily available positions by the provisions made according to administrative reforms proposals. Although women are the direct beneficiaries of the Upazila Parishad (amendment) Act, 2009, which endorsed the provision of two elected Vice 14
Chairmen among which one should be a female, their leadership role is a challenge. The mixed experiences in a leadership role have been observed. The case profiles of the women Vice Chairpersons of Biswanath and Gobindhagonj Upazila Parishads in the country represent the fact as in Box-1 and Box-2 below. Box-1: Biswanath Upazila Mrs ‘A’ was a directly elected Vice Chairperson of Biswanath Upazila Parishad formed in 2009. She is in her 40s and comes from an ordinary family of traditional and cultural ethos. She is a high school graduate with a secondary school certificate. Personally, she is married with three children and maintaining a traditional family life, living in a village nearby Biswanath Upazila centre. Her husband is a small businessperson and has been involved in local politics with a connection to a national political party. She has an affiliation with the women wing of that political party, thus she gained the nomination from that party to contest in the election and finally secured the position. In an interview, she describes her situation as, “ …. it was something almost unthinkable for me that I would be local governance as an elected Vice Chairperson. It was my husband who encouraged me to contest the election for vice chairship.” “…. I discovered myself as a stranger in the Upazila Parishad as all the members of the Parishad are male except the three nominated women members. I had been treated as a nominated member by others although I was presiding the different Standing Committees by the provisions of the respective government Act.” “…. I was not acquainted with the rules and regulations of the Upazila governance as I have not received formal higher education and the orientation of governance. It was very difficult for me to handle the situation and I was almost dependent on my male colleagues on the committees. Having said these, I continued my tenure until 2014!” (transcribed from (Sylheti) Bengali to English).
Box-2: Gobindhagonj Upazila Mrs ‘B’ secured the vice chairship position in Gobindhagonj Upazila Parishad in 2009. She is around 35 years old and married to an ordinary person and living in the urban area of Gobindhagonj Upazila centre. She is an ordinary college graduate and has been affiliated with a national political party. She has been in politics from her higher secondary studentship, being a member of the student wing of that party. Her connection with the party helped to secure the nomination as a candidate of the party to contest in the Upazila election. She won the election with a popular majority. She has received political education from her father’s political activities who was a local council member for a five years period and is involved in local politics with an affiliation to the national political party. She is the youngest member of the Parishad and served the community from 2009-2014 working in local governance. In her own language, she pronounces the experience as, “….it was a target in my life that I would be active in politics and serve the community. I was involved in politics throughout my college studentship. I have been oriented to politics from my father who was a local councilor of a local Union Parishad.”
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“…….. when I left studies and get involved in family life I do maintain political activities keeping in touch with local women wing of a national political party. I could not do muc h community work actively as I have family commitments.” “….. the provisions of administrative reform for a woman Vice Chairship paved the way and inspired me to lobby for nomination from the party. My family supported me socially and financially.” “…. Yes, I am new in local governance, and local governance also new in experiencing women in the leadership role. I am learning the practical norms and values of governance to take part in decision making and contacting Standing Committee’s meetings, though I have not formal education and training in the field.” “Politically active and working as a part of local governance for community development and public service delivery are two different practical things and this is absolutely true for me. I am thankful to my male colleagues and appreciate their cooperations.” (transcribed from Bengali to English).
Although the scenarios are different apparently, there are similarities in a real sense. Geographically, both are from different areas of the country and came from ordinary families with traditional backgrounds. Both of them get involved in local governance through the recommendations of administrative reform that one vice chairship should be women along with three nominated women members in Upazila Parishad (Council). Both politically and socially have been inferior to the male members of political parties and got support as blessings from them. They have struggled to exercise their leadership role in local governance. The lack of prior experience of governance is a matter of fact. Challenges and Opportunities Status of women’s involvement in executive and political sphares still remains minimal. This is fueled by entranced unconscious biases, which hinder women’s effective participation in politics and leadership roles (Eghobamien, 2013:iv). The challenges and opportunities beset with gender leadership role in the local governance of Bangladesh are numerous interacting causal factors of ‘supply’ and
‘demand’,
which results in women’s active under-representation in local
governance (Norris and Lovenduski, 1995). The social, traditional, cultural organizational as well political issues have undesirable influences to the state of the arts.
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It is an inherent tradition of Bangladeshi society, institutionally and structurally, that women play homemaking role. They were often discouraged from participating in public life and are mainly recognised for their reproductive role. “The social forces, which are creating gender differentials, are based on the age-old patriarchal traditions and values” and the “perceptions about the role of women as home-makers still persist” (Ferdaush and Rahman, 2011: 6). The society, as a supply factor, has a traditional conservation and ‘glass ceiling’ for women to have a public life, working alongside male colleagues in administration and governance. The traditional understanding is that the decision phenomenon goes to masculinity. The involvement in governance playing a decisive role has been a dream for women in Bangladesh. There are women in politics and administration in the country so far the number are few and not active as they are in ‘nominated’ status. Those who are active in national politics their involvements are a kind of ‘family inheritance’, blessings of male leaders in the party, along with both economically and socially from the upper and affluent class of the society. Ordinary women have poor access to the politics to exercise political and administrative leadership because of the less experience of public life. The male dominated politics and political parties have tendencies of some sort of discrimination against women. Administrative reforms have made the opportunities for ordinary women to be in politics through their candidatures in local elections and get involved in local governance. This a political education for them through ‘learning by doing’ approach to leadership development. Appropriate knowledge and skills is a determinant factor for leadership in government and administration. Leaders with formal education and training can play a more influential role and perform well in taking appropriately right decisions with a better ability to comprehend the pros and cons of governance. It is true that most of the leaders in Bangladesh including women have a poor performance of governance, without having such enough skill with a quality education and 17
training to go through. They are in lack of proper understanding of governance issues to the rules and regulations of local administration for management and service delivery. Thus the poor performance of leadership prevails in all spares of government and administration in the country. Ordinary women have almost unequal access to quality higher education and training that lead to a poor understanding of governance and service delivery issues of local administration in the country. The role of women in a traditional society like Bangladesh is, to most extent, culturally determined and all normative issues are culture-bound, with a ‘collectivist’ phenomena. The most significantly, the family and kinship structures play a crucial role and it has given rise to the ‘culture of lobbying’ for women to get involved and active in local governance in the country (Hofstede, 2005; Kabir, 2013). The family life of married women often dismays them from spending their time and energy for community service. The dual role of maintaining family and serving the community is reasonably considered as inhibits to active involvement in local governance. CONCLUDING REMARKS The key aspect of this paper has been the women’s leadership development in local governance through contemporary administrative reforms. It has explored the contexts of gender and leadership in governance, examining women’s involvements in the local administration of Upazila in peripheral Bangladesh. It has answered the question of how far women leadership capacity has been enhanced through administrative reforms. The study demonstrates that the women's leadership development is in progress and ordinary women have been preparing for a leadership role in governance and a positive situation prevails for social modernization in addition to their traditional role of homemaking. They have been empowered with political and administrative education through ‘learning by doing’. However, the unsatisfactory situation 18
exists because of socio-political, economic, and cultural as well as personal development issues. Although the rate of development is low, it appears that women’s involvement have been increasing in local governance through administrative reforms. This development is a sign of progression in social transformation and modernisation in the country. With time and space relations women are being elevated into leadership roles. In this respect women’s cultural, social, political economical and educational development play a vital role. It is necessary for women themselves to put more efforts and government itself to take further initiatives that cater the leadership development needs. In addition to the will power and some extra efforts of their own, locally organized training programmes can educate and empower women as a social actor of the political and administrative unit. References Acker, J. (1990). Hierarchies, Jobs, Bodies: A Theory of Gendered Organizations. Gender and Society, 4:2, 139-158. Ahmed, S. G. (2002). Public Administration in the Three Decades. In. A. M. Chowdhury and F. Alam (eds.), Bangladesh on the threshold of the twenty-first century (pp. 321-354). Dhaka: Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Caiden, G. E. and Sundaram, P. (2004). The Specificity of Public Service Reform, Public Administration and Development, 24, 373-383. Choudhury, F. B (2013). Women’s Participation in Local Governments in Bangladesh and India. In F. Chowdhury (et al) The Impact of Women's Political Leadership on Democracy and Developmen: Case Studies from the Commonwealth (pp. 64-85). London: Commonwealth Secretariat. Choudhury, L. H (1987). Local Government Reorganisation in Bangladesh. Dhaka: NILG. Clegg, S. and Dunkerley, D. (1980). Organization, class and control. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Cretu, C. (2015). Forward. In H. D. Syna and C. Costea (eds), Women’s Voices in Management: Identifying Innovative and Responsible Solutions (pp. xi-xii). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Denis, Jean-Louis, Langley, A. & Sergi, V. (2012). Leadership in the Plural. The Academy of Management Annals, 6:1, 211-283. Drago, D.C., & Neamu, B. (2007). Reforming local public administration in Romania: trends and obstacles. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 73(4), 629-648. 19
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