The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World

Chapters 7-8 describe a shift in focus at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The foundation’s early efforts addressed global health. By contrast, their more recent initiatives focus on gender inequity and empowering women. Both chapters shed light on gender inequality as it relates to paid labor. Regardless of residence and socio-economic status, women face obstacles based solely on them being women when it comes to employment equity.

Chapter 7 focuses on women in countries where agriculture is a primary source of income and sustenance. Gates combines data and anecdotes to convey the importance of supporting women farmers. Over 70% of the poorest people in the world derive most of their food and income from small plots of land (179). Women farmers have a more difficult time making a living off the land than men. A 2011 study by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization revealed that women farmers in developing nations achieve lower crop yields than men by as much as 30% (184). Women underproduce relative to men because they don’t have access to the same information and resources. In Malawi, childcare and unpaid work not only take time away from farming, but also prevent women from attending meetings to learn about best practices, improved seeds, and new markets from other farmers. Because most farmers are women, helping women advance in farming can lead to widespread change: “[It can] lead to better nutrition for the children, add income for school fees, and—because of the rise in food production—reduce the number of undernourished people in the world by 100 to 150 million” (184). 

The UN study recognized that women farmers have distinct needs. The study recommended developing training programs, services, and technology made specifically for women, with the aim of closing the yield gap—albeit with their share of complications. Gates discusses advances in rice seeds to make this point. Researchers generally speak to farmers before developing new seeds, a process meant to ensure that the seeds have desirable traits. However, women were often excluded from such discussions for several reasons: Researchers did not value their input; potential women farmers were otherwise occupied with household tasks; and it was culturally inappropriate for women to speak to them. Researchers created new seeds based on their conversations with male farmers, who then bought the seeds. Female farmers were unhappy with the seeds as the rice stalks were too short, which forced them to stoop during the harvest; they complained to their husbands, who stopped buying the seeds. The researchers ultimately wasted time and money developing a seed no one wanted. A study by the International Rice Research Institute revealed that male and female farmers look for different things in rice seeds. Since women do the bulk of harvesting and cooking, they prefer rice varieties that grow tall and cook quickly (187). Speaking to both men and women can lead to the development of long-term seeds.

World Bank reports show that in some countries, gender bias is codified into law. Laws prevent Russian women from pursuing any of over 400 jobs considered too dangerous or strenuous—such as carpentry, diving, and captaining ships. A quarter of the world’s countries have laws that bar women from certain jobs, while 29 countries limit the hours women can work. Many nations also enact laws that hinder women’s professional opportunities: Women in Equatorial Guinea need their husbands’ permission to enter legal contracts, while those in Yemen can’t even leave their homes without permission (it being one of seventeen countries that do so). Men in these countries can limit or prevent their wives from earning their own income; financial barriers also hobble women. Women in Niger, Chad, and Guinea-Bissau, for instance, must obtain their husbands’ permission to open bank accounts. Tunisian women inherit half as much as their male siblings, while Liberian women can’t inherit family assets after their husbands die because “property cannot own property” (195). 35 other countries limit what wives can inherit from their husbands, making it virtually impossible for them to start a business.

Gender bias also impacts working women. Gates uses her extensive knowledge of the tech industry to argue that any woman, regardless of her race, ethnicity, education level, or socio-economic status, can experience gender discrimination in the workplace. Statistics support her claims: “Women comprise about a quarter of the tech workforce and hold just 15 percent of the technical jobs” (228). Women of color are particularly underrepresented in tech: “African American women are only 3 percent of the entire tech workforce; Hispanic women, 1 percent” (228). The reasons so few women pursue tech careers are many. First of all, girls are not afforded the same opportunities to develop an interest in tech as boys; game developers make and market their products to boys. Secondly, hiring practices in the tech industry tend to favor men with limited outside interests. Thirdly, women in tech face a brash, male-dominated culture. This discourages many women from studying computer science and entering the field, thereby perpetuating the cycle of exclusion. Tech jobs are innovative and lucrative; they shape human lives in numerous ways. It is imperative for women to join the tech industry—tackling gender biases in hiring and promotion practices as well as eliminating hostile work environments being key to this. Family-friendly policies are also important:

Paid parental leave is linked to fewer infant deaths, higher breastfeeding rates, and reductions in postpartum depression. Women with paid parental leave are more likely to remain in the workforce and earn higher wages. Men with paid parental leave tend to play a more active role in child rearing, in addition to taking on more unpaid work (237).

Venture capital attracts even fewer women than the tech industry. This is important as entrepreneurs who cannot afford bank loans rely on venture capital as a source of funding for their businesses. In exchange, investors get a stake in said businesses. Finding investors can make or break a business. With so few women in the field, businesses run by women often fail to secure the funding they need: “Only 2 percent of venture capital partners are women, and only 2 percent of venture capital money is going to women-founded ventures” (224). Women of color face even bigger challenges: “The amount of venture capital that goes to firms founded by African American women is 0.2 percent” (224). Everyone suffers from this imbalance, not just women entrepreneurs. Gender bias and nepotism pervade venture capital, concentrating power in the hands of elite groups of White men. A 2018 poll comprising 1,500 venture capitalists showed that 40% were alums of Stanford and Harvard (225); investors tend to fund people from their peer networks. Those outside the network, such as women and people of color, are unlikely to receive funding.

Many industries now realize that diversity is essential to healthy societies and are taking steps to counter gender and racial biases. People from marginalized groups can provide invaluable insights and new ideas. Gates invested in Aspect Ventures and other venture capital funds that support companies led by women and people of color—not necessarily to be charitable, but rather, because she recognizes a good business opportunity:

I expect a good return, and I’m confident I’ll get one because women are going to see markets that men won’t see, and black and Latina and Asian women will see markets that white entrepreneurs won’t see. I think we’ll look back in ten years and see it was crazy that more money wasn’t flowing toward markets understood by women and people of color (225).

As she did in previous chapters, Gates uses personal anecdotes to make herself relatable. She’s a perfectionist, something many women suffer. Her perfectionism stems from a place of insecurity: It “comes from the feeling that I don’t know enough. I’m not smart enough. I’m not hardworking enough” (231). Gates’s perfectionism leads her to overthink, which hinders her ability to listen to others. It also causes her to miss opportunities to improvise and respond spontaneously. In short, perfectionism prevents her from being her authentic self, in addition to preventing others from being authentic around her for fear of doing or saying the wrong thing. No one is perfect. By showing her imperfect self, Gates encourages other women to do the same, an important step to creating a more inclusive work culture: “My best self is when I’m open enough to say more about my doubts or anxieties, admit my mistakes, confess when I’m feeling down. Then people can feel more comfortable with their own mess, and that’s an easier culture to live in” (233).