Re-thinking the Role of Women in Sustainable Business Leadership

The global transition towards gender equality and hence, sustainability creates a colossal opportunity to uplift female representation in higher leadership roles. Though women leaders around the globe have been making significant impacts in sustainable development, the patriarchally characterized businesses don’t entirely equate women’s leadership competencies to men. Women hold a critical role in advancing sustainability and gravitating towards the global goals through their environmentally, socially, culturally, and economically responsible governance. Modeling gender-balanced leadership teams to help and educate men and women in elevating disempowered women will aid in attaining ‘gender equality’, a crucial sustainable development goal. This literature review highlights the inevitable competencies and values that the female leaders bring to the table, identifies the underlying factors that hinder the acceleration of women towards higher leadership roles, and recommends the areas to be focused on for immediate actions.