Women Leadership in Bhutan and their Challenges

Introduction
Women leadership have always played a critical role in shaping history around the contemporary
world. Indira Gandhi, Aung San Suu Kyi, Hillary Clinton, Angela Merkel, Jacinda Arden, and Australia’s
own Julia Gillard, to name a few have been able to pave their way in the predominantly male
dominated arena and leave marks. They have overcome hurdles that society, family and the world
has placed in front of them.

Likewise, Bhutan has also produced women leaders namely the Lyonpo Dorji Choden (first female
Minister), Dasho Sangay Zam (first female Secretary of a Ministry), Dasho Neten Zangmo (first
female Chief of Anti-Corruption Commission), Dasho Tashi Chenzom (first female Supreme Court
Judge), to name a few. They were the pioneers in their field, carving a niche in a patriarchal society.
But unlike their male counterparts, they have to overcome more challenges to keep a foothold. This
essay will try to explain the various challenges that woman leaders face from diverse areas, with
especial focus on politics, and provide a viable solution to tackle this issue.

Background
Bhutan is a 38,394 km 2 landlocked country in the Himalayas with a total population of 734,374, of
which 52 percent are female and the rest male. The working population is 44 percent of male and 40
of female [ CITATION Nat19 \l 1033 ] out of the total 310,856.

Record shows that “Bhutan's traditional society has been defined as both patriarchal and
matriarchal, and the member held in highest esteem served as the family's head“ [ CITATION
Sav93 \l 1033 ]. But throughout Bhutan’s history, women have always been the home maker, while
men have had the opportunity to work outside in leadership roles. There are very few exceptions
where women have ventured outside this comfort zone. However, with Bhutan opening her doors to
the outside world during the first five-year plan in 1961 [ CITATION Gro17 \l 1033 ], there was an
opportunity for this status quo to change.

Decentralization decision-making started in the 1950s in Bhutan with the start of the National
Assembly called the ‘Tshogdu’ [ CITATION Kar20 \l 1033 ]. Bhutan joined the United Nations
Organization on September 21, 1971 [CITATION Min17 \l 1033 ]. Television came to Bhutan only in
1999 and it spread to the rest of the country only on 2006. Internet also came in 1999. All these
factors contributed to the advancement of women in leadership positions.

The ratification of the human rights and gender rights provided an opportunity for women to
venture in male-dominated arenas, especially in leadership roles outside homes.

Current Status of Women Leadership in Bhutan

With the start of the first democratic elections in Bhutan in 2007, it was open season for anyone
from any gender to partake and lead the nation. But the results have been minimal. There has been
comparatively less female participation, and yet lesser have won the office. Even today after three
changes in the government, the number of ministers and members of parliament remain very low.
Out of 13 ministerial post holders, there is only one female minister, while there are only 15 percent
female representation in both the upper and lower house of the parliament[ CITATION Nat19 \l 1033
]. In the Local governments, the number is still lesser.

The Royal Civil Service Commission which is the largest employer in the country employs around
28,618 civil servants in government jobs ranging from Operational category to the Executive and
Specialist category. Only 37 percentage of them compose of female while 63 percentage are male.
Out of the 271 in high offices of Executive and Specialist category, only 34 are female. Most coveted
leadership positions in Bhutan are either in Civil Service or Politics. NGOs and private organizations
have their own share of women leaders, but it is very rare in a developing country like Bhutan.

This poses a lot of challenges to Bhutanese women in emerging as leaders, both at home and in the
wider world.

Challenges
Sustainable Development Goal 5 is to ‘Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls’
[CITATION Uni15 \l 1033 ], and throughout the world many countries have progressed towards
ending all forms of gender discrimination and violence, ensuring equal opportunities for
participation in any forums, and undertaking policy reforms to support gender equality. Bhutan has a
governmental organization, National Commission for Women and Children (NCWC) which was
established in 2004. “The key focus of the NCWC is to establish a sustainable and comprehensive
system to mainstream, protect and promote the rights of women and children in Bhutan”
[ CITATION Nat04 \l 1033 ].

But even with the overwhelming freedom and support provided by the Constitution of Bhutan,
women have generally not come forward to participate in politics, as well as progress in the higher
echelons of the civil service. They encounter many challenges to emerge as leaders, some of them
being invisible and engrained in society’s consciousness [CITATION Dor04 \l 1033 ]. Termed Glass
Ceilings, these unacknowledged barriers to advancement in a profession, are to tackle, especially in
contemporary Bhutan.

The following paragraphs divulge into some of the challenges that women face in Bhutan. Starting
from the home and society they are raised in, to the education, and jobs they get into, these
singularly affect the probability of women emerging as leaders in their society, workplace or politics.
Sometimes more than one come into play, thus further dissuading women to emerge the better.

1. Professional Exclusion
The Constitution of Bhutan provides equal opportunities for women to work and get paid. They are
accorded equal right in all aspects of employment. But still women in the civil service constitute only
37%, which is only 6% of the total working population of women in Bhutan. About 63% of the
working women are employed in the agriculture sector, which are spread over rural home-steads
with small land holdings. In the 2019 National Statistics Bureau records NGOs, private business, and
other governmental agencies employ both genders equally, while public and private companies
employ almost half the number of women to men. The armed forces constitute only 6% females.

If we look the nature of employment, 73 out of 100 women work in a non-agriculture family
employment, such as housework, cooking, cleaning, weaving, and looking after the families. And
only 0.2 % of women own business in Bhutan. So, women are excluded in the higher positions’ jobs,
with many being a dependent to the husband.

2. Difference in literacy levels

The 2019 figures show 83,882 girls in schools, more than half of the total students in the country.
But the number drops sharply to 8,201 girls in tertiary and vocational institutions as compared to
10,309 boys. The decline of girls into higher education can be attributed to a lot of factors, but
ultimately it contributes to the smaller number of women in the civil service [ CITATION Nat19 \l
1033 ].
Bhutan also has the Non-Formal Education system, which caters to those who did not avail
opportunity for formal education. Here most of the adult learners are women, and they have all
missed their formal schooling due to one reason or the other. Thus, women generally have lesser
higher education compared to men.

3. Gender Discrimination
The Gender Inequality Index of the Asian countries puts Bhutan with 0.436 doing much better than
most countries in the region, but still ranking 134 in the world [ CITATION UND19 \l 1033 ]. There is
no overt gender discrimination in Bhutan. But ADB report of 2014 notes that “while there is no overt
discrimination in the country, women are held back by gender stereotypes and ingrained views
about their role in family and society.” [ CITATION Asi14 \l 1033 ].

The report on the National Key Result Area (NKRA) 10 (Gender Equality) of the 12 th Five Year Plan
mentions that “ women are engaged in lower quality jobs” [ CITATION Dam20 \l 1033 ]. She further
reports the need to create more awareness, capacity building programs and mainstreaming gender
issues in legislations, policies, plans and programs.

So even though women are protected against discriminations by the Constitution, the start reality is
different.

4. Culture, Tradition and Religion

Since ancient, Bhutanese leaders were all males, starting from the time of Bhutan as a nation state.
Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal and his dual system of governance in the 17 th century did not include
women in any sphere of leadership. Nor did the succeeding political leaders of Bhutan [ CITATION
Kar14 \l 1033 ]. Thus, women in leadership position is a new concept for Bhutan, which was largely
ignored and reinforced by the traditional and cultural norms of the hour. To top it, religion too plays
an important part in cementing these nomenclatures.

An example would be the saying that men are superior to women by nine lives, a religious belief
which further demeans the feminine gender. Also, in Buddhism, everyone prays to be born as a male
in the next life. In Bhutanese cultural, men are generally seemed more confident and thus more
capable than women, while the opposite is thought of women [ CITATION Thi12 \l 1033 ].

Thus, women seem to have accepted this and are reluctant to go against this age-old customs and
traditions.

5. Early Marriage, Childbirth and Family

Early marriage is still a phenomenon which plagues rural Bhutan. A 2006 study found out that 14% of
girls and 5% of boys were married under the age of 18. This is the minimum age for marriage in
Bhutan [ CITATION Par09 \l 1033 ]. This naturally results in teenage pregnancy [ CITATION Bla06 \l
1033 ].

Young women are deprived of schooling opportunities while early childbirth further cements her
role as a housewife. Even typical Bhutanese parents wouldn’t prefer girls to continue their education
after a certain level, citing Buddhist culture [ CITATION Kar04 \l 1033 ].

Furthermore, once a woman gives birth, it is almost accepted that they would step back from office
work to look after the children at home, sometimes sacrificing their jobs.

6. Role models
Children look up to their parents as role models. They also look unto their teachers, and other
relatives [ CITATION Ame17 \l 1033 ]. This would mean that what they want to become in their later
life is largely influenced by people they look up to. But for the Bhutanese girls there were almost
non-existent local female leaders to follow. No wonder many Bhutanese girl school-students wanted
to become teachers and nurses when they grew up. There were simply not enough role models in
Bhutan.

With the late arrival of internet and television in Bhutan, there were almost no way for the younger
population to come across contemporary role models, except those that were in their school books.
Marie Curie, John of Arc, Anne Frank, Mother Teresa to name a few, the only ones whom girls came
across.

But the internet and television has brought Oprah Winey, Malala Yousifazi and many others right in
front of the young girls on Bhutan. More local role models, in the likes of Ngawang Pem, Tashi
Chenzom, Namgay Pelden, Gaki etc, the first females in leadership roles in their field came into the
limelight [ CITATION Son151 \l 1033 ].

Girls need women whom they can look up to, and having local role models will be a positive vicious
cycle of hope and admiration, leaders creating leaders.

Solution for Bhutan?

The Constitution of Bhutan provides an equal footing for both men and women, yet there are lesser
women in leadership position in Bhutan. “The Gross National Happiness Commission (GNHC), the
planning commission of the Royal Government of Bhutan continues to take the pivotal role of
initiating and coordinating action on gender equality issues in the country….A Gender Equity Policy is
also being formulated, which is expected to integrate gender issues across all policies, programs and
projects.”[ CITATION Ten18 \l 1033 ].

Bhutan does not have quota for women in politics, but in the civil service, there is always a known
preference for equal representation, which may not always work up to the expectation. There have
been strong vocal arguments by Lamzang (2014) stressing for a need for gender quotas in politics in
Bhutan. But it is still debated and discarded. Therefore, there is always lesser talent pool among
women to select party candidates.

Leatherby (2016) quotes that having a gender quota helped women obtain party leadership
positions in Sweden. The quota ‘both immediately and permanently improved women’s access to
leadership positions in municipalities where fewer women had previously held elected office.’ She
further states that after the implementation of the quota, the talent pool generally got
strengthened.

Gender Equality versus Gender Equity is a debate. The controversial instrument of quota for women
is the answer in Bhutan. Having it will provide an equitable opportunity of representation in politics,
business and beyond. Turan (2015) argues that “in the political world, quotas ensure that parliament
truly reflects the population it represents”. Thus, “quotas help rectify women’s under-representation
in prominent positions, and make it entirely normal for women to take up managerial roles in the
political, economic and academic systems”.

Belgium’s Smet- Tobback Act of 1994 allows only two-thirds of all candidates to be of the same sex
[CITATION Bet13 \l 1033 ], which resulted a significant increase in female participation as political
candidates.

For Bhutan, the answer lies much different. Even if there is a quota system for women in politics, are
there enough in the pool for selection? Bhutan’s favourite place to pull in political candidates are the
civil service, yet there are only 13% women in Executive and Specialist posts, with the corresponding
number being 34 women. Add the professional category and the percentage increases to 25
[ CITATION Nat19 \l 1033 ]. So, there is way too less women in the talent pool.

Pem (2018) reports that even female politicians feel that instead of a quota system, the existing
women leaders must set good examples, encourage others to participate, and educate them on the
importance of participation. The 11 th Five Year Plan document to draft legislation to ensure quota for
women in elected offices, but was not mentioned in the 12 th Five Year Plan documents. Instead there
is a mention of increasing the participation of women in politics from the present 15% [ CITATION
Gro19 \l 1033 ].

So, to reach that stature, there is a need for promoting gender friendliness and promoting job
opportunities to reduce female unemployment. Technical, financial and human resources can also
be prioritised for gender equality. And having quota for women in politics, business and civil service
will certainly uplift their status in the society.

Conclusion
Woman leadership is very important, as they are certainly influential both inside the home and
outside in the society. The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. There are various programs
that cater to women empowerment. And even the quota for women in politics is a debated issue
time and again.

Bhutan has started producing notable women leaders in almost all fields. Culture, tradition and
religion have always played an important role in woman’s rise as leaders. Education and policies to
reduce discrimination also impact whether women will reach the top or not. And the ones who have
made it this far have balanced a family and career. Yet, they pave way for the younger aspirants by
being role models.

And times are indeed changing. But the road towards equal participation in leadership roles is long
and hard. The various barriers are slowly being destroyed. The establishment of NCWC is evidence to
this change. But until the time when there is gender equality, equity must be enforced. Women
must be given opportunity to come forth, to lead, and to excel. Providing quota for them will surely
bring the desired change, propelling women in the limelight, and encouraging the others who come
after to excel.

“Until women and girls are liberated from poverty and injustice, all our goals – peace, security,
sustainable development – stand in jeopardy.” Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon, United Nations.

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