Countries led by women had nearly half the COVID-19 deaths of men-led ones, study says
A review of 194 countries fighting against the coronavirus reveals that women-led countries such as New Zealand and Germany have fared “significantly” better than countries led by men.
The research, which has yet to be peer reviewed, shows that initial policy responses during the first quarter of the pandemic in female-led countries have saved nearly two times more lives than those run by males despite having similar numbers of cases, according to the preprint published on the Social Science Research Network.
The pair of researchers from England say the results point to “better policies and compliance” in countries led by women, particularly the timing of lockdowns. The findings “offer a unique global experiment” to study the impact of gender on leadership during an emergency — a field that has received little to no academic attention because few female leaders exist, the researchers admit.
“This lack of female leadership has given way to ‘single-sex’ conjectures that support the ‘Great Men’ view of history, within which, events are determined by the instrumental and causal influence of a small number of men,” researchers Supriya Garikipati and Uma Kambhampati wrote in their paper. “The gender of leadership could well have been key in the current context where attitudes to risk and empathy mattered as did clear and decisive communications.”
The team took note of the economic status and population size of every country analyzed, how densely populated urban regions were in those nations and how much of the population is over 65 years old, the age at which COVID-19 deaths rise, according to the study. They also looked at how many coronavirus cases and deaths each country had up until May 19.
However, out of the 194 countries sampled, only 19 have female leaders. So, the researchers used a “nearest neighbor matching method” to compare women versus men-led countries that are similar based on socio-demographic and economic factors.
Matching was further specified by including the annual expenditure on health in each country and openness to tourism. Germany, New Zealand and Bangladesh — female-led countries — were paired with male-led Britain, Ireland and Pakistan, respectively, according to The Guardian.
“Our matched estimations show a definite and consistent pattern, confirming that the number of deaths is lower in women-led countries than in countries led by men,” partly because women were quicker to lock down their countries, the researchers said.
As of Aug. 18, Germany has more than 9,000 coronavirus deaths, while the U.K. has more than 41,000 deaths; New Zealand has 22 COVID-19 deaths, while Ireland has more than 1,700, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Even when eliminating nations that have been in the “COVID-19 spotlight” such as the U.S., Germany and New Zealand, deaths were still significantly lower in women-led countries than male ones. Female-run Taiwan is an example, the researchers mentioned.
“Our results above clearly indicate that women leaders reacted more quickly and decisively in the face of potential fatalities,” the researchers said. “In almost all cases, they locked down earlier than male leaders in similar circumstances. While this may have longer-term economic implications, which we cannot test here, it has certainly helped these countries to save lives.”
The pair also learned that the total number of COVID-19 tests administered were “slightly higher” in countries led by women, while tests per million were “significantly higher” compared to male-led nations.
Why women leaders might have responded better to the pandemic
One idea that could explain the researchers’ findings is “gender-differences in attitudes to risk and uncertainty.” Women, leaders or not, tend to be more resistant to risky behavior than men, science has shown.
But in terms of COVID-19, “women were less willing to take risks with lives but were more willing to accept risks in relation to the early lockdown of economies,” the pair said, meaning women were still being risky but in different ways.
Women also “respond more strongly and intensely than men when anticipating negative outcomes,” which could explain why women try to stay away from such situations, according to the researchers. Men, on the other hand, are more likely to respond with anger, which “is seen to make them less cautious about future gambles.”
What’s more, past research has shown that countries with “more gender equitable institutions” might be more likely to select female leaders; “this may not only mean that women find gaining power easier in these countries, but that women in power may also enjoy greater trust and support from a political and social context.”
These female-led countries might also be “more modern and equitable and therefore perform better during crises,” the researchers said.
This story was originally published August 18, 2020 at 2:38 PM with the headline "Countries led by women had nearly half the COVID-19 deaths of men-led ones, study says."
