LeadersTalk hosted by OECD Development Centre

Women cannot lead on equal terms while men are expected to hold authority and women are expected to carry the weight of care. New OECD research on masculinities in Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal lays bare how deep these expectations run: 81% of men and 71% of women believe men make better political leaders, 96% of the population see providing for the family as a man’s most important role, and over 90% of men say they would feel stressed or anxious if unable to do so. Yet the evidence also reveals a striking “silent gap”: women and men alike underestimate other men’s support for equal pay and fathers’ involvement in care, making resistance to change appear greater than it really is. Drawing on the OECD’s Social Institutions and Gender Index and the OECD Development Centre’s contribution to the Advisory Group for RGF’s Shared Responsibility track, this LeadersTalk asks how role models, public narratives and everyday actions can close that gap, and how engaging men and boys as partners can open more space for women to lead.