I think people have to understand what the definition of true leadership is. If leadership is defined by the number of senior positions that are held by women in an organization, that could be one definition. However, I think our overall definition of leadership has to be looked at when you look at individual genders.
Women play a huge role—and they should be recognized as playing the huge role that they do—in agriculture as support: playing a part in a farming operation, working with the organizations that they do on the rural levels, and taking senior, middle, and lower management positions in corporate agribusiness. I think there's a tremendous opportunity for women to increase that and to raise that level, but I think we have to take a look at what the true definition of leadership is.
We have to recognize that women do take maternity leave and that their salaries, jobs, positions, and roles are affected by that. Sometimes I think we have to turn the corner and look at the recognition women get from the male gender, by having males understand the role of women in an industry and what role they can play to assist women in keeping a leadership status.
I think it's all in the definition.