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"If you really want to change a culture, to empower women, improve basic hygiene and health care, and fight rates of infant mortality, the answer is to educate girls." - Greg Mortenson, from the book Three Cups of Tea

Whether it's the work of Greg Mortenson, who builds schools in the most inhospitable regions of Pakistan, or the work of Nobel Prize winner Amartya Sen battling famine and poverty, the answer is the same: to have meaningful, lasting positive change on a society, women must be empowered from a young age to seek education.

As Mortenson's book "Three Cups of Tea" and Sen's work shows, actually providing the means for that education to occur is a monumental task. Imagine how much easier this difficult task could be made by the common knowledge that the leader of the nation is a woman. Cultural barriers against women would more easily fall with a woman in such a high-profile position.

Young girls would realize their destiny is theirs to create. Young men would be affected as well; a woman in charge would be nothing extraordinary to them as they grew into adults. They would notice other men taking orders from a woman, and as such would over time get used to the concept. Even if they disagree with her, they would still respect her boldness. They would then learn to treat women as equals.

A woman makes a better leader for a developing country not because of any perceived innate ability that one might believe (in sexist fashion) that all women posses over all men. It is clear from nations in the developed world that females can function in leadership roles as effectively as males can.

In a developing country, a woman would make a better leader than a man simply by virtue of her symbolism. She would help accelerate the development of education for girls, the key, according to the two prominent humanitarians mentioned earlier, to improving the living conditions of a nation. Even if you cannot build a school to educate every woman, you can inspire them to pursue their own goals by showing them success is possible. You can show them the value of an education. Perhaps they will be driven to build their own school.

Like it or not, there is only one way in which anyone leads, and that is by example. Any nation can pay lip-service to equal rights for both genders, but one test of a nation's greatness is its opportunities for women. When a woman takes a commanding role, that is a huge step for all women.

As the women of the poorer classes of a developing nation are empowered to pursue their own learning, they will assist in solidifying the infrastructure of the growing economy. This will free the country's leader to pursue the larger issues affecting the country.

No society that oppresses women will long survive. A woman leader helps cast away the foolish notion that nearly every early society in humankind has struggled against: that women are inferior to men.

No one religion, no one race, no one nation, no one gender, no one has all the answers. Equal rights for all is the only way forward. If humanity is to survive the challenges of the 21st century, we need the most diverse collection of ideas and experiences to guide us. There are plenty of men in leadership roles. A woman's perspective is necessary. Just by her presence in a country's highest office, she will inspire a generation of young girls, which is the surest way to improving a society.

Learn more about this author, Larry Nocella.
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