By Euphresia Luseka, management committee member of the Public and Customer Communications SG
As a mentor, I have witnessed firsthand the transformative power of mentorship and sponsorship in addressing gender leadership gaps by increasing water women’s: representation at all levels, visibility, dismantling gender barriers, opening doors to leadership roles and innovative solutions.
The paradox here is clear: mentoring and sponsoring women aims to support the advancement of women by addressing gender disparities, yet such actions often fall short of tackling the deeper and broader resource scarcity and structural problems that plague the water sector. Without strategic funding and systemic reforms, these efforts risk becoming superficial, placing undue pressure on women to perform without the backing they need to succeed in a sector that remains chronically under-resourced. Worse, this focus on individual success can lead to burnout, tokenism, and inability to sustain progress.
Women are left prepared yet powerless, qualified yet overlooked.
As it stands, the water sector not only suffers from a lack of competent women but also a commitment to placing them in positions of power. While celebrating incremental progress, we must also dismantle systemic barriers keeping women trapped in cycles of mentorship without mobility.
Visibility without authority is not empowerment—it is a distraction.
The Illusion of Progress: Mentorship and Sponsorship
Most mentored and sponsored women have become visible but very few are influential. Without financial backing, decision-making power, and structural inclusion, these programs have amounted to symbolic gestures.
They create an illusion of progress while reinforcing the status quo.
Sponsorship, in theory, is meant to be the lever that propels women into leadership roles. However, in an underfunded sector, where opportunities are scarce, sponsorship without financial investments is like offering someone a seat at the table without granting them a voice.
The question is: Are women being sponsored into meaningful leadership positions or relegated to token advisory roles?
Systemic Barriers are Holding Women Back
To understand the depth of this issue, we must examine the systemic barriers that persistently hinder women’s advancement in the water workforce: 1) The broken rung is a more pervasive barrier than the glass ceiling, as women’s participation in technical, leadership, and governance roles remains lower, despite their qualifications. Without systemic intervention, this broken rung will continue to hinder career advancement, reinforcing inequality. 2)While some women break through, many are placed on the glass cliff, where they take on precarious leadership roles with little support, resources, or decision-making authority, setting them up for failure. These roles often serve as mere symbolic gestures toward gender equality, rather than driving real transformation. This issue is compounded by 3) Tokenism; women remain visible but lack true authority, as decision-making power is dominated by men. Additionally, women are often burdened with 4) Emotional labour, taking on extra mentoring and diversity tasks without career advancement or compensation. 5) Chronic underfunding in the water sector, with limited investments, promotion opportunities and innovative projects or leadership roles, further reduces the impact of mentorship, turning it into an empty promise.
Indeed, Equity without investment is performative at best and regressive at worst.
A Call to Action: From Symbolism to Revolution
If we continue to mentor, sponsor and underfund women, we are not breaking barriers—we are reinforcing them.
Around the world, a global movement is actively stepping up. Stepping up to challenge the norms. The Stronger Together Coalition, UNESCO’s Women and Water Programme, Women for Water Partnership and Women in Water Diplomacy Network are advocating for systemic change empowering women in water leadership.
Empowerment is only as meaningful as the systemic change it cultivates and transformation it triggers in the sector as a whole.
The future of the water sector demands a radical shift, not a symbolic gesture.
1) Real change demands a more comprehensive approach—pairing mentorship and sponsorship with industry-wide investment for gender equity in leadership, policies and structural reforms to create equitable opportunities for all.
2) Measure Influence not just how many women hold leadership titles, but how much power they actually wield in decision-making and budget control.
3) Redefine Sponsorship to have women controlling resources, influencing policy, and leading transformation.
4) Stop Tokenism and demand executive positions where they make a real impact.
