The Women and Public Policy Program  works with faculty, students, government officials, influential media, corporate and military decision makers, and leaders of civil society to provide research, instruction, and training related to many of the most pressing issues of our time. WAPPP shapes the policy agenda through five program areas:

1. Government
Women make up only 14% of the US Senate and 13% of the House of Representatives.

WAPPP promotes research on the interaction of gender with both elite and popular participation in government; links students and members of Congress concerned with gender issues through Policy Analysis Exercises (masters theses); hosts women political leaders on campus; engages women fellows of the Institute of Politics and Center for Business and Government

From Harvard Square to the Oval Office: A Political Campaign Practicum

2. Business
Men hold the CEO positions in 98.8% of the Fortune 500 companies.

WAPPP explores gender business practices and theories; investigates the impact of information technology on women; hosts women business leaders to meet with students; organizes executive training for corporate women leaders.

3. Developing Economies
Women work 35 hours more than men every week, but own 1% of the world’s land.

WAPPP fosters research on initiatives such as workplace protection for women in the “informal economy;” addresses current issues in the field with faculty and students from several campuses.

4. Security
Women make up 75% of the refugees and internally displaced in the world who have lost their families and homes.

WAPPP sponsors research through the Boston Consortium on Gender, Security and Human Rights; trains women from over 20 conflicts, bringing them together with policy makers; collaborates with the International Security Program for two research fellowships a year; works with the Carr Center for Human Rights and Shorenstein Center on Press, Politics, and Public Policy to strengthen the voice of exceptional women.

5. Religion
Less than 15% of the 2,000 religious leaders at the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders were women.

WAPPP promotes research on the interaction of religion and gender; articulates and distributes the policy framework of Transition within Tradition: Restoring Women’s Participation in Afghanistan; collaborates with the Harvard Divinity School to bring together women leaders of religious organizations.

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