During one of the most historical and economically volatile presidential election years in our lifetime, I have been advocating to students and colleagues in education a powerful message being delivered by a Washington, D.C., advocacy group called the White House Project that tells women: "Go vote, run and lead."

What a splendid opportunity this year for women to "Go vote, run and lead." Our students and their contemporaries will come of age in the 21st century and are beneficiaries of the valiant struggle and inspirational work of generations of women who went before them. For most of history, women have had a challenging road to education and suffrage, and to leadership and power.

There has been remarkable progress for women's suffrage since the inception of the suffrage movement in 1848 at the convention on women's rights in Seneca Falls, N.Y. Seven decades and a tortuous history from that important date took us to the passage of the 19th amendment in 1920.

And here we are in the opening decade of the 21st century, 88 years after the passage of the 19th amendment. The path for women in the United States during these 88 years to "Go vote, run and lead" has been challenging. A major concern that continues to this date is that so many women do not vote. In the 2004 presidential election, 22 million eligible women voters did not cast ballots. Only 56 percent voted, and less than 35 percent of women, aged 18 to 24 years, voted.

The statistical evidence suggests that many barriers continue to hinder equity and power sharing between men and women. The "lid on leadership" paints a dispiriting picture. Roughly 20 percent of women are leaders in the boardrooms of businesses and corporations. This percentage is slightly lower in our military ranks and higher in nonprofit organizations, where, not coincidentally, salaries are much lower.

With women filling only 16 percent of the seats in the 110th U.S. Congress, our country's percentage of women serving ranks a shocking 68th in the world behind Rwanda, China and Sierra Leone. Only one woman sits on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Eighteen percent of governors, eight out of 50, are women. Of governor-appointed posts in all 50 states last year, 35 percent were held by women, up from 28 percent a decade earlier. Hawai'i ranked 24th with 34.8 percent of senior policy positions held by women, who do make up 49.8 percent of the state's population!

In terms of earning power, career advancement and financial security, the gender gap remains — although in the past 30 years women have made significant progress in the mid-level corporate and entrepreneurial world, but not in the highest ranks of its leadership. Of the Fortune 500 companies, only 2 percent (10 out of 500) are headed by women. According to the most recent Hawai'i Business Top 250, just 15 women, a mere 6 percent, hold the highest management positions in the state's top 250 companies. And in the past 10 years, only one woman has made The Advertiser's annual survey of Hawai'i's 25 best-paid executives. Women are also dramatically underrepresented in certain fields, such as science and engineering.

Four decades after the Equal Pay Act, women are earning, on average, 77 cents for every $1 their male counterparts earn. While this is an all-time high for women, it is not a cause for celebration. Two-thirds of Hawai'i's working women are clustered in service, clerical and sales jobs, which include many lower-paying jobs that offer few possibilities for promotion.

So, in these important weeks before the election, let us re-emphasize the great importance for all women to go to the polls and exercise the great responsibility they have inherited from the hard work of those women who have preceded them. Women have an obligation to share in the nation's agenda by joining with men to address pressing issues, such as global warming, economic instability, geopolitical tension, war, violence, hunger and disease, as well as the myriad of other problems with which we live.

We need smart, compassionate and capable people — women and men — to help us move beyond gender, class and racial divisions that have polarized our world and hindered our capacity for growth as an enlightened global and national community.

It is time for women to help solve these problems. A serious recognition of their responsibility to "Go vote, run and lead" is a wonderful opportunity to help us reach gender equity and the dream of a mature society where all people are truly equal.

Betty White is the principal of Sacred Hearts Academy and a trustee of the National Coalition of Girls' Schools and the Hawai'i Association of Independent Schools. She wrote this commentary for The Advertiser.