Aspects Affecting Women's Involvement in Political Leadership: A Case Study of the University of Education, Winneba, Ghana

Women's involvement in political leadership is crucial to ensure gender equality and meet sustainable development and international integration requirements. Although many measures have been developed domestically and internationally to enable women to be involved in political leadership, women's involvement in this area still needs to be improved in Ghana and around the globe. However, women's participation in political leadership has increased relatively but not significantly. The study investigates the aspects that affect women's participation in political leadership. The study assesses the influence of demographic, economic, cultural and gender-based electoral perception on women's participation in political leadership. Economic aspects such as mobility, income, and resources were examined as cultural aspects such as women's priorities and if the cultural aspect supports women's entry into politics. The study was conducted through a descriptive survey with a quantitative approach. Data was collected using online questionnaires and responses from 70 University of Education, Winneba participants. Data were analysed using percentage and frequency distribution techniques using the JASP 6.0 version. Data collected was presented in tables in frequencies and percentages. Results showed a significant association between women's involvement in political leadership and demographic and cultural aspects. The research has theoretical and practical implications for future studies on women and politics in the country.


INTRODUCTION
For governments to be effective and responsive to the needs of all citizens, women must be involved in political leadership.However, women's participation in political leadership has increased slightly but not significantly.Ghana, which ranks 148 in the world for female political representation, with 13.09 % of female legislators, faces significant obstacles to women in the legislative po-sitions of national government leaders [1,2].Various empirical studies have been conducted on women's political involvement [1,3,4].These studies indicated a disparity between women and men in participation in politics.Women encounter more obstacles than men in joining parliament.They are burdened with many duties in the home and public spheres, which makes it difficult for them to participate in political leadership, which takes much time [5].For women to be empowered, they must take on political leadership roles since more women in politics will support their causes on all fronts [6].In addition, scholars have shown that women who join parliament offer a unique viewpoint compared to men [7,8].Even though many measures have been developed domestically and internationally to enable women to be involved in political leadership, women's involvement in this area still needs to grow globally [1].Ghana, the focus of this paper, ranks 148 in the world for female political representation, with 13.09 % of female legislators facing significant obstacles to women in the legislative positions of national government leaders [9].In the history of Ghana, the Effutu constituency has never been represented by a woman as a member of parliament.To the authors' knowledge, there have yet to be studies on female involvement in political leadership in Ghana.Therefore, this study attempts to fill this gap in the research.This investigation examines the relationship between demographic, economic, and cultural aspects and women's involvement in political leadership.Specifically, to analyse demographic factors, we explore how marital status and educational level differences affect women's decisions in political leadership involvement.Concerning the economic aspect, we dive into women's income range and their interest in politics.With the cultural element, we explore how women's priorities, patriarchy, and public opinion affect women's political involvement.
Women's involvement in political leadership is increasing worldwide but is relatively low.The world average of female lawmakers is 26,4 % [10].According to a study by the Inter-Parliamentarian Union (2019), the average female parliamentary representation worldwide increased to 24.3 % in 2019 and over 23.3 % in 2018.This 0.9 % gain has maintained similar trends in the last decade, highlighting this century's slow steps in achieving gender balance in representation in parliament worldwide [9].It is worth noting that there are now more females in management and executive than there were previously.The proportion of countries with women as national leaders, heads of government, or even both has over quadrupled from 2005, per the research published by the Inter-Parliamentarian Union and United Union.Females are displayed in the Female Politicians 2019 map.
Female parliamentarians have also grown, from 14.2 % in 2005 to 16.7 % in 2018 [11,12].However, it has yet to result in more excellent representation in parliament.The Philippines is one epitome of this scenario.Even though the Philippines has had two female presidents in the past three decades, women make up just 22 % of the total of the House of Representatives, yet only 13% of the second chamber [13].Liberia is Africa's first nation to elect a female president, with women accounting for 9.6% of the lower chamber and 13.3% of the upper chamber.Even though women's legislative and political engagement has risen throughout Europe, equality for women still needs to be attained.In the last 250 years, women's political power and resource equality have increased dramatically in industrial nations [14].Women are standing and being voted to legislative bodies in more significant numbers than ever, and women carry many executive posts in national parliaments.Whereas females have made tremendous progress in possessing political power [15], they continue to be underrepresented in official politics in several Western countries [14].Differences between male and female political activity remain in the United States and the United Kingdom [16].Although these two nations have extensive political histories and excellent ratings on indices of women's status, only a small number of women get elected [17].The United States of America is placed 78th around the globe regarding women seats in parliament, with 23.5 % of women in the House Of Representatives and 25 % in the Upper House, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Commission Report (2019).The United Kingdom, on the other hand, is rated 39th, with 32 % of women in the House of Representatives and 26 % in the upper house.In Asia, even though women account for half of humanity [9], they remain underrepresented in decision-making bodies.Even though there has been a lot of advancement in recent decades, only a tiny percentage of women are elected to leadership roles [3].The total average of female lawmakers in the lower and upper houses is a pitiful 17.9% [9].In-dia, one of the world's three oldest democracies, has just 11% female lawmakers in the lower and 10.1 in the upper chamber, placing it 143rd globally regarding female representation in the parliament [9].
In Africa, women's political involvement has risen in recent years, although there is still a gender imbalance in political participation between males and females (1).Women's representation in Congress has climbed from 7 % overall in 1990 to over 17% in 2007 and 20.4 % by 2018, much above the national average [9].Growth in political involvement is due to legal limits mandating women to hold a specific percentage of political offices [18].Six South Africans, including Tanzania, Burundi, Uganda, Rwanda, South Africa, and Mozambique, have reached their saturation point of 30% or more significant women's roles in their national legislatures [9].These nations have reached this goal because they acknowledged the significance of choice and changed their democratic and legislative systems to reflect this [1].Rwanda is the territory with the topmost proportion of women in legislature worldwide.Two thousand eighteen women comprised 61.3 % of the population, down from 63.8 % in 2017.This percentage, though, is significantly more than the 30% allotted for females in the lower house, as established in the 2003 law.Such accomplishment would not have been achieved alone without the Republic of Rwanda's cooperation and dedication at the government level [19].Despite global advancements in women's political involvement, Ghana has significant challenges regarding women in leadership positions of publicly elected leaders.Ghana is ranked 148 worldwide for female parliamentary representation, with 13.09 % of female lawmakers [9].

Women's Involvement in Political Leadership.
Equality for females in politics has proved difficult to attain.Even though most nations have adopted democratisation, there has yet to be a half-gender split in political leadership.Female political engagement is minimal worldwide, with the Northern nations standing out as prominent outliers [1].The Northern nations are on the verge of gender equity, with 42 % of legislators being women.The only nations with gender parity in parliament are Rwanda, Cuba, Bolivia, and Andorra.These countries have 61.25 %, 53.22 %, 53.22 %, and 50 % of women in the parliamentary [9].There are six nations in the world whose percentage of female parliamentarians is lower than 8%: Micronesia, Palau, Belize, Qatar, Nauru, Saudi Arabia, and the Solomon Islands [9].
Economic variables affecting women's involvement in legislative politics.Authors [20] conducted empirical research in the United States that indicates it is significantly more challenging for women to enter political government when they have been financially disadvantaged because they lack enough access to critical assets in the vicinity of open selection [20].The financial downturn in so-called "democratic systems" has increased the likelihood of hardship for females, who are expected to become more politicised due to the crisis [21].According to empirical research conducted in Kenya by [4], most ambitious women and politicians need help to raise funds for their campaigns.Economic factors in both old and modern governments directly impact females' parliamentary recruitment [4].A woman's socioeconomic standing has a direct impact on their ability to participate in political organisations and representative bodies [5,21] found that democracy seems to have become increasingly expensive in Tanzania.To engage in politics, significant amounts of money are required.Female political work is limited due to a need for more access to and control of economic capital.
Regarding the cost of politics in Ghana, the cost of vying for political positions jumped 59% between 2012 and 2016.To run in their constituency's parliamentary election and win the party primary nomination, candidates needed to raise an average of GH389,803 (about US$85,000).Personal income is the most typical source for a political campaign.The image that emerges is one of a funding structure far more dependent on personal contacts, which may have ramifications for personal debt among politicians and, as a result, corruption in Ghanaian politics.Political parties still offer some financial support to candidates [22].A study showed that men have an advantage in getting campaign funds in Ghana.During the 2016 parliamentary election, female candidates fell short of their male counterparts' expenditures in three categories: campaigning, paying party employees, and donations.However, women spent an average of GH28,335 more on media and advertising than their male counterparts.But altogether, males outspent women by more than GH50,000 on average.Demographic variables on women's involvement in leadership in politics.Women in political in-volvement are influenced by demographic characteristics such as education, ethnicity, and marital status [23].It appears self-evident that school curriculum should be substantially linked to women's and men's political involvement [24].Indeed, focusing on years of study into the variables impacting females' and males' participation in politics in the United States, American sociologists [17] analysed that education is a tremendous indicator of political involvement.According to [25,26], education has prompted more women to enrol or engage in political organisations.The most effective way to encourage women to speak up is via education.According to research undertaken in Asia, ignorance and a lack of academic achievement are the most demoralising factors for females' growth [23].Women account for multiple of the globe's illiterates [27].
According to [23], 60 % of the 135 million kids aged seven to eighteen who do not have the right to education are females, and only about one in four girls who start primary school stay in it for four years [28].Although the establishment is universal and obligatory for middle and high education, females' accessibility to school continues to be challenging, owing to traditional views.School dropout rates due to pregnancy and premature and forceful unions hit 80,000 annually [24].Studies in Nigeria, most ethnicities encourage sending boys to school above female children, who are likely to care for relatives and marry away.This doubles the number of girls and makes it more complicated for females to compete in politics against their male peers [29].Within India, factual research shows that literacy significantly influences females' ability to participate in governmental processes [19].In Nigeria, skilled women are required to become more powerful and wish to engage in authority [30].The author [23] claims that education empowers females by increasing their capacity to generate income, creating the courage to face problems, and improving their capacity to make choices about themselves and the community.
In terms of access to education in Ghana, Despite efforts to enhance girls' education in the country, the 2000 Population and Housing Census in Ghana found that 54.3% of females aged 15 and older had never attended school.At the nursery or infanthood education level, gender parity between boys and girls has practically been attained.The difference widens at the junior high and high school levels, nonetheless, from the elementary or primary school levels.For instance, in the 1999 and 2000 school years, the proportion of females and boys in junior secondary schools, sometimes known as junior high schools, was 44.9% and 55.1%, respectively.Only 33% of high school and postsecondary students are female, widening the gender gap at both levels of education [31].Girls' enrollment in schools remains low despite adopting the free mandatory and universal primary education program in 1994, particularly in rural areas of the nation.Even while enrollment in public schools is free, indirect expenditures such as books, school uniforms, and other materials have made education expensive [32].
Union and motherhood are expected to have a more substantial adverse influence on women than men, according to scientific research in the United States, wherein marriage also might improve male involvement [33].According to research undertaken in the Netherlands and the United States, unmarried females engage in politics more than married women [34].Women's free time decreases to a more significant level than men's after marriage; women spend a lot of time on chores [35].In Asia, academic research [23] reveals that longer marriages foster a trusting marital relationship, which allows for the gaining of more power.In this context, authors [36] showed that young women in Bangladesh were subjected to more severe control by their partners than older wives.Husbands' intense supervision of young women gradually limits their independence.The empirical findings show that divorce impacts people's resources and that the effect is often more significant and more detrimental for women [18].However, another study in the USA and Netherlands [34] suggested a positive correlation between a rise in women's political activity and divorce.This is in line with a study in Kenya that a significant proportion of women in politics are widowed, divorced, or never married [4].

Cultural Variables and their Effects on Women's
Participation in Political Positions.The author [37] asserts that historically, top management has been viewed as a male realm due to cultural norms around gender and management that exclude women.According to [5] empirical study, women in most nations undertake a significant share of household labour.Shvedova acknowledged that it is hard for women to engage in politics while their primary focus is surviving.They have no option but to devote most of their duration to meeting their families' fundamental re-quirements.However, some females may have full-time occupations as spouses and moms in addition to other part-time employment.In these circumstances, being a member of parliament may be deemed a third full-time job.Jacinda, New Zealand's prime minister, is a mother, and during her election campaign, she was asked what she would do if she got pregnant.Jacinda responded that she would take the same approach to being a Prime Minister and a mother as she did when she was a Member of Parliament and a mother: she would look to the welfare of her child first and be transparent about her decision.Jacinda also said she could manage both roles and looked forward to the challenge [38].
Consequently, most women believe they cannot occupy a political post while juggling other duties [39].Authors [40] conducted empirical research in the United States and noticed that females consistently face heavier domestic obligations and family responsibilities.Women are also considered essential caretakers even if they work outside the house.This limits the time available for work and raises stress levels, resulting in more significant work overload and behavioural patterns that undermine political leadership.Women are acutely aware of their home responsibilities [41].Men are supposed to be financially solid or commercial caregivers for their families while still meeting job obligations.Men are more likely to make concessions in the house to meet various job obligations, and women are more likely to do the reverse.Conventional and continuous impediments have been proven to inhibit women's enthusiastic quest for the role of political leadership, according to research studies by [42].Women's subjugation to males is a worldwide occurrence, albeit the kind and intensity of subjugation vary significantly between cultures.Sex roles ideology not only creates dualism between male and female roles, but it also sets them in a hierarchy structure in which the female sex is often regarded as less than the male sex due to its gendered social reproductive functions [21].According to studies by Paxton and Hughes, females are elected in more significant numbers in more accepting and equitable cultures [43].
The author [44] examined the issue of why women are disadvantaged in management roles and discovered that one of the causes is the unfavourable perception of women in these roles.He claims people have a wrong opinion of women in management roles because they perform poorly when elected to leadership positions in compa-nies with a male predominance.In societies where women are socialised from infancy into tight responsibilities that exclude them from the ultimate decisions, obtaining elected office is significantly more challenging [45].Although household responsibilities hinder females' participation in politics, there are some notable examples of successful female leadership; for example, Angela Merkel is the longest-serving head of state in the European Union and the first female chancellor of Germany.She has been at the helm of the German government since 2005 and has established a solid international presence [46].Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was Africa's first female democratically elected head of state.From 2006 to 2018, she presided over Liberia as president, and her attempts to restore economic stability and peace to the nation devastated by conflict were well-known [47].
Ghanaian society is patriarchal, which has led to the oppression and dominance of women.Women have entered the workforce in more significant numbers in Ghana since its independence, but they are still behind males in all fields.Women's subordinate status was undeniable in most traditional Ghanaian societies.Through indoctrination, including their initiation ceremonies, women were trained to accept their place.They were instructed to respect their elders and be submissive wives.They were informed that a guy might wed many women [32].In Ghana and across Africa, men are expected to take the lead, and women are expected to comply.In rural African areas, it is not unusual to see a man walking in front of a woman.There are many possible explanations for this, but ultimately, it demonstrates the broad belief that management and leadership belong to the male gender [48].Concerning public opinion, a study showed no difference between men and women in Ghanaians' attitudes towards women in leadership.This study also revealed that when people believe women to have more integrity, they adopt favourable views and accept women participating in managerial positions.Besides, it is found that Christians are more accepting of women participating in management compared to Muslims [44].Various research studies on female political involvement in leadership are evaluated in the literature.The effect of demographic, economic, and culture on women's participation in political leadership is discussed above.According to research, demographic factors such as educational attainment, family status, and religious affiliation influence females' involvement in political leadership.Women's engagement in political leadership might be aided or hindered by certain variables.
According to the literature, economic variables impact females' engagement in political leadership.Most females are economically poor, and most are impoverished while fighting for a political leadership post, necessitating a significant investment of time and finances.It would be intriguing to know if financially well-off women are interested in entering politics.Women are burdened with many duties in the home and public spheres, which makes it difficult for them to participate in political leadership, which takes a lot of time.Women's inclination to run for political office is also determined by a country's culture, which is that open and democratic cultures encourage women to engage in political leadership, resulting in more female representation.Cultures, on the other hand, can prolong women's rights and tyranny through backward habits, traditions, and beliefs.Political leadership allows people to engage in structured political institutions and procedures, which are how to spend society's assets.Women are considered underrepresented in Ghana's political leadership.Various approaches have been developed to increase women's involvement in political leadership.International agreements, declarations, and activities such as the Beijing Declaration, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights cover such endeavours.Unfortunately, both have helped women reach the 30% objective in parliament [49].
In Ghana, disparities and inequalities in political leadership involvement have prevailed, owing to demographic, cultural, and economic causes.Women, unlike males, are wary of political leadership.Female empowerment requires participation in political leadership since more females in politics will promote women's causes at all levels [6].Furthermore, academics discovered that women enter positions of leaders and managers; they come with a unique viewpoint that males do not [8].Based on literature reviews confirm the hypothesis that aspects such as demographics, economics, and culture that disempower women sabotage the role of promoting women's participation.In the history of Ghana, the Efutu constituency has never been represented by a woman as a member of parliament.To the authors' knowledge, there have yet to be studies on female involvement in political leadership in Gha-na.This research study was created with this in mind to close the gap and address the following research questions: How do demographic aspects such as education, marriage status, ethnicity, and age affect women's involvement in political leadership?To what extent do economic issues such as mobility, finance, and resources affect females' participation in political leadership?What cultural aspects, such as public opinion, patriarchy, and dual burden, affect women's involvement in legislation politics?
Aims and research questions.The study explores aspects affecting women's involvement in political leadership in Ghana's Central Region.

Research questions
1. To what extent do demographic aspects such as education, marriage status, ethnicity, and age affect women's involvement in political leadership?
2. To what extent do economic issues such as mobility, income, and resources affect females' involvement in political leadership?
3. What cultural aspects affect women's involvement in legislative politics, such as public opinion, patriarchy, and dual burden?

METHODOLOGY
This section outlines how the research was carried out to meet the study's goals.It involves the research design, area of study, sample size, target population, research instrument, and data collection procedure.
Research Procedure.The study used a descriptive survey with a quantitative approach as the research design.This survey used online questionnaires to gather data using Google Forms, shared through WhatsApp and Telegram using a Google link.Generally, this research collected data starting with the dependent variables, women's involvement in political leadership, and the independent variables, economic, demographic, and cultural factors.The baseline statistics of the specific audience and the factors that can affect women's involvement in political leadership.
The Area of Study and Population.The study was conducted at the University of Education, Winneba, in the Central Region of Ghana.The target population was females 18 and older at the University of Education, Winneba, in Ghana.
Sampling size.The sample population was 70 females at the University of Education, Winneba.Respondents can be undergraduates, lecturers, postgraduate females, etc.Data collection procedure.Using a letter of approval, a permit to send the online questionnaire was granted, and a questionnaire was sent to various university platforms.The respondents were then allowed to send feedback using the same link with Google Forms.Then, after gathering the data from the respondents, they were examined for consistency, reliability, and completeness.
Research Instrument.The survey used online Questionnaires as instruments to collect data.Questionnaires gather information about opinions, beliefs, emotions, and attitudes [50].The information was collected using online questionnaires that were prepared by the team.The survey used questionnaires for women aged 18-51 years and above.The age groups were 20-30, 31-40, 40-50, and 51 years and above.The questionnaire included open-and close-ended questions on demographic, economic, and cultural factors.Also, the background data of our participants and the aspects that affect females' involvement in political leadership.Since this research involves ideas, beliefs, and findings that may best be obtained via a questionnaire, it was an appropriate tool.The questionnaire aims to answer our research questions and objectives.

Association between Demographic Factors and Women's Political Leadership Involvement
Marital status and the possibility of women's involvement in political leadership.A Chi2 test was run to address whether there is an association between marital status and women's political leadership involvement.Marital status and women's involvement in political leadership were significantly correlated ( 2 (3, 70) =8.819, p=0.032).16 (76.19%) of the married respondents stated they would not participate in politics, and 21 (52.5 %) of single respondents said they would participate.
The result indicated that marital status significantly affected women's decision to be involved in political leadership.The figures showed that single women were more interested in joining politics than married women.The number of married women who said they would participate in parliament is roughly three times less than that of women who said they would not.The result indicated that married women struggled to be involved in political leadership.

Influence of Women's Level of Education on Women's Involvement in Political Leadership
. Table 1 below shows that 90% of the respondents stated that education could influence women's involvement in political leadership. 10 % said that education could not affect women's participation in political leadership.It was concluded that educated women would be more willing and eager to engage in political leadership.The finding suggested a significant relationship between demographic aspects and women's participation in political leadership.

Association between economy and women's political Leadership Involvement
The study's second objective examined whether there is an association between the economic aspect and women's involvement in political leadership.The research looked at whether income is associated with the possibility of women's participation in political leadership and whether income is associated with ease of mobilisation in political campaigns.
Income and the possibility of women's involvement in political leadership.To address the question of the association between income range and the possibility of women's involvement in political leadership, a  2 test was implemented.There was a significant association between income and the possibility of women's participation in political leadership ( 2 (2, 70) = 26.125,p<.001).
100% of respondents with an income range of $130-$250 think they would not vie for a political campaign.
14 (78%) of 18 respondents with an income above $500 said they could vie for a political campaign.
Association between income and the possibility of women's involvement in political leadership.
The figure indicated that income considerably impacted women's decision-making in politics.
No women with incomes ranging from 130$ to 250$ intend to join parliament.Additionally, the percentage of women with incomes ranked between 250$ and 500$ who are interested in joining parliament is two times lower than that of women with no interest.On the contrary, when it comes to the income range of 500$ above, the percentage of women who said they would participate in politics is three times higher than that of women who said they would not.The finding suggested that the higher income range women have, the more possibility women have to be involved in political leadership.
Income and ease of mobilisation resources in women's involvement in political leadership.A  2 test was run to answer the question of the association between income and ease of mobilisation resources in women's involvement in political leadership.
There was no significant association between income and the ease of mobilising a political campaign ( 2 (2, 70)=1,010, p=0.604).
85% of respondents said it took more work to mobilise resources for vying in political leadership regardless of their income rank.
Association between income and ease of mobilisation resources for the political campaign.The result indicated that the income range does not impact the ease of mobilising resources for political campaigns.Unlike the possibility of women's involvement in political leadership, regardless of the difference in income range, women said it was not easy for them to mobilise resources for political campaigns.The result suggested that the economic aspect plays a moderate role in women's political involvement.The income range significantly affects women's participation in politics.However, income range does not affect the ease of mobilising resources for women in political campaigns.

How do cultural factors influence women's involvement in political leadership?
To answer the third research question, the survey looked at women's priorities, including whether they should have the time to enter politics, if the culture supports women's entry into politics, and whether women should be concerned about political aspirations.
Women's Priorities.According to the survey, Table 2 below shows that other careers were the most significant concern for women.Sixty percent of women would instead pursue different careers, 30% would focus on household duties, and 10% would like to seek political positions.The results suggest that demographic, economic, and cultural factors negatively affect women's involvement in political leadership.Demographic factors are a hindrance to women's participation in political leadership.Besides, the Economic aspect plays a moderate role in women's political participation.Additionally, cultural elements considerably impact women's participation in political leadership.
Women's involvement in parliament is increasing worldwide; however, there is still gender inequality [10].Ghana ranks 144 worldwide for female political representation and faces significant obstacles to women in legislative positions of government and national leaders [10].The objective of the study was to examine the association between the aspects, namely demographic, culture, and economy, of women's involvement in politics.The demographic aspects include marital status and educational level.Mobility, income, finance, and resources were examined to explore economic elements.Cultural aspects, women's priorities, and whether the culture supports women's political entry were examined.
In sum, all these aspects disempower women, sabotaging the role of promoting women's participation in political leadership.In sum, all these aspects disempower women, sabotaging the role of promoting women's participation in political leadership.
The first research question examined whether there is an association between demographic factors and women's political leadership involvement.Regarding demographic aspects, we analysed marital status and educational level.There was a significant association between demographic aspects, namely marital status and academic level, and women's involvement in political leadership.Marital status discouraged women from vying for political positions because it was assessed that most married women would rather enjoy their home than spend time competing for a political position.Single women emphasised that they could run into politics regarding their status since they had no husbands or children to cater to, but they were minority groups.This aligns with the comparison with studies conducted in the Netherlands and the USA, suggesting that married women have more political involvement than single women [34].It is also consistent with [33], who indicated that marriage is expected to impact women more than men negatively.
In contrast, marriage may increase involvement in males, but it has the opposite effect on women.It was emphasised that education is a crucial factor for women to participate in politics because running into politics is a challenging task, and it is needed for educated women to apply their knowledge and skills in every aspect of their move into politics rather than being illiterate.In sum, educational achievement empowers women by increasing their capacity to earn money, creating confidence to tackle problems, and improving their ability to make decisions about themselves and the benefit of society [23].Educated women are also believed to be more willing and eager to engage in political leadership.
The second research question sought to examine whether there is an association between the economy and women's political leadership involvement.In terms of the economy, we dived into the variety of incomes among women.The result indicated a significant association between the economy and women's political involvement.The result showed that the more income women have, the greater the possibility for them to vie for political leadership.More income would en-courage women to be eager to vie for political positions even when they have the desire.This agrees with the research [21], which states that the commercialisation of politics is expanding.More and more money is needed to engage in politics and be successful.The author [5] also claims that women's economic status directly impacts their involvement in political institutions and elected bodies.However, in other terms, the variety of income does not affect the ease of mobilising resources for political campaigns.The research could explain this result [25,51].The authors indicated that despite women's enormous presence and essential contribution to countries' economies, it is commonly acknowledged that women lack access to vital development resources and, as a result, have fewer resources than males in general.
The third research question examined whether there is an association between culture and its influence on women in political involvement.Women's priorities include whether they should have the time to enter politics, if the culture supports women's entry into politics and whether women should be concerned about political aspirations.It was shown that many women would instead engage in other care concerning their priorities rather than be involved in political aspirations.This compares to a study by [5] that recognised that it is difficult for women to participate in political life when their primary concern is survival.They have no choice but to spend much of their time trying to fulfil the basic needs of their families.In sum, women would instead place political aspirations as a tertiary matter or their last thing to do than a full-time job in domestic careers or other jobs.They also think more than their time is needed to contest any political aspiration, but they would always have more time for other careers than politics.This is absolute with [39]; most women think they cannot hold a political office or other responsibilities.It was also analysed that culture impacts women's involvement in politics.Most women's way of life can affect their political aspirations; many women tend to look down upon themselves by categorising themselves as too weak to vie or compete with men in the political sphere.They would instead not go for a political position.This concludes research by [52], who noted that culture affects women's advancement into leadership positions.

CONCLUSIONS
Although women have contributed substantially to holding politics, they still need to participate more in formal parliament.Therefore, it is essential to understand the aspects that affect women's involvement in political leadership.By examining factors that affect women's participation in politics, this study established correlations between demographic, economic, and cultural elements and their influence on women's participation in political leadership.The study indicated that aspects such as marital status, educational level, women's income rank, and culture considerably influence women's decisions to participate in politics.However, women's income rank is independent of women's resource mobilisation to vie for political campaigns.This study suggests that while aspects substantially impact women's involvement in political leadership, high-income women still need help to vie for political campaigns.The research has shown difficulties women encounter when taking part in parliament.
The research has theoretical and practical implications for future studies on women and politics in the country.Theoretically, the study is anticipated to increase understanding of the variables influencing women's engagement in parliamentary political leadership in Ghana.The study also has practical significance by providing lawmakers with insights about gender equality in politics.The findings are expected to help develop strategies to ensure gender balance in the political sphere.The research contributes to improving women's rights.Thus, it promotes women's desire for adequate education and encourages girls not to marry at a young age.Married women should share the housework with other family members to have time to focus on their political careers if they wish.Moreover, it encourages women to be economically self-sufficient, and organisations should facilitate women's business participation.The study provides evidence that demographic, economic, and cultural aspects sabotage women's involvement in Ghana's politics compared to men.

LIMITATIONS AND FURTHER RESEARCH
This study has limitations.The first limitation is that it was conducted at a university.Therefore, there needed to be more variability in terms of the educational level of the participants.
Further research on a larger scale could better understand the impact of education on women's political participation.
Another area for improvement is the minimal number of people participating in the survey.
This may make it more challenging to apply the results of this study to larger populations.Finally, income is not the only factor in the economy.Therefore, future research could expand on other factors, such as the influence of religion or law on women's political participation.

Table 1 -
Women's Level of Education on Women's

Table 2 -
Priorities of women

Table 3 -
Women's Time for involving in Politics

Table 5 -
Women should hold positions in politics

Table 6 -
Women should or should not be voted for a political office