Female Public Officials: Still Some Glass Ceilings Left to Break

"Women distribute leaflets to raise awareness among citizens to participate in the upcoming municipal elections on August 21 in Al Dammam, Saudi, Arabia. Photo originally appeared on CNN.com."

Over the weekend, women in Saudi Arabia were able to vote for the first time, as well as participate in local elections as candidates.

Yep, you read that right. Until Saturday, women in Saudi Arabia weren't able to run for elected office, let alone vote. (Women in Saudi Arabia still aren't able to legally drive and their "male guardians" can stop them from traveling, marrying, working, studying, and more.) In their first ever election, 900 women ran for office in Saudi Arabia, and around 17 female councilors were elected.

This is 95 years after women in the United States won the right to vote with the 19th Amendment, and 122 years after the first nation allowed women to vote, New Zealand. (Go New Zealand!) By the way, women in the Vatican City still can't vote. (Hey guys, time to break tradition right? It's 2015?)

The historic election in Saudi Arabia comes on the tail end of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's announcement that yes, half of his Cabinet ministers are FEMALE. Justified because, well, it's 2015 and do you need more justification than that?

While the Canadian Cabinet will now be 50 percent female, in the U.S., our current administration is less than 30 percent female (four of 15 Cabinet members) and women make up just 19 percent of the U.S. Congress.

Compare that to a few other countries:

• Sweden: The ministry is 53 percent female and their Parliament is 43 percent women.

I don't see the United States on this list. Credit: The World Bank.

Proportion of women holding seats in national parliaments. See the entire list at The World Bank. Scroll to the bottom of that list and you'll see there are 0 percent women-held seats in Quatar, Tonga, and MORE. Credit: The World Bank.

Just a reminder that we still have some glass ceilings to break, here in the United States and across the world.

If you're from Iowa and want to run for public office, check out 50-50 in 2020, a bipartisan group educating and encouraging females to become political leaders.