Women in Presidential Cabinets

Michelle M. Taylor-Robinson and Meredith P. Gleitz show that the overall representation of women in cabinets has increased significantly since the democratic transition, but women and men tend to be represented in stereotypically gendered cabinet portfolios and women who get appointed look like men in experience, backgrounds, and other qualifications. They identify the main causes of the increase in women’s presence in cabinets as the recent political crises that have led to outsider, leftist, and female (to only a very small degree) presidents who select more women. Additionally, as women are getting more represented in national legislatures and subnational governments, they are more represented in cabinets. The consequences of greater gender balance in cabinets for women’s issues and gender equality programs are minimal. Female cabinet ministers find it difficult to promote women’s issues because they are often in posts with little access to resources or need to implement the president’s priorities instead.