How gender socialization is improving women’s representation in Indonesia’s Foreign affairs: breaking the ceiling

Abstract

ABSTRACT Gender has become a prominent issue in political science research. However, most research has focused on women in legislative roles, while only some discussed women in powerful executive positions, particularly in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Therefore, this paper aims to fill this gap by investigating the correlation between gender socialization and women’s representation in foreign policy, which remains relatively understudied. A case study will be explored to discuss the impact of gender socialization in post-authoritarian Indonesia on women’s representation in Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The case of Indonesia is interesting as significant improvements in women’s representation has been achieved, and the paper argues that gender socialization has been an important driver of this. However, despite such strides, cultural barriers still hamper women from having effective representation within foreign policy.