Political Leadership Positions Research Articles

“A Fly in the Ointment”: The Barriers to Portuguese Female Political Participation

The latest data from the Gender Equality Index ranks Portugal 10th in female political power. Despite a larger female resident population, parity in access to power and decision-making remains limited. Research on local political power reveals low female representation within parties and a lack of motivation to recruit or affiliate women. This study utilizes thematic analysis eight interviews with women in political leadership positions to identify barriers to female political participation in the Portuguese context. Key questions addressed include the following: How do media representation, role models, stereotypes, and cultural norms impact the political arena? Is it the lack of representation that deters women, or does the political environment alienate them? The analysis explores how media portrayal, stereotypes, double standards, scrutiny, and cultural norms interconnect, perpetuating the political arena as a male-dominated space, thereby marginalizing women politicians.

Gender empowerment and environmental impact: A quantile regression analysis in BRICS economies

This study, with its significant findings, delves into the impact of women's status on environmental quality in BRICS economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) from 1960 to 2022. Using a novel method, the Method of Moments Quantile Regression, this study has been able to analyse the relationship. The results, which are of utmost importance, show that women's political empowerment and leadership positions (government chief executives) significantly reduce carbon emissions, while the impact of women's civil liberties along with population growth increases emissions across the analysed quantiles. Economic growth is insignificantly negatively associated with environmental quality. The paper's findings reveal a unidirectional causal relationship from women's political empowerment to emissions, carbon emissions to women's civil liberties and emissions to economic growth. Additionally, a bi-directional causality connection is evident between population growth and environmental quality. These insights, which are crucial for policymaking, suggest that promoting improved women's status is a crucial policy strategy for mitigating climate change in BRICS economies. Thus, this paper suggests that empowerment of women is an effective strategy for reducing carbon emissions. It emphasizes the need for climate policy to promote gender equality, prioritise women's leadership in the clean energy industry, and enhance their access to resources and opportunities.

Between Politics and Expert: Institutional Transposition and the Admission of Economic Bureaucrats into Party Elite in China

ABSTRACT Red and expert are two differing principles in organizing the political lives of the Chinese government. This study transcends conventional characterizations of the red-expert relationship as either one-sided domination or mere co-existence, exploring its hybrid manifestations and dissecting the nuanced intersections. To this end, this article analyzes the Chinese Communist Party’s recruitment strategy, particularly focusing on the assimilation of economic experts. Utilizing a dataset featuring high-ranking economic bureaucrats, the study reveals the intriguing mechanism of ‘institutional transposition’ used for reconciling institutional contradictions. This mechanism assesses economic policy professionals based on politically transposed criteria, leading to the promotion of economic bureaucrats with unique career attributes, notably specialists with broad organizational experiences, into key political leadership positions. The deployment of ‘generalist specialists’, this article proposes, bridges gaps within a fragmented bureaucracy and coordinates specialized ministries. This article exemplifies a partial adaptation of the Party and a pragmatic approach towards reconciling conflicting institutional logics.

Do female political leaders make the environment greener? Evidence from the United States

PurposeThis study examines the effect of female governors (gender effect) on environmental performance in terms of state-level carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in United States.Design/methodology/approachThe study used annual data from 1970 to 2020 to investigate the relationship between female political leadership and state-level CO2 emissions. Hypothesis was tested through ordinary least squares regression (OLS). The results of the study were also validated using propensity score matching and a difference-in-difference approach.FindingsThis study provides empirical insights into the relationship between female political leadership and state-level CO2 emissions. The findings indicate that female governors have a significant negative impact on state-level CO2 emissions per capita. These results suggest that female political leadership is associated with a reduction in CO2 emissions per capita at the state level. The results also show that states under the leadership of female governors experience lower levels of CO2 emissions than those with male governors, indicating female leadership’s potential to promote environmental sustainability.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study have practical implications for policymakers, government officials, and other stakeholders involved in the formulation of strategies to promote environmental sustainability. This study highlights the significant role that female political leader play in mitigating CO2 emissions at the state level. It suggests that promoting female in political leadership positions can lead to more environmentally conscious policy decisions and actions, resulting in reduced CO2 emissions per capita. Policymakers should actively encourage women’s participation in leadership roles to utilize their potential contributions to advancing sustainability goals. Furthermore, organizations that focus on environmental issues should prioritize supporting and promoting female leaders who have demonstrated a commitment to environmental sustainability. Ultimately, this study highlights the need for female in political leadership as a potential strategy to address environmental challenges and advance a more sustainable future.Originality/valueThis study pioneers research on the links between female political leadership and state-level CO2 emissions. This study contributes to the literature by emphasizing the potential role of female political leaders in promoting environmental sustainability. Overall, this study enriches the social role and upper echelons theories literature through empirical evidence.

Leaders’ desires to lead: progressive ambition and norms around gender balance in the Swedish parliament

ABSTRACT While women citizens have less political ambition than similarly situated men across a wide range of contexts, we know less about gender differences in progressive ambition – elected politicians’ desire to achieve political leadership positions. This study analyzes leadership ambition among Swedish legislators. To understand the relationship between progressive ambition and the proportion of men and women in leadership positions, the political-institutional context is paramount. The gender-equal context of the Swedish Parliament allows us to investigate the relationship between progressive political ambition and informal rules, norms, and practices that promote the presence of women in political leadership. Drawing on interviews with nearly all top parliamentary leaders and party gatekeepers as well as a survey with MPs, we find that women leaders and MPs are less interested in political leadership in comparison to men. We describe the rules, norms, and practices that stipulate gender balance in decision-making in this context and show how gender-equitable informal institutions have contributed to creating gender balance in leadership. While such institutions have not closed the gender ambition gap at the individual level, they mitigate its consequences by incentivizing less ambitious women to accept leadership positions and prompting gatekeepers to search for and persuade competent women.

FEMALE LEADERSHIP AND INTRA-ENTREPRENEURSHIP: DIFFICULTIES, CHALLENGES AND BARRIERS FACED BY WOMEN IN ORGANIZATIONS

In all contemporary industrialized societies, women remain under-represented in meeting rooms and governments. While this gender gap has narrowed, the challenges women face in climbing the corporate and political ladder remain substantial. A male bias in the highest positions of leadership is universal. In fact, in most societies — both past and contemporary — formal political leadership positions were, and continue to be, almost exclusively occupied by men. If today women are not formally forbidden from holding leadership and entrepreneurial positions, they are still fewer or less powerful than their male counterparts. It is difficult to justify the fact that women are less likely to reach the highest echelons in politics, business, science and religion, given that there is no consistent evidence that they are leaders or entrepreneurs worse or better than men by virtue of their female characteristics. Attempting to explain the gender gap in leadership and entrepreneurship involves considering gender stereotypes, prejudice, institutional sexism, etc. This study sought to investigate this gender gap in an exploratory manner, through a literature review and interviews with women in the interentrepreneurship.

Politics and Muslim women in the Deep South of Thailand: roles, opportunities, and challenges

This study investigates the political representation of Malay Muslim women in the Deep South of Thailand. It addresses the research question(s) about whether the identities of either being Malay or Muslim impede the participation of women in formal politics. The research results demonstrate that the intricate cultural dimensions of identifying as Malay, Muslim, and Thai have collectively influenced the political roles of women in the Deep South. Typically, leadership positions in politics are perceived as male-oriented domains. The study suggests that new values are needed to increase the participation of Malay Muslim women in politics, particularly among young generations. Despite the acceptance of women in public space, the roles of women are often presented as one who has the responsibility to look after the family rather than engage in politics. The research highlights the challenges that Malay Muslim women face in formal politics. Cultural layers of religion, values in Malay society, and Thai political culture are obstacles that impede their participation in formal politics. More research is needed to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the issue.

Looks Like a Leader: Measuring Evolution in Gendered Politician Stereotypes

Previous research showed that the stereotype of women politicians is incongruent with the general politician stereotype, which can be disadvantageous for women seeking political office. Based on the strong influx of women politicians in US politics, and the increased familiarity of the electorate with women in political leadership positions, we expect that voters now have a clearer picture of women politicians and that their stereotype is more congruent with the traits desired in political leaders. In testing this, we make a methodological contribution to the study of stereotyping by adapting a large-N list experiment as an effective and innovative measurement of stereotype endorsement. The results show important changes in gendered political stereotypes over the last ten years. The evolution of the women politician stereotype is encouraging: the traits that people associate with women politicians are more positive than ten years ago and more congruent to desirable traits for politicians. However, the findings also underscore the continuing masculinity of the political domain, by the strong overlap between the stereotype of men politicians and politicians in general. Even more pronounced than the positive trend for women politicians is the unfavorable evolution of the stereotypes of men politicians and politicians generally, which shows a strong downfall compared to a decade ago.

Female Leadership in Muslim Societies

For centuries, Muslim women have been considered legally unqualified for judicial, political, and other highest leadership positions in the public domain. The contemporary debates range from constructing and reconstructing theological contestation to identifying and analysing various socio-cultural realities around Muslim women’s lives which made it more challenging for them to claim leadership. Today, in one hand, a growing number of literatures are challenging conservative religious interpretations that disfavour female leadership and calling to reread religious source texts. On the other hand, many literatures are raising voices on social gender perceptions and cultural biases which create barriers for women leadership. The recent inauguration of hijab-clad Muslim female presidents in Tanzania and Singapore also manifests a positive paradigm shift in collective Muslim consciousness to female leadership. To understand this change, this paper looks into both theological and socio-cultural aspects to outline the different positions and new developments in contemporary literature in identifying the burdens on Muslim women’s shoulders that curtail their aspirations for leadership participation. This study argues that contemporary literature reveals a complex and formidable development in the debate that demands more careful attention to accommodate the changing environment and attitudes in Muslim societies regarding the permissibility and plausibility of female leadership.

Gender and the bifurcated state: women in Uganda’s traditional authority

This article introduces Mahmood Mamdani’s bifurcated state theory to the study of gender and power. The purpose is to unveil the structure of the state that produces conflicting experiences of elite women in Africa’s two public spheres, namely, the civil realm and the customary domain. In recent decades, privileged women have occupied political leadership positions in Uganda and Africa. However, things are different in the kingdoms and cultural institutions of the former British colony in which open despotism and the limited inclusion of women in leadership have persisted without causing much alarm. To highlight the coherence of these two seemingly contradictory situations, I extend the notion of the bifurcated state beyond the politicisation of ethnicity—for which the concept was originally formulated—to the politicisation of gender. Not only does the theory illuminate the politicisation of identity, but it also accounts for the differentiated manner in which identity is politicised in different publics.

GENDER GAPS IN POLITICAL LEADERSHIP OF PAKISTAN: IDENTIFYING BARRIERS AND STRATEGIES FOR WOMEN'S ADVANCEMENT WITH SPECIAL FOCUS ON KP POLITICAL STRUCTURE

In this study, the gender disparities in political leadership in Pakistan are examined, with a special emphasis on the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province. Despite advances in gender equality around the world, women still face substantial obstacles to political representation and leadership roles. This study tries to pinpoint the precise difficulties and impediments to women's advancement in political leadership positions in Pakistan, especially within the distinctive political system of KP. The root causes of the gender leadership gap in politics are identified in this research study by a thorough examination of the literature and analysis of primary and secondary data. Deeply ingrained patriarchal norms, prejudice in culture and society, lack of access to resources and education, political party dynamics, and a lack of institutional assistance are a few of these. Additionally, this research not only discusses the difficulties but also offers suggestions and techniques for advancing women in political leadership. Keywords: Political leadership, gender, culture, traditions, institution.

Feminine Leadership Ideals and Masculine Practices: Exploring Gendered Leadership Conditions in the Swedish Parliament

AbstractWomen’s access to political leadership positions has increased greatly in recent decades, which calls for research concerning the conditions of women’s political leadership in more gender-balanced contexts. This article responds to this need by exploring the leadership ideals, evaluations, and treatment of men and women leaders in the numerically gender-equal Swedish parliament (the Riksdag). Drawing on interviews with almost all the current top political leaders in the Swedish parliament, along with an original survey of Swedish members of parliament, we reveal a mainly feminine-coded parliamentary leadership ideal that should be more appropriate for women leaders. Masculine practices remain, however, and women leaders continue to be disadvantaged. To explain this anomaly between ideals and practices, we argue that a feminist institutionalist perspective, which emphasizes how gender shapes a given context in multiple ways, contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the conditions for women’s political leadership than that provided by the widely employed role congruity theory.

Women's leadership and the gendered consequences of austerity in the public sector: Evidence from IMF programs

AbstractDuring times of economic turmoil, women often bear the cost of cuts in public spending and labor market deregulation. We argue that the adverse gendered consequences of austerity are mitigated when women occupy more political leadership positions. We test our argument using two independent sources of evidence. First, we use cross‐country time‐series data for 95 countries from 2000 to 2018 on public‐sector employment outcomes and panel regressions to show that women leaders mitigate the adverse consequences of IMF programs for women in the public sector. Second, we use individual‐level data from the World Values Surveys covering 50 countries from 2004 to 2015 to show that women in the public sector are more likely to fear job loss and endure income loss under IMF programs when the women share in the government of their country is low but that these adverse effects disappear once women are represented in the government. These results have important implications for debates on women's leadership as well as the impact of austerity on the public sector.

Women Legislators in Africa and Foreign Aid

Abstract There has been a significant rise in the share of women legislators in Africa. What makes this fact puzzling is that it cannot be attributed to an African electorate that values gender equality and having women in political leadership positions. In stark contrast to this, gender equality and women’s empowerment have successively moved up in the priority list of the international donor community over the last two decades. This raises the question of whether there is a relationship between women legislators in Africa and foreign-aid allocations. This study finds a strong and statistically robust relationship: an increase in the share of women legislators from 15 to 20 percent is associated with an increase of about 4 percent in aid conditional on current levels of aid. Additionally, the study finds that democratic countries receive more aid but does not find an interaction effect between democracy and the share of women legislators, which suggests that donors do not tailor their gender-selective aid towards more democratic countries. The results provide evidence in support of aid selectivity for policies that improve gender equality in aid-recipient countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Contextual Factors Influencing Women’s Participation in Political Leadership in Kakamega County, Kenya

Women are still underrepresented in positions of political leadership despite making up half of the world’s population. Numerous conventions, protocols, and international agreements exist for gender mainstreaming, along with advancements in tactics to boost women’s political engagement, but all must demonstrate their efficacy in achieving gender parity in political representation. The state of affairs is especially appalling in developing nations. The lack of equal representation of women in leadership positions creates deeper, non-gender-based disparities that prevent women from participating in decision-making, participating in governance, and devising policies that address women’s issues. Kenya has made efforts to establish gender equity in political leadership, although little progress has been made.This study sought toexaminehowselected contextual factors influence women’s participation in political leadership in Kakamega County in Kenya.The study adopted a cross-cultural study design with a mixed methods approach.Structured Questionnaires were used to collect data from 160 respondents randomly selected from the study area. 16 key informants purposively selected for the study were also interviewed using Key informant interview guides. The data collection tools were pretested in Bungoma County and a reliability coefficient (r) of 0.78 attained. Quantitative data obtained was analyzed using the Statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) software version 23. Both descriptive statistics (means, modes, medians, standard deviations) and inferential statistics (Chi-Square and ANOVA) were used to analyze the data.Qualitative data obtained was analyzed thematically. The results revealed that the predominant patriarchal culture and the electoral system were un favorable to women in electoral politics and attainment of political leadership. Additionally, unfriendly rules at formal institutions of Political parties, limited access to financial resources for political campaigns for women political aspirants, biases in the selection processes from political party candidatesand the media were all an impediment for women political aspirants. The study recommends that the government and civil society launch civic education campaigns emphasizing the importance of women’s participation in political leadership and representation. The government and civil society organizations should also organize tailored training and capacity building for female candidates on effective strategies for raising funds, as well as effective ways to use those funds. The media professionals should also be sensitized on the importance of equality in media coverage, as well as the need to portray women as capable leaders. Finally, the government should enforce electoral laws governing political violence, campaign spending limits, and the conduct of political parties.

The Merits and Problems Associated with the Proposals for Women's Education, Communal Living and the Leadership in the Republic and How These Relate to the Challenges Women Face in Taking Political Leadership Positions in Ghana

The Merits and Problems Associated with the Proposals for Women's Education, Communal Living and the Leadership in the Republic and How These Relate to the Challenges Women Face in Taking Political Leadership Positions in Ghana

Influence of Historical Stereotype on Women Access to Leadership in Murang’a County Government

Gender equality in leadership is a practice and notion that is contested and obligatory requisite. The term gender parity has been acknowledged by mutually globally and by government Institutions. Appreciation of the impact of gender fairness is a pleasing objective required across many avenues in internationally progression practice. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of historical stereotype on women access to leadership in Murang’a County Government. The study was anchored on The Liberalism Theory. The study adopted descriptive research design, and the population under study comprised 159 senior government officers and political elite in Murang’a County Government and the legislative assemble of Murang’a. The study used purposive sampling in identifying persons with requisite knowledge of the concept of the study. The primary data was collected using the questionnaire and the secondary data was obtained from the government policy documents, gender policies annual reports, strategic plans as well as periodic reports both published and unpublished. The study findings were analyzed with the aid of SPSS software and Microsoft Excel Software and presented by use of tables and percentage for ease of data interpretation and consumption by the readers. The study established that historical stereotype was able to explain 60.4% of the variation in women leadership in Murang’a County Government as indicated by R-squared on 0.604. The study moreover established that there was a positive relationship between historical stereotype and women leadership. The study concluded that stereotyped point of view regarding women comprises key hindrances which include societal insight in relation to leadership aptitude of women’s lack of assertiveness in participation in political sphere and leadership positions. Owing to the findings, Women should be exposed to work in sections with higher amount of progressive advancement or in areas that transform to executive progression since they are not inferior provided they have the same qualifications with the male counter parts. Keywords: Historical stereotype, Women leadership Structured women empowerment, Murang’a County Government

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN BUSINESS: SOCIAL ASPECTS OF THEORETICAL MODELING, ANALYTICS AND PRACTICE

The analysis of artificial intelligence (AI) in recent decades has acquired an obvious interdisciplinary character, with various industry projections in the fields of economics, manufacturing, medicine, culture, education, as well as in the development and application of military equipment. The main conceptualizations and theoretical models of AI belong to the Western analytical tradition, proving to be in demand both for substantiating the conditions for achieving sustainable development and the positions of political and economic leadership of the United States of America and Western European countries, and for drawing attention to the ever-increasing riskiness of society and the radicalization of modernity. One of the many industry projections of artificial intelligence analysis has become its application in business. Here, as well as in continuation of the "tradition" of analytics in other areas, the constancy of the confusion of terms is obvious, therefore one of the subsections of the article is devoted to terminological clarifications. The dynamics of changes in recent years related to the development of AI is also disclosed. The article considers the formation of modern business landscapes, which is taking place with the increasing rooting of the impact of AI in everyday practices. It is shown that decision-making using business intelligence tools controlled by artificial intelligence is becoming a relevant innovative trend for large corporations interested in achieving strategic leadership and interaction. The social aspects of the AI service model are revealed, as well as the strengthening of the relationship between artificial intelligence and big data, the formation of a competitive business environment that significantly increases management and consumer risks. The results of research on the use of AI in Russian business, confirmed by industry experts, are presented.

Women in Latin American family businesses: an institutional logics perspective

PurposeThe authors conceptually theorize the obstacles and opportunities that women encounter in family businesses embedded in Latin America, by differentiating between two clusters of countries embedded in this continent.Design/methodology/approachUsing secondary data obtained from various sources, the authors adopted a flexible pattern matching methodology, which involves linking theoretical propositions with actual observed patterns. For each proposition, the authors categorize the comparison with the observed data as either confirming or rivaling the expected patterns in the clusters.FindingsThis study’s findings reveal that women have more leadership and employment opportunities in the first cluster (Brazil, Chile, and Mexico) than in the second (Argentina, Colombia, and Peru). The authors propose that these differences are the result of higher tolerance for women in political leadership positions and of the presence of larger and more internationally expanding corporations in the first cluster. We also find differences between two groups of women: female family members and female nonfamily members, with the former being granted much more opportunities than the latter.Practical implicationsThis research increases the understanding of potential avenues for managers and policymakers in Latin America to foster gender diversity as a means to remain competitive in a global market. While actions at the state level may be more long-term oriented, others, such as those taken by small and medium-sized family businesses may have more immediate effects in minimizing gender biases and encouraging a greater participation of females in business.Originality/valueBy differentiating between two clusters of countries in Latin America, and by making careful consideration of whether females have family ties, the authors provide a more realistic and contextualized theoretical map that depicts the situation of women in Latin American family businesses. This contextualization is one of the first that attempts to examine how multiple institutional logics impact women in family businesses in an underexplored region of the world while differentiating between female family members and female nonfamily members. These findings inform policymakers and family business owners in Latin America on the peculiar challenges that women encounter in their context, while calling for more measures promote the active presence of females in Latin American family businesses.

Power in the Post-Civil War Period: The Effect of Armed Conflict and Gender Quotas on Women in Political Leadership Positions

Abstract While research has shown that civil wars often significantly increase women's representation in politics, we know little about the long-term effect on women holding political leadership positions in post-civil war countries. We develop a new theoretical approach to explain how quotas affect women's long-term representation in post-civil war governments. We observe a higher share of women in cabinets after the end of civil wars. We argue that the interaction of civil wars and gender quotas that provide a legal framework for a certain share of women in political office makes it especially likely that women can retain long-term political power. In contrast, the effect on women's leadership over time is smaller in post-civil war countries without a quota. Utilizing a novel data set of female executive-branch leaders in sub-Saharan African countries from 2001 to 2018, we empirically test whether women in post-civil war countries have managed to gain a long-term hold on the progress they made in representation. Our findings show that for cabinet positions, the interplay of gender quota and civil war explains female political leaders’ longevity in post-civil war countries. This research has implications for understanding post-civil war situations and the conditions under which women retain political power.