Representation in times of crisis: women’s executive presence and gender-sensitive policy responses to crises
Representation in times of crisis: women’s executive presence and gender-sensitive policy responses to crises
This paper shows how the gender composition of executive government impacts national responses to crises through the case study of the COVID-19 pandemic. Building on descriptive accounts of women’s underrepresentation in COVID-19 decision-making I consider the causes and consequences of their (non)presence. Using data from the UN COVID-19 Global Gender Response Tracker, I find that: (i) across 62 countries, women average 25 per cent of members of government taskforces responding to the crisis and are siloed into advisory as opposed to decision-making positions; and, (ii) Women leaders shape who is present in policy-making, and policy outcomes. Women-led countries, although limited in number, have higher proportions of women on taskforces, especially decision-making ones. A country being woman-led has a large, although non-significant, positive effect on whether a policy response is gender-sensitive, whilst a higher proportion of women on all taskforces combined has a significant, yet small, positive effect.
COVID-19, crises, executive leadership, gender, substantive representation
Smith, Jessica
96f97364-8922-4e62-8581-0d2983052e20
17 August 2022
Smith, Jessica
96f97364-8922-4e62-8581-0d2983052e20
Smith, Jessica
(2022)
Representation in times of crisis: women’s executive presence and gender-sensitive policy responses to crises.
Journal of European Public Policy.
(doi:10.1080/13501763.2022.2110142).
Abstract
This paper shows how the gender composition of executive government impacts national responses to crises through the case study of the COVID-19 pandemic. Building on descriptive accounts of women’s underrepresentation in COVID-19 decision-making I consider the causes and consequences of their (non)presence. Using data from the UN COVID-19 Global Gender Response Tracker, I find that: (i) across 62 countries, women average 25 per cent of members of government taskforces responding to the crisis and are siloed into advisory as opposed to decision-making positions; and, (ii) Women leaders shape who is present in policy-making, and policy outcomes. Women-led countries, although limited in number, have higher proportions of women on taskforces, especially decision-making ones. A country being woman-led has a large, although non-significant, positive effect on whether a policy response is gender-sensitive, whilst a higher proportion of women on all taskforces combined has a significant, yet small, positive effect.
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Representation in Times of Crisis Pure
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Representation in times of crisis women s executive presence and gender sensitive policy responses to crises
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Accepted/In Press date: 28 July 2022
e-pub ahead of print date: 13 August 2022
Published date: 17 August 2022
Keywords:
COVID-19, crises, executive leadership, gender, substantive representation
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Local EPrints ID: 469928
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/469928
ISSN: 1350-1763
PURE UUID: 23ec8251-d682-418f-8462-0c438b0641f1
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Date deposited: 28 Sep 2022 17:07
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 03:56
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