Inhalt: Gender gaps in leadership roles may be reduced
by increasing the number of women in career stages that
typically precede high-status positions. this can occur
by increasing the supply of experienced women, inspi-
ring new female candidates for these positions, and/or
changing beliefs about women as leaders. In this study,
we investigate whether and how adding women to a
career pipeline can reduce gender gaps in higher-ranking
positions over time. Specifically, we examine the effects
of women‘s local electoral success on subsequent female
candidacy at higher levels of government in India from
1977 to 2014. We use close elections won by women
contesting state legislature seats to identify the effect
of pipeline expansion on later candidacy for the national
parliament. the results indicate that for each additional
lower-level seat won by a woman, there is a 30 percent
increase in the number of female candidates in subse-
quent national legislature elections. this effect is driven
by new candidates and not by career politicians, and
women receive a disproportionately favorable increase
in the vote share. these effects are strongest in areas
with low levels of existing female political participation
and empowerment. the findings are consistent with a
mechanism in which exposure reduces bias, allowing for
updated beliefs about the viability of latent candidates
who then run for higher office.“
Schlagwörter:Frauen in Führungspositionen; Gender Gap; Leaky Pipeline
CEWS Kategorie:Berufsbiographie und Karriere, Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung
Dokumenttyp:Graue Literatur, Bericht