THE HIGHEST GLASS CEILING: A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS OF FEMALE EXECUTIVE STANDING IN 2019

Abstract

This thesis leverages established qualitative techniques in order to compare cases of women presidents and prime ministers elected or appointed between 2011 and 2019 to all cases from 1960 through 2010. Through comparative gender analysis, I study the role that institutional and sociopolitical structures influence women's acquisition of positions and the nature of executive power exercised. Findings indicate that the rate at which women are elected or appointed to prime ministerial or presidential positions has fallen for the first time in history. In the current period, women are most likely to attain office in countries where other women have done so, and acquire positions of relatively few and constrained powers (Jalalzai 2013). The majority of political systems in which women currently rule feature divided executive power arrangements, indirect election or appointment processes, and gender quota policies. Although findings indicate that women and men are equally qualified for office in terms of education, political, and age-oriented background; today, political experience appears less conducive to promotion regardless of gender. The 'global populist movement' and the 'saturation' of countries with conditions conducive to female leadership emerge as potential explanations for the decline in women's leadership.