The EU is often viewed as a champion of gender equality, write Elena Frech and Jessica Fortin-Rittberger. But unless commitments are translated into sustained action, future political changes could reverse the progress made so far.
From parliaments to governments, women are breaking barriers – yet persistent underrepresentation remains, challenging the ideal of equal citizenship on which representative democracy is grounded.
The European Union is often seen as a champion of gender equality, with policies designed to support women in politics. But despite this reputation, women are still underrepresented, especially in top leadership roles. Although the European Commission has a long history, Ursula von der Leyen only became its first female President in 2019, after 12 men had held the office. The idea of the EU as a champion of gender equality is widely accepted, but does it hold up to scrutiny?
Removing barriers
What hurdles continue to impede women’s political careers in the EU, and are there barriers specific to the European political context? Women pursuing careers in EU politics face challenges on multiple fronts, and to understand them, we need to adopt a broad analytical view, looking at both societal norms and institutions.
Many obstacles stem from deep-rooted gender expectations, while others are built into political institutions and decision-making structures. For example, while many societies expect women to take on greater caregiving responsibilities, the lack of parental leave policies for politicians or irregular parliamentary hours makes it even harder for women to pursue leadership roles, including in the EU’s institutions.
Overcoming challenges like these requires action on multiple levels – both within individual countries and across the EU as a whole. Only by bringing together research on the root causes of women’s underrepresentation in EU politics can we pave the way for meaningful change, whether through policy reforms or shifts in political culture.
Multi-level challenges
In a new special issue, we explore the challenges women face in their political careers in the EU. Women have gained a stronger foothold in the EU’s institutions, but progress has been uneven across different EU bodies and over time.
For example, while the European Parliament has seen a steady increase in female representation, reaching almost 40% after the 2019 elections, the European Council remains male-dominated, with very few female heads of state or government. Women still face systemic obstacles that shape their political careers. Examining these barriers through different lenses – across EU institutions and career stages – makes clear that overcoming them calls for a multifaceted approach.
The special issue distils these complexities into a multi-dimensional typology, offering a comprehensive and nuanced lens on the barriers women face in their political careers. It identifies different types of barriers for women, stemming from individual biases or from broader societal expectations.
These challenges can be rooted in rules that are more or less formal, and they emerge at different stages of a political career, shaping opportunities from the start. Recognising these distinctions in the sources of barriers for women is essential for crafting meaningful solutions, whether through policy changes or shifts in political culture.
Who, what and when
A first key question is who drives and upholds these barriers? Scholarship shows that obstacles to women’s political careers exist along a spectrum ranging from individual biases to more collective (institutional) forces.
At one end, personal prejudices and biases shape perceptions of women as leaders. As we move along the spectrum, political parties and political institutions like parliaments create structural hurdles through candidate selection processes and workplace cultures. At the most collective level, societal norms and state institutions reinforce these barriers, making them especially resistant to change. Because these obstacles are deeply embedded at multiple levels, reform efforts face significant challenges in implementation and sustainability.
A second question is what kind of barriers are at play. Formal barriers include electoral systems in EU member states that can disadvantage women, while informal ones arise from gender stereotypes and societal expectations that shape how women are perceived and treated in politics. The impact of unwritten rules is undeniable, yet more elusive, and perhaps hardest to dismantle.
Finally, there are the dynamics and timing of these barriers. Challenges exist at every stage of a political career. Before entering politics, women often face limited access to career paths that lead to powerful political roles. Once inside EU institutions, biases affect leadership opportunities and shape decision-making structures in ways that may hinder women’s advancement. Even upon exiting politics, gendered expectations continue to influence post-career opportunities, such as available roles outside the European Parliament.
Thus, at the heart of the EU’s uniqueness for women’s careers, two different forces seem to operate, one rigid, one more fluid. First, the EU’s institutional complexity, where its own institutions interact with national institutional contexts, creates a paradox of deeply intertwined barriers that can be at times reinforcing or contradictory. Second is the strong, sustained commitment to gender equality – a principle that continues to be championed by its elites and enshrined in law – that operates in the EU’s institutions.
Breaking the cycle
The range of obstacles women face underscores just how complex the challenge of increasing gender equality in careers truly is. Institutional changes, such as the adoption of more ambitiously designed gender quotas, increased transparency in political appointments and gender-sensitive workplace policies can help create a more inclusive environment for women in EU and national politics.
At the same time, informal barriers – like gender biases and cultural expectations – are difficult to change and may be challenged through awareness campaigns, education and broader shifts in political culture. Only by combining formal reforms with efforts to reshape societal attitudes can true gender equality in EU politics be achieved.
Why gender equality matters
Our work makes clear that women’s political careers in the EU continue to face entrenched challenges, shaped by institutional structures, societal norms and political actors, even in progressive environments. Gender equality in political careers is not just a matter of fairness. It is fundamental to the EU’s democratic credibility and legitimacy.
Equal political representation strengthens democracy by ensuring that diverse voices are heard in decision-making. Gender-diverse leadership leads to more inclusive policymaking, benefiting society as a whole. Last, and most crucially, more women in leadership roles can “trickle” down beyond the EU, influencing political systems that lag behind in gender equality.
Achieving gender equality in EU politics requires a collective effort. Policymakers, political parties and civil society all have a role to play to create conditions that will allow women to fully participate in political life. This is particularly important now, as challenges to liberal democratic norms are becoming more salient, putting the very principle of political equality under pressure.
Although gender equality remains a cornerstone for current EU elites, its permanence is not assured. A shift in leadership values could reverse the progress made thus far. To prevent backsliding, the EU’s commitment to gender equality must translate into sustained action at both the European and national levels.
For more information, see the authors’ accompanying special issue in European Union Politics.
Note: This article gives the views of the authors, not the position of EUROPP – European Politics and Policy or the London School of Economics. Featured image credit: European Union
