Recruitment of Vietnamese Women to Office: A feminist Institutionalist Analysis

• In Event: Pathways to Power

Abstract

In Vietnam’s system of government, appointment to political positions is key to wielding political power. However, women continue to lag behind men in gaining appointed office and then being promoted through the ranks. Offering analysis based on our fieldwork conducted in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi in 2019, this paper explores some of the opportunities and challenges for improving women’s representation to appointed positions within the Vietnamese Communist Party and the Vietnamese Government. Specifically, using a feminist institutionalist approach, we consider how well formal policies work to advance women’s political careers in Vietnam, as well as identify the informal gendered rules and processes that operate to influence women’s recruitment and promotion.

Authors

• Louise Annette Chappell, University of New South Wales

• Caitlin Hamilton, UNSW Australia

• Fiona S. Mackay, University of Edinburgh

• Thu Hien Luong, Center for Gender Studies and Women's Leadership