Quotas Beyond Numbers: The Impact of Gender Quotas in Politics and the Workplace

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

This panel investigates the effects of gender quotas in politics and the workplace. Drawing on cases of quota implementation in Australia, Ireland, and Italy, the authors contribute to our understanding of how institutions can facilitate or hinder women’s participation and representation in substantive ways. Beauregard and Taflaga examine how internal party quotas influence women’s pathways to power in Australia, finding that they result in new female networks which attract highly qualified women to office. Turning to the case of Ireland, two papers look at the contemporary effects of one of the most recent political gender quota laws to be implemented (2016). Brennan explores how quota design interacts with Ireland’s open ballot STV electoral system, while Mariani, Buckley, McGing, and Wright consider the intra-party dynamics shaping how quotas are implemented by different parties. Finally, Latura and Weeks build on recent findings on quota laws in politics to explore the workplace, studying the effects of corporate board quotas on workplace policies related to gender gaps in pay and work-family issues in Italy.

Sub Unit

• DIVISION 31: Women and Politics Research

Cosponsor

• DIVISION 34: Representation and Electoral Systems

Individual Presentations

• Party Quotas and Gender Differences in Pathways to Run for Office in Australia - Katrine Beauregard, Australian National University; Marija Taflaga Taflaga, The Australian National University

• Is the ‘Open Ballot’ a Closed Door to Women? Quotas & Open Ballot Structure - Mary Gannon Brennan, University College Dublin

• Parties, Candidates, and Gender in the 2016 Irish Elections - Mack Mariani, Xavier University; Fiona May Buckley, University College Cork; Austin Wright, Xavier University; Claire McGing, Maynooth University

• Corporate Board Quotas and Workplace Policies - Ana Catalano Weeks, University of Bath; Audrey Latura, Harvard University

Chair

• Mack Mariani Xavier University

Discussant

• Amanda Clayton Vanderbilt University