By now, the phrase "the future is female" has been used thousands of times in thousands of different contexts: to say that the struggle to reach gender equality is one of the biggest challenges of our century is not big news. So the topic of this post is not groundbreaking in any sort of way, what might be fascinating though is the perspective from which the issue of gender equality is looked at: foreign policy.
Indeed, often times the focus of the gender equality debate is public policy: as representative democracies should be a reflection of their citizens (their age, gender, race, values, and so on), the lack of women in leadership positions in domestic politics is constantly questioned. What is less under scrutiny, however, is the lack of female representation in diplomacy. This is very interesting, given that the representation of citizens at an international level is maybe even more crucial than at a domestic level.
The current composition of the majority of western diplomacy - marked by a stark gender imbalance - is a misrepresentation of the composition of the states (and sometimes even of their governments), whose interests should represent in international negotiations.
What is even more problematic about the gender gap in international politics is that it is even more persistent than the one in domestic politics, which in many cases has been corrected not only by societal change but also by divisive tools such as quotas.
The reasons for this phenomenon can be divided into two categories: the supply side and the demand side. On the demand side, we find three main barriers to the entrance of women into state diplomacies (not. international organizations, where there is a good gender balance): tradition, social stigma, and mobility. These points refer to the fact that diplomacy (and even more international security) is not only a traditionally male-dominated environment but also to the fact that hiring female diplomats might not be socially suitable yet in many states where gender equality is not very advanced. On top of all of these challenges, women struggle more than men to create a healthy work-life balance with a job that requires moving so often.
On the supply side, instead, we find a lack of ambition, security, and maternity. First, women do not aspire to become diplomats because they struggle to "reach for the stars" and preclude themselves from bright careers to prioritize family. This is particularly true for states that have familistic welfare (like Southern European countries), hence where families (specifically women) are expected to provide for a lack of social welfare. Speaking of family, often maternity is a breaking point for female diplomats, as the unsustainable work schedule and the lack of parental leave make it impossible to create a healthy work-life balance. Lastly, for women the range of countries where they can work is always more limited, as in some countries, female diplomats not only are not well-respected but also might be more subject to acts of crime than their male counterparts as they are perceived as "weaker".
As a Christmas gift, I am sharing with you my ideas on this issue, together with a comparison among some of the main western diplomacies (Eu, Switzerland, Germany, and Italy) and some policy advice on how to solve the problem.
The research was written in 2019, as I was on an exchange semester at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva, where I followed an incredible class called "Public policy, economic development and gender" held by Prof. Martina Viarengo. During the class, where I focused on the gender gap in diplomacy, we read among others the work of Esther Duflo, who won the Nobel Prize for Economics that same year. I find Duflo's research on the nexus between gender equality and economic development truly revolutionary, so I am linking her profile below as well.
Merry Christmas,
Love,
Elena
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