Scholarly investigations have greatly advanced our understanding of gender stereotypes as they pertain to leadership roles. However, an examination of citizens’ evaluations of the personal and political characteristics of ministers using an experimental design is still lacking. In this article, we aim to determine whether individuals exhibit discrimination against women occupying the position of finance minister (FM), which presents an opportunity to assess the impact of stereotypes within one of the most ‘masculine’ cabinet portfolios. We implement a conjoint analysis in Spain to isolate the influence of appointees’ attributes on their selection. The results suggest that women are preferred for this post. In contrast to established knowledge derived from legislative studies, being single benefits female ministers more than it does their male counterparts in obtaining the position of FM, as agentic attributes can hold more value in these positions.
AlexanderAmyJalalzaiFarida (2020) Symbolic Empowerment and Female Heads of States and Government: A global, multilevel analysis. Politics, Groups, and Identities8(1): 24–43.
2.
AnnesleyClaireBeckwithKarenFranceschetSusan (2019) Cabinets, Ministers, and Gender. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
3.
ArmstrongBrennaBarnesTiffany DChibaDainaO’BrienDiana Z (2023) Financial Crises and the Selection and Survival of Women Finance Ministers. American Political Science Review 1–19. DOI: 10.1017/S0003055423000825.
4.
ArmstrongBrennaBarnesTiffany DO’BrienDiana ZTaylor- RobinsonMichelle M (2022) Corruption, Accountability, and Women’s Access to Power. Journal of Politics84(2): 1207–1213.
5.
BansakKirkHainmuellerJensHopkinsDanielYamamotoTeppei (2021) Beyond the Breaking Point? Survey satisficing in conjoint experiments. Political Science Research and Methods9(1): 53–71.
6.
BauerNichole (2020a) The Qualifications Gap: Why Women Must Be Better Than Men to Win Political Office. Cambridge: Cambridge University.
7.
BauerNichole (2020b) Shifting Standards: How voters evaluate the qualifications of female and male candidates. Journal of Politics82(1): 1–12.
8.
BellMelissaKaufmannKaren (2015) The Electoral Consequences of Marriage and Motherhood: How gender traits influence voter evaluations of female candidates. Journal of Women, Politics & Policy36(1): 1–21.
9.
BrooksDeborahGeerJohn (2007) Beyond Negativity: The effects of incivility on the electorate. American Journal of Political Science51(1): 1–16.
10.
CampbellRosieCowleyPhilip (2018) The Impact of Parental Status on the Visibility and Evaluations of Politicians. The British Journal of Politics and International Relations20(3): 753–769.
11.
CarliLindaEaglyAlice (1999) Gender Effects on Social Influence and Emergent Leadership. In PowellGary N (ed.) Handbook of Gender and Work. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 203–222.
12.
CasseseErinHolmanMirya (2018) Party and Gender Stereotypes in Campaign Attacks. Political Behaviour40(3): 785–807.
13.
ClaveriaSilvia (2014) Women in Executive Office in Advanced Industrial Democracies: Presence, Portfolios and Post-Ministerial Occupation. PhD Dissertation. Barcelona: Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
14.
ClaytonAmandaRobinsonAmandaJohnsonMarthaMuriaasRagnhild (2019) (How) Do Voters Discriminate Against Women Candidates? Experimental and qualitative evidence from Malawi. Comparative Political Studies53(3–4): 601–630.
15.
de GeusRoosmarijnMcAndrewsJohnLoewenPeterMartinAaron (2021) Do Voters Judge the Performance of Female and Male Politicians Differently? Experimental evidence from the United States and Australia. Political Research Quarterly74(2): 302–316.
16.
DevroeRobinSpáčSamuelUhlíkMatej (2020) Does the Context Matter for the Prevalence of Political Gender Stereotypes? An experimental study in Flanders (Belgium) and Slovakia. Representation56(1): 13–30.
17.
DinglerSarahKroeberCorinna (2023) Myths About Women in the Political Executive—How gender stereotypes shape the way MPs assess the competences of ministers. Political Research Quarterly76(3): 1403–1417.
18.
DolanKathleen (2010) The Impact of Gender Stereotyped Evaluations on Support for Women Candidates. Political Behavior32(1): 69–88.
19.
DolanKathleen (2014) Gender Stereotypes, Candidate Evaluations, and Voting for Women Candidates: What really matters?Political Research Quarterly67(1): 96–107.
20.
EaglyAliceKarauSteven (2002) Role Congruity Theory of Prejudice Toward Female Leaders. Psychological Review109(3): 573–598.
21.
EaglyAliceWoodWendyDiekmanAmanda (2000) Social Role Theory of Sex Differences and Similarities: A Current Appraisal. In EckesThomasTrautnerHanns M. (eds) The Developmental Social Psychology of Gender. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 123–174.
22.
EaglyAliceNaterChristaMillerDavidKaufmannMichèleSczesnySabine (2020) Gender Stereotypes Have Changed: A cross-temporal meta-analysis of U.S. public opinion polls from 1946 to 2018. American Psychologist75(3): 301–315.
23.
Escobar-LemmonMariaTaylor-RobinsonMichelle (2005) Women Ministers in Latin American Government: When, where, and why?American Journal of Political Science49(4): 829–844.
24.
Escobar-LemmonMariaTaylor-RobinsonMichelle (2018) Women in Presidential Cabinets: Power Players or Abundant Tokens?Oxford: Oxford University Press.
HainmuellerJensHopkinsDanielYamamotoTeppei (2014) Causal Inference in Conjoint Analysis: Understanding multidimensional choices via stated preference experiments. Political Analysis22(1): 1–30.
27.
HayesDannyLawlessJennifer (2016) Women on the Run: Gender, Media, and Political Campaigns in a Polarized Era. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
28.
HolmanMiryaMerollaJenniferZechmeisterElizabeth (2017) Can Experience Overcome Stereotypes in Times of Terror Threat?Research & Politics4(1).
29.
HolmanMiryaMerollaJenniferZechmeisterElizabeth (2022) The Curious Case of Theresa May and the Public That Did Not Rally: Gendered reactions to terrorist attacks can cause slumps not bumps. American Political Science Review116(1): 249–264.
30.
HuddyLeonieTerkildsenNayda (1993) The Consequences of Gender Stereotypes for Women Candidates at Different Levels and Types of Office. Political Research Quarterly46(3): 503–525.
KrookMonaO’BrienDiana Z (2012) All the President’s Men? The appointment of female cabinet ministers worldwide. The Journal of Politics74(3): 840–855.
33.
MatlandRichard (1994) Putting Scandinavian Equality to the Test: An experimental evaluation of gender stereotyping of political candidates in a sample of Norwegian voters. British Journal of Political Science24(2): 273–292.
34.
MortonRebeccaWilliamsKenneth (2010) Experimental Political Science and the Study of Causality: From Nature to the Lab. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
35.
OnoYoshikuniBurdenBarry (2018) The Contingent Effects of Candidate Sex on Voter Choice. Political Behavior41(3): 583–607.
36.
RidgewayCeciliaCorrellShelley (2004) Unpacking the Gender System: A theoretical perspective on gender beliefs and social relations. Gender & Society18(4): 510–531.
37.
SanbonmatsuKira (2002) Gender Stereotypes and Vote Choice. American Journal of Political Science46(1): 20–34.
38.
SanbonmatsuKiraDolanKathleen (2009) Do Gender Stereotypes Transcend Party?Political Research Quarterly62(3): 485–494.
39.
SchneiderMonicaBosAngela L (2014) Measuring Stereotypes of Female Politicians. Political Psychology35(2): 245–266.
40.
SchwarzSusanneCoppockAlexander (2022) What Have We Learned About Gender from Candidate Choice Experiments? A meta-analysis of sixty-seven factorial survey experiments. Journal of Politics84(2): 655–668.
41.
Schwindt-BayerLeslieReyes-HouseholderCatherine (2017) Citizen Responses to Female Executives: Is it sex, novelty or both?Politics, Groups, and Identities5(3): 373–398.
42.
SmithJessi LPaulDavidPaulRachel (2007) No Place for a Woman: Evidence for gender bias in evaluations of presidential candidates. Basic and Applied Social Psychology29(3): 225–233.
43.
StalsburgBrittany (2010) Voting for Mom: The political consequences of being a parent for male and female candidates. Politics & Gender6: 373–404.
44.
Taylor-RobinsonMichelleGevaNehemia (2023) The Image of Gender and Political Leadership. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
45.
TeeleDawnKallaJoshuaRosenbluthFrances (2018) The Ties That Double Bind: Social roles and women’s underrepresentation in politics. American Political Science Review112(3): 525–541.
VergeTaniaWiesehomeierNinaEspírito-SantoAna (2020) Framing Symbolic Representation: Exploring how women’s political presence shapes citizens’ political attitudes. European Journal of Politics and Gender 3(2): 257–276.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
