Representación tabular de la agregación

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in other positions of power. Figure 7 indicates the latest statistical data on the increase in the percentage of women worldwide and across the UK and Polish lower chambers of the parliaments. Figure 8 illustrates the increase in the percentage of women on boards in FTSE 100 and FTSE 250.

Figure 7: The increase of women in parliaments: UK, Poland and Worldwide between 2010 and 2015

Source, IPU (2015)

Figure 7 above demonstrates the comparison in the percentage of women’s parliamentarians worldwide, in the British House of Commons and in the Sejm of the Republic of Poland between 2010 and 2015. This Figure clearly indicates that the increase of women in parliaments is considerably lower, with the increase of t3 per cent worldwide, 4 per cent in Poland and nine and a half percent in the United Kingdom. The British increase is slightly more advanced due to the latest improvement in gender balance in the recent general election. Overall the increase

2010 2015 0% 10% 20% 30% Worldwide UK Poland 19% 19.50% 20% 22% 29% 24%

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is still considerably lower than when compared to the increase of women on boards presented in the below Figure 8.

Figure 8: The increase of women on boards: FTSE 250 and FTSE 100 between 2010/2011 and 2015

Source: Lord Davies of Abersoch (2011) and Lord Davies of Abersoch (2015)

Figure 8 above demonstrates the advancement in the representation of women on boards of 101st _{to the 350}th _{largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange}

(FTSE 250) and on the 100 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange with the highest market capitalisation (FTSE 100). The Figure illustrates changes between the years 2010 and 2015. It is seen that the number of women on boards across FTSE 250 and FTSE 100 rises significantly reaching an increase of over 100 per cent in both instances.

From the above Figures 7 and 8 it is visible that the increase of women in parliaments between the years 2010 and 2015 has only risen on average 5.5 per cent whereas

2010/2011 2015 0.00% 5.00% 10.00% 15.00% 20.00% 25.00% FTSE 250 FTSE 100 7.80% 12.50% 18% 23.50%

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the increase of women in the top companies listed on the London Stock Exchange in the same period has risen on average 16 per cent. This data indicates that the advancement of women in parliaments is still by far unequal to the advancement of women in other powerful positions. However the above Figures (7 and 8) also clarify that gender balance in different positions of power is still significantly unequal when compared to men.

CONCLUSION

In this chapter my aim has been to explain some reasons for gender imbalance in parliaments across new and established democracies across a number of countries mainly belonging to OECD. I have paid special attention to various difficulties that women face in their attempt to become politicians and have identified some equality promotion strategies that have been used to allow women to join the political elite. I have identified the impact of some socio- cultural aspects on women’s under- representation in politics, and some prevailing aspects of cultural stereotypes. Given the traditional image of females who are perceived as family-raisers and dependent on their husbands I have illustrated that society is in need of challenging these social images as otherwise they are in danger of verifying the false stereotypical belief that women are not capable of standing in the role of politicians. The evidence from the literature also highlights religious aspects as one of the features playing some role in women’s political representation. Various scholars identify Catholic traditionalism as an obstacle to women’s political involvement due to the belief of the Catholic Church

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that women have different, traditional roles. Other writers perpetuate the image of women as being ‘weak and ineffectual’ and who are not capable of dealing with the political environment. However, I would argue that primarily women have to prove to themselves that they are capable as leaders and they can be as good as men. Also a change in social perception on ‘a woman’s place’ could be very significant in order to achieve gender balance in political elites. Then again, I agree with Ruedin (2012) who argues that further study is needed on the impact of cultural factors on women’s representation in politics in order to uncover the deep-rooted nature of that problem.

Additionally, scholars share some common interest in the impact of media on women’s political involvement. According to researchers the media not only under- represent women politicians, but distort their images by presenting them as gender stereotypes or/and sexual objects. The systematic tendencies towards these discourses on female politicians by journalists and reporters led to the conclusion that the media significantly contributes to women’s difficulties in their political careers. Also media bias against female politicians plays a big role in influencing public opinion about women’s abilities and capabilities as politicians. These misrepresented descriptions of females in politics often damage their reputations as leaders and in many instances create an impediment to their future political careers. Therefore, guidance for women politicians in public speaking through various forms of training and helping them to learn how to handle the media are some of many strategies recommended by scholars. Still this approach would have to acknowledge

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the importance of discourse between men and women about the prominence of parity in legislative bodies.

Furthermore, the chapter has discussed socio-economic factors as very relevant obstacles to women’s political involvement. Various studies across the literature have found that financial difficulties, lack of suitable education and lack of training provided to women politicians place them as secondary candidates for parliamentary positions. Therefore, strategies for equal opportunity offering women the same possibilities as men, helping in their election campaigns and suitable training are necessities suggested by researchers. However, controversially other scholars such as Abdela (2010) argue that although attention should be given to educating future women politicians, that endless training will not reform the lack of gender parity in politics. Therefore I agree with Ballington and Karam (2005) who suggest that it is important to make sure that women are supported not just at the beginning, but all the way through their political careers.

Male domination and the possible impact of critical mass on the parliamentary environment are also presented in this chapter in accordance with the impact of women MP’s on women’s issues. The literature identifies how feminisation and the promotion of women’s interests influence the wider political environment. Also, on many occasions women do not come forward either due to fear that they will not be able to compete against men or the stereotypical idea that they should not take any interest in politics. Some research studies suggest that, if more women would put themselves forward politically, they not only would be recognised as potential

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politicians but also they would be nominated. Also, the literature review identifies male involvement in women’s political advancement. Men fear possible feminisation of politics and the changes it may create in the male dominated house. However I agree with Abdela (2010) who claims that when equal partnership between both genders is established, men’s domination would be exchanged for positive relationships with women. In contrast, other scholars suggest that true equality between the sexes can only be achieved if both women and men pull together to break the ‘age-old belief’ that women and men have different roles to play (Ballington, 2008: 5).

Another significant finding emerging from the literature is the balance between legal provisions and women’s pressure groups that were launched in order to increase the number of women in parliamentary seats. For example, women not only organise themselves inside political parties by forming professional groups aimed at supporting each other, but also introduce various plans to help women to reach their political target. Furthermore, women also demand clear rules for candidate selection within political parties and the introduction of equality promotion tools in the form of quotas, which have proven successful, although branded as the ‘fast track’ to gender balance in politics (Dahlerup, 2005:3; Schwindt-Bayer, 2009:5). However, it could be argued that quotas have to be treated in the context of electoral systems and take into consideration the differences between left, central and right-wing parties. While left-wing parties have promoted women by using different types of equality promotion quotas, the central or more right wing parties such as the conservatives have not followed the same routes stating that they are patronising to

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women (Platell, 2009; Sawer, 2010; Peacock, 2012; Marshall, 2013). Furthermore, it could be claimed that the difference between compulsory and voluntary quotas has been proven to have a major impact on their success. Additionally, more recent arguments against equality promotion measures have undergone some criticism from scholars who argue that quotas undermine the achievement of gender balance in politics. Moreover, although affirmative action quotas have had an impact on women’s representation, as seen for example in the 1997 British general Election, their overall effect on women’s representation is still difficult to measure precisely. However, in opposition it could be claimed that examining countries representing contradictory electorate systems, different stages in the development of democracy, and different approaches to equality promotion might indicate the impact of short and long lasting effects of quotas.

Correspondingly this chapter has noted a relationship between countries’ political structures such as the type of electoral systems and the participation of women in politics. Although past research has shown that PR electoral systems in Western Europe do not favour or smooth women’s election, studies carried out over the years have indicated that these systems have significantly improved the involvement of women in parliaments. Nevertheless, differences between PR and FPTP could be short-term solutions. Some scholars claim that there is no electoral system that will level the representation of women in parliaments as every system will have certain political side-effects. Also, while there is some relationship between the electoral system and the ideology of political parties, many scholars argue that the spectrum of the party has no significance in the overall proportion of women in parliament.

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Moreover, the evidence suggests that the involvement of women in politics will not reach a well-balanced stage until parties encourage women to participate in political life and help them to establish a good work-life balance.

Furthermore, major structural processes have to be taken into consideration when discussing the ideologies of political parties such as procedures of selection, promotion and election. For example, in patronage-oriented selection, the rules about the processes of selecting the candidates are less clear than in bureaucratic selection where rules such as the use of quotas guarantee the selection of women. Second, other promotion channels to get women into the parliamentary environment remain equally significant. However, the success of women candidates depends on the positions in which they are placed on the electoral list. Therefore I agree with Schmidt (2009) who calls for pressure on political parties to put women on a list with winnable seats. In opposition to the above argument, some candidates claim that the place on the list is not important, as supporters vote for the party name and not for the candidate, ignoring his/her placement on the list.

Overall, the evidence demonstrates that although the first goal was simply to ‘add women in’ and ‘extend the boundaries’ (Squires, 1999 cited in Squires, 2007: 9), this is still not the case in the 21st _{century. An important practical implication is that}

positive changes in women’s representation in parliaments have not occurred due to democratic advances alone, but have been the result of ‘sustained mobilisation’ and ‘institutional engineering’ (Ballington and Karam, 2005: 26). But, the presence of women in politics is undoubtedly too weak to have a major impact and the

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achievement of equal representation of women in parliaments will very likely be on the agenda until the 22nd _{century when parity between men and women will, at the}

current rate of progress, finally be achieved. Predictions based on the trend between 1945 and 2005 indicate that gender representation in parliaments among European Union countries will achieve parity in 2068 (Siemienska, 2005; UNICEF, 2007; Warowski, 2007).

The above outcomes have led to some major questions, not only about whether cultural changes in women’s role in society have led to their struggle towards political leadership, but more importantly, whether equality promotion strategies are the way forward in order to increase the number of women in parliaments. Moreover, it is important to measure to what extent the use of quotas affects women’s candidacy by comparing countries with established versus new democracies with different electoral systems and different approaches towards introducing equality policies. For example, various authors in the latest literature claim that contradictory findings in the field of gender inequality in politics suggest a need for re-examination of that area due to unclear links between research and the ‘real world’ (Krook, 2010: 886). Therefore, I am conducting a further investigation in two countries, Britain and Poland, which are similar in parliamentary gender balance, but at the same time culturally, politically and structurally different. I aim to explore the roots and foundations of gender inequality in politics in the eyes of women MPs and most importantly, how these women themselves see the way forward to improve the gender balance. What’s more, it is also important to uncover what we can learn from the successes of women who are achieving the top political jobs.

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