New Economic School organized an international round table "Women in politics: why are they under-represented?" with experts from nine FREE Network countries. The event was moderated by NES professor Natalya Volchkova who announced that the event was part of a series of round tables dedicated to gender inequality in various spheres. She also noted that gender equality was one of the Global Sustainable Development Goals, adopted by the UN.
In her opening speech, professor of the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE) Pamela Kampa said that women are still under-represented in politics on the global level, and this under-representation becomes larger in more senior positions.
The reasons for this, as studies and surveys show, are determined by “supply-side” and “demand-side” factors. The former include women’s potentially lower willingness to run for a political office as they give priority to their families, whereas the latter include social prejudices against women in politics.
To reduce the gender gap both in politics and in top executive positions, different countries are currently using a number of tools, which include gender quotas specifying the number of women in certain structures, various training and educational programs aimed at providing women with greater leadership potential, women's coalitions and groups within specific structures, and others.
The panel of speakers included experts from various countries of Central and Eastern Europe, and the Baltic States: Tymofii Brik (KSE, Ukraine), Dominik Gerber (BICEPS, Latvia), Aleksandr Grigoryan (AUA, Armenia), Davit Keshelava (ISET, Georgia), Lev Lvovskiy (BEROC, Belarus), Monika Oczkowska (CENEA, Poland), and Natalya Firsova (HSE). In their presentations, experts talked about their countries' experience and achievements in women’s representation in political institutions.
Kori Udovički, former Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia, and Agneta Dreber, former Deputy Mayor of Stockholm and co-founder of the Stockholm Party, were among the special guests of the event. They shared their "internal" view on the career and work of women in political structures and public administration.
Participants noted that understanding the underlying causes of women’s under-representation in political institutions is crucial in order to design effective policies to address the existing gender gaps. They also discussed some of the policies that have been proposed or used to empower women in politics, and summarized the evidence on their effectiveness.
"Society often imposes certain stereotypes and values on people, such as what ambitions a person should have, what kind of education he or she should get, where he or she should work and what position should occupy. Therefore, it is very important not only to adopt policies and regulations that will reduce the gender gap, but also to change the ideas in society regarding the empowerment of women - not only in politics, but in any other sphere as well," Natalia Volchkova said.
Video of the round table is available here, presentations of the speakers are available here. You can read more on the topic, including country reports, here.