Care, Time, and Political Careers: Gendered Pathways Into, Through, and Within Political Office

Abstract

This panel examines how gendered inequalities are produced, sustained, and sometimes contested across parliamentary careers, focusing on the accumulation of resources, institutional positioning, and patterns of participation within legislative institutions. Bringing together research on Romania, Estonia, Belgium, the European Parliament, Australia, and the United States, the papers analyse how gender, sexuality, and identity intersect with access to political capital, committee assignments, legislative activities, and career retention. Collectively, the contributions show that parliamentary careers are shaped not only by formal rules but by deeply gendered logics of networks, gatekeeping, conflict, and legitimacy. Several papers demonstrate how social capital, committee placements, and institutional roles function as forms of career insurance that are unevenly distributed across gendered and sexual identities, particularly during moments of electoral scarcity or institutional competition. Others highlight how participation in parliamentary activities and legislative work is structured by norms of confrontation, control, and expertise, producing differentiated patterns of visibility and authority. Methodologically diverse, the panel combines longitudinal datasets, archival analysis, qualitative interviews, and advanced quantitative modelling to move beyond entry into office and toward a richer understanding of how parliamentary careers unfold over time. By foregrounding careers rather than snapshots of representation, this panel contributes to feminist institutionalist debates on inequality, power, and political reproduction within legislative institutions.

Title	Details
IS POLITICS A “FAMILY PROJECT”? THE GENDERED EFFECTS OF PARENTHOOD IN LOCAL POLITICAL CARREERS	View Paper Details
The Cost of Caring: Unimaginable Political Careers	View Paper Details
Understanding the Gender Gap in Political Ambition: The Role of Informal Encouragement	View Paper Details
Solidarity and Inequality in Unpaid Work: An Intersectional Analysis of Time Use in Colombia	View Paper Details
Balancing Care and Commitment: Parenthood and Political Activities in the European Parliament	View Paper Details
Embodiment of absence: to what extent do media narratives of childless women in political leadership reinforce or challenge gendered expectations?	View Paper Details