Women’s Access to Leadership Positions in the UN System: The Remaining Barriers

Access of women to leadership positions in international organizations is an under researched topic. This access is filled with obstacles that men, historical occupants of these posts, do not have to face. The United Nations is not an exception; there is a large gender gap when it comes to appointing women to senior posts. A problem that appears even more evident if we observe that since its creation only 23 women have been appointed executive directors of UN agencies. The objective of this research is to highlight the gender gap in access to leadership positions in international organizations, using the particular case of the United Nations system and illustrating it with the interview to one of the women who were appointed to such a post and thus to bring attention to the studies of gender in international organizations and demonstrate that even though the glass ceiling has been broken there are still remaining barriers that hinder women's access to these leadership positions.