The Representation of Women on Parliamentary Committees

There a large and growing literature on female representation in politics notably in studies of chief executives, ministers and parliamentarians. One aspect of representation that is relatively under-studied is the role of women on parliamentary committees. Committee positions can constitute important stepping stones to improving individual prospects of a political career. In this paper, we examine the parliamentary committee structure of the Australian parliament and its role in political careers. We ask if women's experiences in the parliamentary committee system differ from men's and how this impacts the long-term ministerial career prospects. Using a unique data on committee membership we compare the representation of men and women and how that affects future careers. This has important implications for women's symbolic and substantive representation in government.