Gender and Signalling Behaviours in the UK Parliament

To reduce the gap in women’s representation, many political parties have implemented gender quotas requiring a certain number of women either be included on ballots or occupy certain seats. Although interventions in women’s underrepresentation have focused on demand-side factors in parliamentary systems, women must first possess and express a desire for office through political ambition. Ambitious behaviors or signalling behaviors while occupying roles as MPs are especially important for recruitment to cabinet office, as there is no formal campaign process. However, sex-role stereotyping of signalling behaviors can inhibit women’s participation in signalling behaviors and stifle women’s advancement to cabinet office. By prioritising women’s presence in parliament through gender quotas and increasing the number of women elected, the institutional rules and norms that can prevent women from exhibiting signalling behaviours could decrease. Currently, little research examines the relationship between ambition and gender quotas for higher office, and none examine the signalling behaviors of MPs that accompany ambition for cabinet office. This research seeks to fill that gap by measuring signalling behaviors of MPs in the UK parliament between parties with and without gender quotas through the utilisation of original surveys and a database of parliamentary signalling behaviours. By examining discrepancies between quota rules and ambitious behaviors, this research seeks to connect demand and supply-side factors enabling women’s progression to government and other leadership roles in parliament to underscore the potential of spill-over effects from gender quotas.