Breaking the glass ceiling? Female Leadership in institutions of the European Union

In the member states of the European Union, women are underrepresented in politics and political leadership positions. In institutions of the European Union, however, the picture looks slightly different, especially since the European elections in 2019. Ursula von der Leyen was voted the first female president and 13 of 27 of commissioners are female. The European Parliament has about 40% female members, 43% female heads of committees and since January 2022 its first female president for 20 years. Thus, women take up political leadership positions and break through the so-called glass ceiling. At the same time, political leadership in member states remains male-dominated which is also reflected in the Council of the European Union. This raises two questions: 1. Which factors influence women’s access to these political leadership positions, how and why? 2. How does the rising number of women in political leadership positions in EU-institutions influence gender equality within these institutions? The dissertation therefore aims at identifying best practices in women’s access to political leadership by comparing the central supranational EU-institutions: European Parliament, European Commission and Council of the European Parliament by focusing on women in leadership in the respected institutions.