Gender stereotypes in citizens’ preferences for cabinet positions

While scholarly investigations have significantly advanced our understanding of gender stereotypes regarding leadership roles, there is still a gap when it comes to examining citizens' evaluations of the personal and political characteristics of ministers using an experimental design. In this paper, I aim to investigate how individuals exhibit discrimination against women in various executive positions, including Prime Minister, Finance Minister, and Education Minister. This research provides an opportunity to assess how gender stereotypes operate in different areas, ranging from the most masculine to the more feminine portfolios. I also explore whether this evaluation changes during critical events, such as economic or political crises and ambitious changes. I employ conjoint analysis in Spain, conducted in 2022, to isolate the influence of appointees' attributes on their evaluation. My argument centers on the idea that the attributes relevant for evaluating ministers' performance vary across ministries. Masculine portfolios demand more agentic attributes, while feminine ones require more communal attributes. Additionally, ideology and the level of sexism among citizens play a role in shaping these gender stereotypes regarding cabinet posts.