Gender and Legislative Committees in Africa: A Study of Rwanda and South Africa

Legislative committee assignments are multifaceted, influenced by determinants such as prevailing gender dynamics and the prestige of the committee. Drawing on insights from the existing literature on legislatures, we formulate and test two hypotheses on the credentials and patterns of assigning members of parliament to committees in Rwanda and South Africa. An original dataset comprising 1286 committee members across two consecutive legislative sessions between 2010 and 2023 was built and analyzed using STATA. Using descriptive and multinomial regression analysis, we find that despite being equally educated and professionally qualified as their male counterparts, women are disproportionately assigned to low-prestige committees. This paper contributes to our understanding of how work in legislative committees is influenced by gender roles, suggesting deeply rooted societal norms.