The Political Glass Wall: How Women’s Wings Prevent Women’s Political Advancement

Women's wings are a stable feature of political parties, present in nearly 40 percent of parties worldwide as a means of encouraging women's ascent to power. Yet, there exists no correlation between the presence of a women's wing and women's electoral candidacy within these parties. Why do gender-inclusive political institutions fail to advance women's political careers in practice? I introduce the concept of the "political glass wall'' to explain how women’s wings facilitate women’s political entry but stymie their mobility and candidacy in the party. I argue that women's wings in parties fail to advance women's political careers because they occupy a second-tier status within the party organization. An organizational division of labor leaves women's wing members unable to develop the vital networks and sociopolitical capital that party elites prioritize during promotion and candidacy decisions. As a result, women's wing members experience lower organizational mobility and electoral candidacy, relative to women in the main party organization and male members of party wings. I draw on 56 elite interviews and an original survey of 1,054 party elites from two of India's largest political parties to substantiate these claims. This study suggests that ostensibly gender-egalitarian institutions can institutionalize discrimination by creating parallel, unequal career tracks that exclude women from centers of power.