Women in politics: why so few and what to do about it

Inequality in political empowerment between men and women is higher than the one observed in the economic sphere. According to the Global Gender Gap Index (World Economic Forum, 2018), the world has closed only 23% of the gender gap in politics. In Europe, women represent 30% of politicians in legislative bodies and 29.5% in government cabinets (EIGE, 2018). In the European Parliament, women are in 2019 40%, the highest share ever, but still short of parity. What is the source of this inequality? Why do we care about eliminating it? Are there effective policies to promote female political empowerment and reduce gender gaps in the political arena? In this contribution, I will give an overview of recent research addressing the above questions and the challenges ahead.