Duncan, Brittany
(2021)
A Cross-National Study of Women's Legislative Committee Leadership.
Doctoral Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh.
(Unpublished)
Abstract
This dissertation examines how women’s legislative committee leadership varies cross-nationally and investigates which factors help increase women’s representation in leadership. Legislative committees are an area ripe for further study. They can play a significant role in policymaking and guiding the groundwork of legislatures, so women’s access to committee leadership means access to decision-making and agenda-setting. That access to leadership also has effects reaching past the legislative chamber: role model cascade, institutional shift, and potential for policy change. However, the gender and politics literature can focus too much on legislative representation only, without scrutiny of the mechanisms of power within legislatures. In research on women’s leadership, there has been little work done on committee chairs. This project seeks to bridge these literatures and add to our understanding of gender and institutions. I contribute a new and unique set of data on committees, as well as new insights into multiple dimensions of leadership.
I first give an introduction and background to the project, then a discussion of relevant research and literature. The data and methods chapter introduces my unique dataset, and Chapter 4, the first empirical chapter, describes that dataset and its cross-national patterns. In Chapter 5 I investigate what factors are most likely to contribute to women’s leadership, modeling structural characteristics on the proportion of women chairs. There I also examine further the types and typologies of committees, tracking across not only glass ceilings but walls. Finally in Chapter 6, I employ similar modeling in investigating the influence of women leaders in other positions, from Speaker to Prime Minister. The dissertation ends with a discussion of the main findings, conclusions, and directions for future research.
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Details
| Item Type: |
University of Pittsburgh ETD
|
| Status: |
Unpublished |
| Creators/Authors: |
|
| ETD Committee: |
| Title | Member | Email Address | Pitt Username | ORCID |
|---|
| Committee Chair | Hughes, Melanie | | | | | Committee Member | Brush, Lisa | | | | | Committee Member | Staggenborg, Suzanne | | | | | Committee Member | Bolzendahl, Catherine | | | |
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| Date: |
18 December 2021 |
| Date Type: |
Publication |
| Defense Date: |
2021 |
| Approval Date: |
13 September 2024 |
| Submission Date: |
10 December 2021 |
| Access Restriction: |
No restriction; Release the ETD for access worldwide immediately. |
| Number of Pages: |
171 |
| Institution: |
University of Pittsburgh |
| Schools and Programs: |
Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences > Sociology |
| Degree: |
PhD - Doctor of Philosophy |
| Thesis Type: |
Doctoral Dissertation |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: |
women in politics, committees |
| Date Deposited: |
13 Sep 2024 18:56 |
| Last Modified: |
13 Sep 2024 19:08 |
| URI: |
http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/id/eprint/42062 |
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