Internal Versus Institutional Barriers to Gender Equality: Evidence from British Politics

Noor Kumar, Uyseok Lee, Matt Lowe, Olaitan Ogunnote and Matthew Lowe

No 11358, CESifo Working Paper Series from CESifo

Abstract: Weekly lotteries determine which politicians ask the UK Prime Minister a question in front of a male-dominated, packed, and noisy chamber. Women are 12% less likely to submit questions than same-cohort men, and this gap does not close with lottery-induced experience asking a question, or with years of service. However, the gender gap almost fully closes after a switch to a format in which questions are asked to a smaller, quieter, audience. The switch differentially draws in women with quieter voices. Our findings support institutional change, rather than adaptation through experience, as a response to gender gaps in adversarial settings.

Keywords: gender gap; public speaking; gender norms; politician behaviour (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 D91 J16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-gen
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