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Women and Leadership in the European Union

Henriette Müller editor Ingeborg Tömmel editor

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Oxford University Press

Published:3rd Mar '22

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Women and Leadership in the European Union cover

This volume is the first comprehensive analysis of women's ascendance to leadership positions in the European Union as well as their performance in such positions. It provides a new theoretical and analytical framework capturing both positional and behavioural leadership and the specific hurdles that women encounter on their path to and when exercising leadership. The volume encompasses a detailed set of single and comparative case studies, analyzing women's representation and performance in the core EU institutions and their individual pathways to and exercise of power in top-level functions, as well as comparative analyses regarding the position and behaviour of women in relation to men. Based on these individual studies, the volume draws overarching conclusions about women's leadership in the EU. Regarding positional leadership, women continue to be underrepresented in leadership positions, they more often hold less prestigious portfolios in such positions, and manifold structural hurdles hamper their access to power. Furthermore, huge variations exist across EU institutions, with the intergovernmental bodies being the hardest to access. Regarding behavioural leadership, women acting in powerful EU positions generally perform excellently. They successfully exercise a combined leadership style that integrates attributes of leadership considered to be 'masculine' and 'feminine'. This is not to argue that women per se are the better leaders. Yet more often than men they are exposed to stronger selection processes and their prevalent practice of a combined leadership style tends to best meet the requirements of modern democratic systems and particularly those of the highly fragmented EU.

Women and Leadership in the European Union is the first systematic account of women's access to leadership, their performance and impact on EU governance. Henriette Müller and Ingeborg Tömmel's first-rate cast has produced a uniquely insightful, empirically rich, interdisciplinary collection that will stand the test of time. Timely too, now that, finally, the EU glass ceiling has begun to crack * Liesbet Hooghe, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute *
Women and Leadership in the European Union is that rarity—an edited volume consistently excellent. It contributes deliberately, and equally, to gender, leadership, and EU studies, bringing to each a fresh perspective and scholarly rigor. The book is a trove of insights with important implications for the present—and the future. * Barbara Kellerman was Founding Executive Director of Harvard's Center for Public Leadership, and is author and editor of many books on leadership and followership *
An impeccably timed and path-breaking contribution to the study of political leadership. Combining theoretical sophistication with rigorous empirical analysis, this volume constitutes the first comprehensive account of where, when, and how women exercise leadership in the complex edifice of the European Union. It will be the go-to resource for anyone interested in what the gradual but inexorable rise of women leaders might mean for how Europe is being governed. * Paul 't Hart, Utrecht University *
The publication of Women and Leadership in the European Union, edited by two outstanding scholars of European integration, Henriette Müller and Ingeborg Tömmel, is very welcome. The gender dimension of European integration and particularly women's leadership contribution is largely part of the hidden history of the EU. No longer. This comprehensive volume fills a gap in the literature. * Brigid Laffan, Emeritus Professor, European University Institute *

ISBN: 9780192896216

Dimensions: 240mm x 164mm x 29mm

Weight: 744g

400 pages