Gender Imbalance in Public Sector Leadership

The authors explore the complex, gendered puzzle and careers behind women's underrepresentation in public-sector organizational leadership.

Women are still underrepresented as public-sector organizational leaders, despite comprising half of the United States' workforce. Using a problem-driven approach, inductive and deductive research, the authors explore the complex puzzle of gendered experiences and career paths that provide insights into gender imbalanced leadership in this domain.Women are still underrepresented as public-sector organizational leaders, despite comprising half of the United States public-sector workforce. To explore the factors driving gender imbalance, this Element employs a problem-driven approach to examine gender imbalance in local government management. We use multiple methods, inductive and deductive research, and different theoretical frames for exploring why so few women are city or county managers. Our interviews, resume analysis and secondary data analysis suggesting that women in local government management face a complex puzzle of gendered experiences, career paths and appointment circumstances that lend insights into gender imbalanced leadership in this domain.