Though parity is still rare, presidential cabinets contain more women than ever before. Who are these women and what types of political capital resources do they bring to the administration? Are they new types of political players or very much like the men who have traditionally run the government? And once they gain office, are they treated equally in the cabinet? Do they have the capacity to be as effective as their male counterparts? Drawing on data from five presidential democracies -- Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, and the United States -- Women in Presidential Cabinets examines the backgrounds, connections and credentials of all full-rank cabinet ministers in presidential administrations over the course of two decades to determine if women and men bring similar numbers and diversity of political capital resources to the administration. Maria C. Escobar-Lemmon and Michelle M. Taylor-Robinson find that, with a few notable exceptions, presidents select men and women with similar work and education backgrounds, political experience, and linkages to related interest groups. There are, however, differences across types of posts and countries. They evaluate the treatment and effectiveness of similarly credentialed male and female ministers on four benchmarks. Specifically, they examine whether women with equal qualifications can really obtain all posts or whether glass ceilings persist in some areas. They then turn to the ability of women to hold onto a post, considering the nature and circumstances surrounding their departures from office and how long they remain in office. In doing so, they uncover evidence that female ministers in Latin America stand on an unequal playing field when it comes to the ability to enact policy through legislation. Ultimately, Escobar-Lemmon and Taylor-Robinson show conclusively that while women lack numerical equality, they are no longer tokens, instead appearing positioned to exercise power at the highest levels within the executive branch.

Today, gender inequality and diversity are at the forefront of discussion, as the issue has become an international concern for politicians, government agencies, social activists, and the general public. Consequently, the need to foster and sustain diversity and inclusiveness in the interactions among various groups of people is relevant today more than ever. Gender and Diversity: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications provides a critical look at gender and modern-day discrimination and solutions to creating sustainable diversity across numerous contexts and fields. Highlighting a range of topics such as anti-discrimination measures, workforce diversity, and gender inequality, this multi-volume book is designed for legislators and policy makers, practitioners, academicians, gender studies researchers, and graduate-level students interested in all aspects of gender and diversity studies.

Gender Inequality and Women’s Citizenship combines cases across Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago to highlight the range of systemic inequalities that impact women in the Anglo-Caribbean. Using empirical and secondary data and drawing on feminist theoretical insights, Yonique Campbell and Tracy-Ann Johnson-Myers examine a range of pertinent and intersecting social, political and economic challenges facing women in the Anglo-Caribbean. The issues explored include gender-based violence, barriers to women in politics, the effects of COVID-19 on women, and debates around the illegality of abortion rights and failure to protect the health of women by allowing them to exercise autonomy over their bodies. They raise questions about systemic inequalities resulting from patriarchal gender relations, heteronormativity, women's social and economic status, and state inaction. This book is unique in its interdisciplinary analysis of gender inequality in the Anglo-Caribbean, mapping the intersection of women’s multiple identities and positionalities to determine the obstacles they encounter. It will be of interest to scholars and researchers of International Relations, Caribbean Studies, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Development Studies, Sociology and Anthropology.

Following significant increases in women’s electoral representation in the 1980s and 90s, progress has stalled. Today, there are only a few more women in Canada’s parliament and legislatures than a decade ago. What has happened to the representational gains for women and why does gender parity remain so elusive? To answer these questions, Stalled provides a detailed roadmap of women’s political representation as candidates, office-holders, cabinet ministers, party leaders, and as representatives of the Crown at all levels of government across Canada. Comprehensive and accessible, this volume makes clear that women are far from achieving equality in sites of formal political power.

Why are there so few Japanese women involved in the political system? In 2019, Japanese women made up 10% of the national Lower House, 21% of the Upper House, and 14% of local assemblies. According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, this places Japan 164th out of 193 countries when it comes to women’s representation in the legislature. The percentage of women in the Lower House has only increased by fewer than two percentage points since women gained full suffrage and the right to stand for election in Japan in 1946. Eto analyses the various factors that have led to women’s low presence in the Japanese legislature. She evaluates ways in which it might be possible for Japan to catch up and, in doing so, examines how Japanese society continues to perpetuate gender-rigid expectations of people. This text is a valuable study for scholars of Japanese politics and society, and for readers with an interest in the broader issue of the representation of women in politics.

With a focus on nine different national contexts, this book explores contemporary family diversity. With attention to the different welfare states and cultures of care in each setting, it problematizes the pre-eminence of research and policy centered on heteronormative families, showing the extent to which family diversity exists cross-nationally in relation to different gendered and "family-friendly" policies. Considering variations in family forms, including differences in the number and marital status of parents, their gender, sexual orientation and biological relationship to the children (adoption), multicultural families, and families created by technological assistance or surrogacy, it presents demographic information, alongside quantitative and qualitative research, across a number of advanced countries. A contribution to our understanding of the diversity of family forms, how diversity is lived in families, and what family diversity means in various international policy contexts. The Changing Faces of Families will appeal to scholars with interests in the sociology of the family. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.