Open research questions in Gender Politics and Representation

What the literature leaves open

• Future studies should examine how women's labour market outcomes are impacted by AI, whether automation causes women to lose their jobs or create new ones, and how AI governance may be created to advance equity. Though they are still lacking, studies on gender-responsive AI design, ethical ramifications, and AI literacy initiatives are beginning to emerge.

  Future Vision: Strengthening Women's · 2026 · DOI

• To enhance NEP implementation: Strengthen mentorship and career guidance programs. Promote industry-academia collaboration. Enhance digital literacy initiatives for women. Provide financial incentives for women entrepreneurs. Conduct awareness programs about NEP provisions. Encourage gender-sensitive institutional policies.

  NEP 2020 and Opportunities for Women in Commerce s Management Education in India · 2026 · DOI

• future applications. Long Range Planning, 45(5–6), 320–340. for https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2012.09.008 Henseler, J., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2015). HTMT criterion. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 43, 115–135. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-014-0403-8 Hosch-Dayican, B. (2014). Online political participation and its relation to offline political participation. New Media & Society, 16(3), 425–441. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444813489866 Hulland, J. (1999). Use of partial least squares (PLS) in strategic management research: A review of four 195–204. recent https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1097-0266(199902)20:2<195::AID-SMJ13>3.0.CO;2-7 Judge, T. A., & Bono, J. E. (2001). Core self-evaluations. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(1), 80–92. Kabeer, N. (1999). Resources, agency, achievements. Development and Change, 30(3), 435–464.

  Women’s Decision-Making Power and Institutional Governmentality: Mediating Role of Working Women’s Performance in Public Sector Colleges of South Punjab · 2026 · DOI

• In the future, research may conduct studies about creating campaigns with educational events and seminars aimed not only at different social demographics but also at different work environment settings. The purpose of these events will be to raise awareness about issues women encounter in their personal and professional lives. They will encourage women to come up with their own approaches to resolve issues related to gender inequality and sexism. In addition to these events, future research may conduct other projects such as adding courses about gender perspective and equality from kindergarten to college. The reason behind implementing these courses will be to ensure equality and encourage sound gender identities among new adult demographics. REFERENCES Acker, J. (1990). Hierarchies, Jobs, Bodies: A Theory of Gendered Organizations. Gender and Society, 4(2), 139–158. Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall. Bandura, A., & Bussey, K. (2004). On broadening the cognitive, motivational, and sociostructural scope of theorizing about gender development and functioning: Comment on Martin, Ruble, and Szkrybalo (2002). Psychological Bulletin, 130(5), 691–701. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.130.5.691 Bertrand, M., & Hallock, K. F. (2001). The gender gap in top corporate jobs. Industrial & Labor Relations Review, 55(1), 3. https://doi.org/10.2307/2696183 Blau, F. D., & Kahn, L. M. (2000). Gender differences in pay. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 14(4), 75–100. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.14.4.75 Bryson, V. (2005). Feminist political theory. Bloomsbury Publishing. Bussey, K., & Bandura, A. (1999). Social cognitive theory of gender development and differentiation. Psychological Review, 106(4), 676–713. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033- 295x.106.4.676 Butler, J. (1990). Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. Routledge. Chafetz, J. S. (2006). Handbook of the Sociology of Gender. Springer Science & Business Media. 20 Article DOI: 10.52589/BJELDP-NUEERMWA DOI URL: https://doi.org/10.52589/BJELDP-NUEERMWA British Journal of Education, Learning and Development Psychology ISSN: 2682-6704 Volume 9, Issue 1, 2026 (pp. 1-22) www.abjournals.org Charles, M., & Grusky, D. B. (2004). Occupational Ghettos: The Worldwide Segregation of Women and Men. Studies in Social Inequality. Chodorow, N. (1978). The reproduction of mothering: Psychoanalysis and the sociology of gender. Coltrane, S. (2000). Research on Household Labor: Modelling and Measuring the Social Embeddedness of Routine Family Work.

  Gender Roles in Contemporary Society: Exploring Men's and Women's Views on the Impact of Patriarchy in their Lives · 2026 · DOI

• Future research should examine the content of the legislation proposed by congresswomen in 22 Constanza Antonia Barraza Vargas other settings to test these findings, specifically in cases where stronger quotas have been in place for longer periods or where affirmative mechanisms ensure a higher presence of marginalized women within Congress. That said, it does support the idea that, while quotas are not an impediment to marginalized women’s representation, they are insufficient on their own (Hughes 2011; Celis et al.

  Representing the Margins: An Intersectional Analysis of Chile’s Gender Quota · 2026 · DOI

• It should be noted that the SIGI 2019 report gathered data from 55 African countries divided into five subregions. How- ever, only 31 of these countries were assigned an SIGI score due to limitations in data availability. A complete SIGI score can only be derived for countries that have all the necessary data points for each indicator and variable within the index (OECD, 2021b). However, 23 African countries were unable to provide adequate data to calculate scores for the 16 SIGI indicators. Furthermore, Moodley et al. (2019) mentioned that its report omitted data from seven countries. As reported by Afrobarometer Data (2019), data was collected from 35 countries, excluding 30. Data are still missing to address gen- der inequality and gender discrimination against women in Africa. Moodley et al. (2019) reported that it would take 142 years for Africa to achieve gender equality fully. Therefore, this study recommends that more research be done to col- lect data that will fully address gender inequality and gender discrimination faced by all women on the African continent. Broccolini et al. (2024) observed that the underlying factors that contribute to gender inequality and gender discrimination are multifaceted and closely related to socioeconomic issues, cultural and social norms, historical laws, political circum- stances, and policies that do not consider their gender effects in Africa. Consequently, this study suggests conducting more in-depth research on laws, policies, and gender in the region, particularly on an individual country basis, to help shed light on the gendered effects of laws and policies implemented that have been there since colonisation. During the past three decades, more than three-quarters of African countries have experienced warfare, the period between the 1960 s and 2000 characterised by significant political instability and frequent leadership transitions. Dur- ing this time, the continent witnessed 80 successful military coups, 108 failed attempts, and 130 reported coup plots in 48 independent African states (Babalola & Genga, 2025). Alarm- ingly, 88% of global conflict-related deaths occurred in Africa, in stark contrast to 9% in Asia and the Middle East, 2% in Europe, and just 1% in the Americas. The impacts of warfare 172 Journal of Human Rights and Social Work (2026) 11:158–173 have been devastating, severely destroying societal infra- structures such as governance, family systems, communities, economies, and the environment (Babalola & Genga, 2025). Civilians, particularly women and children, account for more than 70% of recent conflict-related casualties. Despite these profound consequences, existing reports have largely omitted the role of wartime conflict in shaping gender inequality and discrimination in African social institutions. Therefore, this study recommends that future research explicitly incorporate the effects of armed conflict when addressing gender dispari- ties and discriminatory practices across the continent. Author Contribution CAG & SSB conceived the research, CAG col- lected and analysed the data and first drafted the manuscript. SSB reviewed and revised the manuscript and provided guidance on the article. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Funding Publication fees and Open Access funding were enabled and organised by Walter Sisulu University. No funds, grants, or other sup- port were received. Data Availability The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

  Obstacles and Opportunities for Gender Inequality and Discrimination Against African Women · 2026 · DOI

• 428 | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. East African Journal of Arts and Social Sciences, Volume 9, Issue 2, 2026 Article DOI : https://doi.org/10.37284/eajass.9.2.5036 Gender Equity Certificate to the national budget process was mentioned as a ground-breaking device that has compelled a certain degree of gender- responsiveness on the Ministry of Finance that was not an issue in the past decades. Case Study:

  Equal Numbers or the Quality of Representation? Gender Analysis of Women's Representation in the Ugandan Governance Structures · 2026 · DOI

• While many female politicians in PDIP possess significant social, economic, and symbolic capital, these resources alone are insufficient to challenge entrenched masculine dominance.

  The role of habitus in gendering party: PDIP in Bali · 2026 · DOI

• While a considerable number of studies have documented the way the COVID-19 pandemic has accentuated gender inequalities, few studies have examined how elected representatives in democracies responded to these inequalities.

  A Window of Opportunity for Feminist Claims? MPs’ Responsiveness to Gender Inequalities in French-Speaking Belgium During COVID-19 · 2026 · DOI

• The return of democracy in Nigeria in 1999 gener- ated widespread optimism that groups historical- ly excluded from governance, particularly women, would gain equitable access to the political space. Yet, more than two decades later, women’s repre- sentation, especially within the legislature, remains remarkably low. This study has examined the mul- tifaceted barriers responsible for this persistent underrepresentation. These include party gate- keeping practices, patriarchal norms, cultural and religious constraints, stigmatization, godfatherism, political violence, financial exclusion, and the ab- sence of institutional mechanisms such as gen- der quotas or affirmative action. Collectively, these factors reinforce systemic bias and limit women’s political advancement. However, these challenges are not uniquely Nigerian; they reflect a broader continental pattern of structural exclusion. Across Africa, women face similar institutional and socio- cultural barriers in accessing political office. Yet, as demonstrated by countries such as Rwanda, Na- mibia, and South Africa, transformative progress is possible when political will, institutional design, and gender-responsive leadership converge. In these contexts, the introduction of quota laws, pro- portional representation systems, and deliberate state-backed inclusion policies has dramatically increased women’s presence in parliament. Nigeria’s position among the lowest-ranked Af- rican countries for women’s parliamentary rep- resentation underscores the urgency of reform. Drawing from successful regional examples, Ni- geria must institutionalize a legally enforceable gender quota, ideally reserving a minimum of 35 percent of legislative and appointive positions for women. Such a system would correct structural imbalance, ensure fairer nomination process- es, and normalize women’s visibility in political life. Beyond quotas, expanding women’s access to education, especially in rural areas, through OgunbOdede & Akinyetun (2026) Mujer AndinA. e040205universidAd AndinA del CusCO scholarships, mentorships, and leadership devel- opment programs would strengthen the pipeline of qualified female candidates. Equally, improving access to financial resources, including micro- credit schemes and targeted fundraising mech- anisms, would help women overcome one of the most persistent barriers to electoral participation. In addition, political parties must also assume a central role in advancing gender equity. Insti- tutionalizing internal party quotas for candidate selection, membership, and leadership positions would foster a more inclusive culture within the political system. Legal and institutional safeguards against political harassment and gender-based violence are also essential to ensure that women can participate safely and confidently in political processes. Furthermore, effective policy making requires reliable, gender-disaggregated data to moni- tor progress and inform interventions. A national framework for data collection and reporting on women’s political participation should be devel- oped to support evidence-based planning and track progress toward Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 on gender equality. Finally, creating an inclusive political environ- ment demands a coordinated effort among gov- ernment institutions, civil society organizations, political parties, and the broader society. Trans- formative change will depend on challenging deep-seated stereotypes, reforming exclusion- ary practices, and sustaining advocacy for gen- der equity as a democratic imperative. The ex- periences of Rwanda, Namibia, and South Africa demonstrate that women’s political inclusion is achievable, not an aspirational ideal but a prod- uct of deliberate and sustained state action. For Nigeria, such action is not merely desirable; it is indispensable to achieving a representative de- mocracy that reflects the voices and aspirations of all its citizens. Authors’ contributions: Nife Ogunbodede: conceptualization, data curation, metho- dology, writing: initial and final drafts. Tope Shola Akinyetun: data curation, analysis, writing: initial and final drafts.

  Women’s Parliamentary Representation in Nigeria: Evidence from the 2023 Elections · 2026 · DOI

• The study does not provide detailed analysis of the specific mechanisms through which structural eligibility conditions (7 years practice requirement, minimum age of 35) disproportionately affect women's participation across different states.

  A Study on Women’s Presence and Participation in Indian Judiciary · 2026 · DOI

• While this change has excited much scholarly attention, the process by which countries decide to adopt FFP remains unclear: How can we explain their journey toward the formal adoption of FFP? What factors create an environment in which these states were willing (and able) to declare their foreign policy feminist? We bring together literature on FFP and foreign policy change to identify the factors that lead to the uptake of FFP.

  The Adoption of Feminist Foreign Policy: The Cases of Chile and Sweden · 2025 · DOI

• No research examines how CSOs specifically navigate the gap between gender equality policy commitments and grassroots implementation practices in Nairobi. Paper [1] documents a significant gap between policy and practice in women's empowerment across Nairobi and Kakamega, yet provides no analysis of the organizational or operational challenges CSOs face when translating these policies into ground-level projects.

  IMPROVING WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT THROUGH DEVOLUTION IN KENYA: THE CASE OF NAIROBI AND KAKAMEGA COUNTIES · 2023 · DOI

• The governance instruments and accountability mechanisms that CSOs need to strengthen gender equality implementation in Nairobi remain underspecified. Paper [2] identifies gaps in governance instruments (policy, organizational structures, feedback mechanisms) but does not address how CSOs operationalize these instruments at the grassroots level in Nairobi specifically.

  Intricacies for Gender Equality in Formal and Informal Structures through Governance Enhancement; a Kenyan Perspective · 2022 · DOI

• This phenomenon raised some key questions for this paper: Do women only perform better when it comes to designing enterprises for social good? Or do the narratives show that they could lead in other forms of entrepreneurship but are not because of existing constraints? Simply put, what is the drive or motivation for engaging in social entrepreneurship? Interestingly, such a study is lacking within the African context.

  Women in Nigeria: Examining the Motivations for Engaging in Social Entrepreneurship · 2022 · DOI

• While gender and power have been widely researched in the broader context of their influences on political participation, household decision-making, and overall health outcomes within various settings globally, consolidated literature on gender and power relations in organisations in the developing world remains sparse.

  Gender and power work relationships;: A systematic review on the evidence from Africa and Asia · 2022 · DOI

• According to one recent review of the burgeoning interdisciplinary scholarly literature on populism, populism's "relationship with gender issues remains largely understudied" (Abi-Hassan, 2017, 426-427).

  Gender, Populism, and the QAnon Conspiracy Movement · 2021 · DOI

• In this sense, women’s substantive representation in the AKP is inherently limited to the gendered claim-making leaving little room for the presence of diverse interests, particularly feminist claim-making demanding gender equality.

  The substantive representation of women parliamentarians of the AKP: the case of maternity leave and part-time work · 2021 · DOI

• No research documents how CSOs in Nairobi address patriarchal backlash and new inequalities among women that emerge during gender equality project implementation. Paper [9] shows that women's entry into male-dominated spaces triggers backlash and creates inequalities among women, yet provides no analysis of how grassroots CSO projects in Nairobi can mitigate these dynamics.

  Implementing Inclusion: Gender Quotas, Inequality, and Backlash in Kenya · 2020 · DOI

• Among these bodies, relatively little is known about the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) network which is active across nine diverse regions of the globe, and in 2019 celebrated its 30th anniversary.

  Finding a space for women’s intersectionality? A review of Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians · 2020 · DOI

• Limited to an analysis of her ‘first 100 days’, this study focuses on the new President's promises to ‘complete, deepen and enlarge’ the EU gender equality domain not only in relation to substantive policies but also with regard to European institutions per se.

  Great Expectations, Structural Limitations: Ursula von der Leyen and the Commission's New Equality Agenda · 2020 · DOI

• What forms do gender equity arguments take in major international institutions? What broader struggles do these reflect? What contradictions does gender mainstreaming reproduce and what feminist possibilities does it open up? This contribution describes, critiques, and tentatively explains the recent understudied “gender turn” in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or the Fund, a major international financial institution.

  Trickle-down gender at the International Monetary Fund: the contradictions of “femina economica” in global capitalist governance · 2019 · DOI

• Furthermore, the comparison of levels of political knowledge in two such dissimilar countries as Finland and Spain suggests that while gender equality policies are successful in tearing down some of the obstacles that hinder women’s contact with the political world, they are still insufficient to completely bridge the gender gap in political knowledge during adulthood.

  Adult roles and the gender gap in political knowledge: a comparative study · 2019 · DOI

• Although the slow progress in this regard is much debated, research shedding light on trends in women’s workplace authority remains scarce, particularly outside the US.

  Vrouwen in leidinggevende functies · 2019 · DOI

• This is a highly under-researched topic, necessitating a mapping of the current political landscape for women and an understanding of how ACDEG addresses these challenges as well as provides opportunities for advancing women’s political participation.

  Advancing Women’s Political Rights in Africa: The Promise and Potential of ACDEG · 2019 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Gender Politics and Representation

• The Knowledge Gap: A Reexamination of Gender-Based Differences in Political Knowledge · The Journal of Politics · 2004 · 278 citations
• Female political representation and substantive effects on policies: A literature review · European Journal of Political Economy · 2020 · 223 citations
• Research Frontier Essay: When Are Interests Interesting? The Problem of Political Representation of Women · American Political Science Review · 1981 · 216 citations
• Gendered Recruitment without Trying: How Local Party Recruiters Affect Women's Representation · Politics & Gender · 2013 · 188 citations
• This One’s for the Boys: How Gendered Political Socialization Limits Girls’ Political Ambition and Interest · American Political Science Review · 2021 · 147 citations
• Beyond Quotas: Strategies to Promote Gender Equality in Elected Office · Political Studies · 2014 · 147 citations
• Gender Mainstreaming and Resistance to Gender Training: A Framework for Studying Implementation · NORA - Nordic Journal of Feminist and Gender Research · 2013 · 120 citations
• Gender and Political Leadership in a Time of COVID · Politics & Gender · 2020 · 112 citations
• What’s in a Label? The Relationship between Feminist Self-Identification and “Feminist” Attitudes among U.S. Women and Men · Gender & Society · 2005 · 111 citations
• Do laws shape attitudes? Evidence from same-sex relationship recognition policies in Europe · European Economic Review · 2020 · 101 citations

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