1. Breaking the Glass Chamber: Women's Political Careers in Britain and Around the World
- Author:
- Lyndsey Jenkins, Minna Cowper-Coles, and Sofia Collignon
- Publication Date:
- 01-2023
- Content Type:
- Video
- Institution:
- Mile End Institute, Queen Mary University of London
- Abstract:
- 2022 marks a series of historic anniversaries for women in British politics. Forty years since the election of Harriet Harman, the Mother of the House; thirty-five years since the election of the first Black woman MP, Diane Abbott; thirty years since the first woman, Betty Boothroyd, was elected Speaker of the House; and twenty-five years since the election of more than a hundred women MPs for the Labour Party. At its landmark Breaking the Glass Chamber conference from 15 to 17 September 2022, the Mile End Institute brought together historians, political scientists, and sociologists to explore what politics meant to and for women in the second half of the twentieth century. In this video, introduced by Dr Lyndsey Jenkins, Dr Sofia Collignon talks to Dr Minna Cowper-Coles about her comparative research on the motivations, challenges, and experiences of women political leaders around the world. Sofia highlights that women leaders are typically highly professionalised, highly skilled, and highly experienced, and notes that 63 per cent have a Masters degree or PhD.
- Topic:
- Elections, Women, Domestic Politics, and Representation
- Political Geography:
- United Kingdom, Europe, and Global Focus