Moving On Up? Effects of Leadership Training and Intersectoral Mobility on Women’s Advancement in Danish Public Administration Management

TY - JOUR

T1 - Moving On Up? Effects of Leadership Training and Intersectoral Mobility on Women’s Advancement in Danish Public Administration Management

AU - Finkel, Müge Kökten

AU - Grøn, Caroline Howard

AU - Hughes, Melanie M.

PY - 2023/6

Y1 - 2023/6

N2 - Women’s underrepresentation in middle and upper management is a well-documented feature of the public sector that threatens performance and legitimacy. Yet, we know far less about the factors most likely to reduce these gender inequalities. In this article, we focus on two well-understood drivers of career advancement in public administration: leadership training and intersectoral mobility. In theory, training in leadership and experience across government levels and policy areas should help both women and men to climb management ranks. We use logistic regression to test this proposition using a representative sample of 1,819 Danish public managers. We find that leadership training disproportionately benefits women, and this helps to level the playing field. However, our analyses show that differences in intersectoral mobility do not explain the gender gap in public sector management.

AB - Women’s underrepresentation in middle and upper management is a well-documented feature of the public sector that threatens performance and legitimacy. Yet, we know far less about the factors most likely to reduce these gender inequalities. In this article, we focus on two well-understood drivers of career advancement in public administration: leadership training and intersectoral mobility. In theory, training in leadership and experience across government levels and policy areas should help both women and men to climb management ranks. We use logistic regression to test this proposition using a representative sample of 1,819 Danish public managers. We find that leadership training disproportionately benefits women, and this helps to level the playing field. However, our analyses show that differences in intersectoral mobility do not explain the gender gap in public sector management.

KW - gender equality

KW - glass ceilings

KW - leadership training

KW - managers

KW - mobility

KW - public leadership

KW - training

U2 - 10.1177/0734371X211054875

DO - 10.1177/0734371X211054875

M3 - Journal article

SN - 0734-371X

VL - 43

SP - 215

EP - 238

JO - Review of Public Personnel Administration

JF - Review of Public Personnel Administration

IS - 2

ER -