This project at LSE IDEAS was set up to help address this issue, understand what obstacles remain and how they can be overcome. The project hopes to create better access to and accelerate women’s representation in international organisations, share knowledge and tools to effectively do so and support structural change. The project also examines how to more effectively integrate a gender-lens into government action and policy-making.
The project has two strategic objectives:
1) To address the issue of women’s underrepresentation in diplomacy and foreign policy, particularly in senior positions.
The project aims to help address the issue of misrepresentation / underrepresentation of women in the field, by understanding the obstacles to representation and how they can be overcome. In so doing, it will acknowledge the higher barriers facing women from ethnic minority, non-elite and other minority backgrounds. The project hopes to accelerate women’s representation in international organisations and national diplomatic services, by sharing knowledge and tools to effectively do so, and supporting structural change.
2) To address the lack of gender considerations in foreign policy and policy making
This project further investigates, at both academic and practitioner levels, how policy-making processes can be utilised or reformed so as to produce more gender-sensitive policy outcomes. It will seek to understand the systemic and structural changes that may be required at the policy design and implementation level, with a view of developing a practical guidance on gender mainstreaming and gender-responsiveness in foreign policy.
In addition, ‘Women in Diplomacy’ aims to further support LSE IDEAS in ensuring a balanced representation of women across the Executive MSc International Strategy and Diplomacy Programme faculty, events, and other think tank initiatives
The 'Women in Diplomacy’ Project aims to:
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Develop research and strategic insights on issues relating to women representation, leadership across diplomacy, international affairs and foreign policy and gender considerations in policy.
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Bring together experts, scholars, practitioners to advance knowledge, practical solutions, and understanding.
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Build partnerships with those working on similar issues to further promote practical solutions (e.g. resources and recommendations; research insights, etc.).
‘Women in Diplomacy’ will leverage the convening power of LSE IDEAS to bring together scholars, students, diplomats and activists to discuss ways to increase women’s representation in diplomacy and to foster greater consideration of gender issues in diplomacy and foreign policy-making, while recognising that the links between representation and policy output are complex. The unique contribution the project will make is to build on existing scholarly work not just through further research but through extensive engagement with the practitioner community. The end results will be practical and policy-oriented, with a view to helping to foster change