A career dataset of Flemish ministerial advisors (1999–2020) leveraging online data sources

Abstract This research note introduces a dataset on the career paths of 754 Flemish ministerial advisors (MAs) spanning from 1999 to 2020. The dataset offers comprehensive insights into variables such as gender and age distribution, educational backgrounds, and career trajectories of MAs. To develop this dataset, we employed a suite of software tools designed for data collection, cleaning, and coding. This note details both the tools used and the resulting dataset, while also addressing potential biases and the robustness of the findings. We believe that both the data collection methodology and the dataset itself provide valuable opportunities for further research in elite career studies.